Clarke William James

William’s father, James Clarke, was a reservist7c who had also placed his services at the disposal of his country in case he was needed7c. His father had served several years in the old Volunteers and Yeomanry7c and was, at the time of his son’s death, a respected member of the local Volunteer Training Corps7c.

His mother was Maud Mary Clarke and William was their eldest son7d, born in about 1893 at Grappenhall or Thelwell in Cheshire.

When they moved to Uttoxeter the family lived at Heath Cross Nursaries, 36 Heath Cross.

The 1911 Census6h shows that he was living at home with his parents at 36 Heath Cross, Uttoxeter. He was an apprentice reporter printer.

The family comprised the following (note that William’s uncle John was either living with them or visiting overnight when the census was taken):

Before the war William served his apprenticeship as a reporter with the Uttoxeter Advertiser5, 7a, 7b, 7c before joining the staff of the ‘Bournemouth Visitors’ Directory’7c, followed by a position in London7a, 7b on the ‘Railway Gazette5, 7a and Shipping Record’7c, which he left to serve his Country7c shortly after the outbreak of war. On the 9th of September 1914 it was reported in the Uttoxeter Advertiser7a that he had enlisted at Westminster and gone to Bedford5, 7a.

William served as Lance Corporal, Number 13366, in the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment.

Upon completing his basic training he did not take the embarkation leave that was due to him because he wanted to join his friend on a draft which was embarking for France7b, 7c. His Medal Index Card8 shows that he first went to the Western Front on 24th March 1915.

He had only been at the front for about a month when he received the wounds that were to prove fatal7c. On 18 April 19155, 7c, 7d William was hit in the leg by shrapnel5 while holding a line of trenches 3 miles from Ypres7c, 7d. His leg was badly shattered below the knee7c.

He wrote a cheerful letter to his parents from hospital, giving them the impression that the wound was not sufficiently serious to cause anxiety7b, 7c. The letter was dated 22nd April 1915 and part of it was quoted in the Uttoxeter Advertiser7b as follows:

“No doubt you have had some anxiety about me during the past fortnight, because with being in the trenches I have not been able to get a line away. However, you will be glad to hear that despite my rather bad wound I am in fairly good condition, but not quite so energetic as when you saw me last!

“This is my second day here. I was wounded by a shrapnel bullet in the leg, just below the knee, on Monday, the 18th, between 3 and 4 o’clock in the afternoon, whilst holding a line of trenches some three miles out of Ypres. You would see in the paper on Monday or Tuesday an account of our little deal up there with the Germans, whom we blew out of their trenches on Saturday night at 7 o’clock, and then the ‘Jocks’ and West Kents charged them like mad, driving them right out of the trenches. Well, within the hour our lads were bringing in the prisoners, 15 of them, including two or three officers.

“The explosion was a great affair. I was in the ‘dug-outs’ at the back of the hill some 200 yards from the firing line, as we were reinforcement for the Norfolks. My first sight was three fellows stretched out dead. One had been killed in a ‘bomb-proof’ by a shell while asleep. This was a queer Sunday – shelling going on all day, with another attack by our lads. Another one followed at 6 p.m. while we lay right at the bottom of the trench as the shells dropped around us. In bursting, one blew half the parapet down, and the falling sandbags dropped on us…”

On the day on which William received his wound his Battalion was at Hill 60, or ‘Murder Hill’ as it was known9. The explosion to which he referred in his letter was that of a British mine going off under the German lines at 7pm on 15th April. Men waiting to take part in an assault on the hill felt the ground shake around them and after a few seconds a huge black cloud erupted from the centre of the hill. After a further ten seconds, which to on-lookers seems to be an eternity, a dirty yellow flame rose into the darkening sky and then a barrage of artillery fire and rifle fire pounded the area from both sides9.

The initial rush on the hill went well because almost the whole German garrison had been destroyed by the first mine explosion, but by midnight ferocious German counter-attacks were taking place. Fighting continued through the next day (18th April), when the Germans regained most of the hill and both sides lost heavily. It appears that it was during this fighting that William was wounded.

Mr. H. Morley, an Army Scripture Reader, took a deep interest in Lance-Corporal Clarke because he had served in the same regiment himself for many years before he left the ranks to enter into mission work. He wrote the following letter to William’s old friend and Denstone schoolmaster, Mr. G. Bowman7c:

“He is a splendid young fellow, and it is sad that such a bright young life should so suffer, but I don’t think he regrets the part he has taken in this tremendous struggle, or the price he has paid and may still have to pay to save the world from being dominated by such ruthless enemies. His faith and hope are I believe in God, come what may, and this will be a great consolation to you all who love him so well”

Unfortunately, complications developed and William succumbed to blood poisoning5, 7c and died on 20th May 1915. He was 22 years old.

His father went to Boulogne on the 11th of May 19155 and, fortunately, he was able to see his son7c, but not before his condition was leaving little hope of recovery7c.

William’s newspaper duties with the Uttoxeter Advertiser brought him into contact with a large number of people, resulting in widespread regret when news of his death reached the town7c. In his obituary in the Uttoxeter Advertiser7c he was described as being possessed of a remarkably cheerful disposition, and he was said to have been a young man of irreproachable character who would probably have gone far in his profession.

With the news of his son’s death, his father received the second of two terrible blows. Less than a year beforehand he had also lost his wife7c.

William is buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, a huge military cemetery that sprung up within the Boulogne hospital complex. In this cemetery the NCOs and other ranks were buried in closely-spaced graves and William shares a grave with three other people. There is insufficient space for them to have full-size gravestones and their smaller gravestones are set one above the other to mark their approximate positions.

Unusually for a military cemetery, the gravestones lie on the ground because the sandy soil cannot support them:

William’s family had the following inscription placed at the foot of his headstone:

A noble and loving son

He freely gave his all

For us

William was awarded the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

This notice was posted in the Uttoxeter Advertiser in May 19167d to mark the first anniversary of his death

Photograph with kind permission from the Uttoxeter Advertiser