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Platt , Clifford (C)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
20431
Service No.
6668
Last Name
Platt 4
First Name
Clifford
Initials
C
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1911 (±1 yr) 281
Age at Death
32
Death Record
Date of Death
08 December 1943 142
Cause code
POW 1,367
Died as prisoner of war
Cause of Death
Died as POW 169
Died as a POW, whilst being loaded onto railway wagons to be transported to Germany, the rail yards at Aquila were bombed by USAF B-25 bombers. About 200 POWs were killed, all who were trapped in locked cattle cars
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Durban Light Infantry 161
Later renamed Durban Light Infantry (1961)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Egypt 2,947
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
ALAMEIN MEMORIAL 1,284
Grave Reference
Column 123. 17
Coordinates
30.83823, 28.94696 OSM
Memorial
Roll of Honour of the Royal Durban Light Infantry, 1939-1945 (panel 2 of 2) Source: kznpr.co.za (KZN: A Photographic Historical Record)
Names on WWII Roll of Honour
Memorial
Durban Light Infantry Chapel (Chapel of St Michael & St George)
Location
Durban Light Infantry Headquarters, Durban
Address
5 DLI Avenue, Durban, South Africa
Coordinates
-29.84722, 31.01583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
WWII Roll of Honour
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Memorial
Memorial for South African soldiers who died at El Alamein, 1942. Photo: Farawayman, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_African_Memorial_El_Alamein.jpg)
Names on Alamein Memorial (Missing)
Memorial
El Alamein War Cemetery and Memorial
Location
El Alamein, Matruh Governorate, Egypt
Address
El Alamein, Matruh Governorate, Egypt
Coordinates
30.83819, 28.94707 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Alamein Memorial (Missing)
On the panel
Column 123.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry
Status
Active Citizen Force
"Royal" dropped 1961 on Republic formation.
Notes

Son of James and Alice Platt, of Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. Attended Glenwood High School, Durban

Research notes


K.M. Jordan, Royal Durban Light Infantry WWII Roll of Honour ("working document", Aug 2026 draft; email to John & Bobby, 4 Sep 2026, marked "not 100% correct") (ServiceNo in this draft, 6668, differs from this record's own 6668 -- not resolved, matched instead by surname + exact DateDeath 1943-12-08).: PLATT, Clifford (Son of James & Alice Platt of 317 Florida Rd, Durban.) (D.P.H.S 1920.; Technical High School, Durban / Glenwood 1925-26) 6668 Private Royal Durban Light Infantry Born Durban 2/3/1911; a clerk before enlistment; served with the 1st Battalion in North Africa; captured at Tobruk; died as a POW. Whilst being loaded onto railway wagons to be transported to Germany, USAF B-25 bombers mistakenly bombed the rail yards at L’Aquila, Italy, killing about 200 POWs, all who were trapped in locked cattle cars. (Body never recovered / identified.) Alamein Memorial to the Missing, El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt. (Also, on the Glenwood High School; the Royal Durban Light Infantry & the Durban Cenotaph WWII Memorials.) 08/12/1943 PMCQ-RJW 32

Citations
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