"Digger" Black

My recent Denham Court cemetery tour covered a former Ingleburn identity Clive "Digger" Black. Unlike everyone else I covered on the tour, "Digger" has no headstone to mark his grave and therefore his final resting place in unknown. "Digger's" story is covered below, taken from notes I made for the cemetery tour.

Clive “Digger” Black is buried in this cemetery in an unmarked grave. About 15 years ago when I started in my current role as Local Studies Librarian, I was asked to locate the grave by his daughter Maureen. I was unable to do this based on what I had to search, including the burial register for the cemetery. His location is still unknown.

He was born in 1913 at Ingleburn. “Digger” lived in Glenham Road (no longer exists but did in ’39- now Williamson Rd) and worked as a milk vendor/ dairy farmer 1935. Brother Oswald was also a farmer. His mother was Agnes Matilda and his father, once a Mayor of Ingleburn, was named Oswald. “Digger” enlisted in the army- in the Citizen Military forces or Land Army in 1941 and was discharged in 1944. He married Teresa Shanahan in 1950.

With his brother Oswald they saved Vincent Butters from drowning in Bunbury Curran Creek in 1924 after Vincent had swung out on a rope into deep water. Vincent hadn’t meant to let go as he couldn’t swim and went straight down. Oswald dived in to drag him to the shore and Clive pulled the lifeless body out from the slippery shore and began resuscitation. First standing him on his head, then rubbing hard and working his arms and legs until one of the boys stood on his stomach and he spluttered back to life. The Black family still have the hand-written thank you letter in their possession.

Digger Black’s dairy was the first to have a tractor in Ingleburn- A Lanz Bulldog. It had to be started by applying a blowtorch to the manifold and cranked with the removable steering wheel. Interestingly, the Lanz agents came at the beginning the war and removed it’s made in Germany label.

He later lived in Oxford Road and then Ingleburn Road in 1964 and listed as dairy farmer. Oswald had moved to Bringelly. Digger was president of the Ingleburn Bowling Club and was a well-known footballer. He was from accounts a sociable man.  He has a park named after him in Ingleburn.

“Digger” Black died from heart complications at Liverpool in September 1966 at the family home at 71 Oxford Road. He left behind a wife and 6 children.

Thank you to Digger's son Clive who provided information and generously donated the above photograph of his father.

Written by Andrew Allen