Clifford (Cliff) Stanley George Polkinghorne (SN 1283) was born in St Arnaud but attended the Queen Street and Humffray Street State Schools in Ballarat and enlisted in Ballarat on October 5th 1914. 23 years old, unmarried, and a farmer, he was allotted to the 8th Infantry Battalion and sailed from Melbourne in October on board the Clan Macgillivray. He was promoted to Lance Corporal before landing at Gallipoli on April 25th 1915 with his brother Reginald.

In May, Reginald wrote to his mother: ‘Dear Mother, This is a very hard letter to write although I know you will by now have the list of killed and wounded. Clifford died a glorious death, a hero in the very front line of battle. Cliff and I were together all the time after he arrived in Egypt and on the boat going to the Dardanelles. After we landed we were together for about 10 minutes and then we got separated. After that I never had time to look or think until after dark. It was then that the boys told me that Cliff was gone. We buried him by himself in a grave on the hillside, just where the fiercest of the fighting had been. Captain Coulter was very good and gave him a decent burial'. He is buried at Shell Green Cemetery just south of Anzac Cove and remembered on the grave of his parents Samuel and Eliza.

His brother Reginald also served in the AIF and is honoured with a tree in the Avenue.