Clarence first enlisted in 1939 as a member of the 18th Light Horse Machine Gun Regiment a militia regiment better known as the Adelaide Lancers.
we know very little about his time spent with the Lancers as our only record of his service with them is his discharge in 1940 when he was poached by 6 Army Troops Company Royal Australian Engineers, He was a qualified electrician and 6 AT Coy was having a horrible time trying to recruit tradesmen.
This poaching probably saved his life, The 18th Light Horse wasn't destined for overseas service despite the regiment training extensively for it so its OC & the vast majority of its members either joined or formed the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion this unit served in the Middle East however was recalled to Java when the Japanese entered the war making up part of Blackforce in the doomed defense of Java with only one of its four companies escaping capture 139 members of the 2/3rd died as Japanese POW's
Below is a link to a compilation of films taken of the 18th Light Horse in 1940
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtHZcVKfpcw