Born in Leicester on the 6th June 1928, he Joined the Army in December 1944 and served in the Leicestershire Regiment, Royal Army Service Corps and Royal Corps of Transport. He was married in 1954 to Eileen and had two children, Julie and Dave. He served in Malta, Libya, Cyrenaica and Egypt, where he was awarded the British Empire Medal (as a result of successfully commanding a Transport Platoon over the period 1951 - 1952) and The British Army of the Rhine, retiring in 1967 with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1. He then spent seven years as a warehouse and transport manager for an international shipping company.

Divorced in 1974, he joined the MOD Police at RAF Aldergrove where he served until 1977 (earning the General Service Medal Northern Ireland), transferring on the drawdown of the force from Aldergrove to RNAD Coulport where he met his second wife Morven (she was Superintendent of Typists at the depot). They were married in 1978 and had a son, Christopher in 1981. At the beginning of 1985 Clifford voluntarily transferred to 35 Command Workshops REME Old Dalby where he carried out numerous periods of detached duty, the last of which was RAF Fulbeck in 1987. On his retirement in June 1988 he and his family returned to Scotland (Fife) when in 1992 Morven passed away.

In retirement he was a member of a local branch of the Royal British British Legion Scotland and actively campaigned for The Suez Canal Zone Medal which was finally issued in June 2003. He took up residence at The Royal Hospital Chelsea in March 2007. In November 2008 as a Chelsea Pensioner, he took part in The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Active until the end, he attended numerous regimental association events up and down the country from Dundee to the Isle of Wight. Clifford passed away suddenly but peacefully whilst visiting friends and family in Leicester on the 2nd January 2012.

The funeral service was held at The Royal Hospital Chelsea on the 25th January 2012 and a memorial service is to follow at Largo St. Davids Church, Lower Largo, Fife on the 11th February.