Royal Military College, Duntroon
(blogspot, 2017 )
Private William Thomas Clark
William Thomas Clark was born in 1891 in Yass, New South Wales; as a young boy he attended Weetangera School which was located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). His father was the caretaker at the Duntroon Military base in Canberra ACT, and during the outbreak of the Great War he lived with his parents in the home affairs camp. After completing his schooling William worked as a groom at the Royal Military College.
At the age of 23 William decided to enlist in the Australian Imperial Forces; so on August 19th 1914 he was recruited and assigned the Service No. 30 and attached to the 1st Light Horse Regiment. He embarked on the Star of Victoria HMAT A16, on October 20th 1914 leaving Sydney for Europe. Upon his arrival, like many others he was transported to Egypt where he spent several months training until his regiment was sent to Gallipoli to support the campaign on May 9th 1915 (RSL War Memorial, 2017). Shortly after his arrival William suffered a severe appendicitis attack, and was taken aboard the hospital ship the ‘Gascon’ and transported to the Tigne Military Hospital in Malta. As soon as he had recuperated and deemed medically fit he was sent back to the war.
Picture of William Thomas Clark (on the left) (blogspot, 2017)
Reference List
AIF Project, 2017. Details. Available at: https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=53818 [Accessed 08 September 2017].
My Family and The Great War (2017) Blog Spot William Thomas Clark; Available at: https://myfamilyww1.blogspot.com.au/p/william-thomas-clark.html [Accessed 15 September 2017].
National Heart Centre Singapore, 2017. Coronary Artery Disease. Available at: https://www.nhcs.com.sg/patientcare/ConditionsAndTreatments/Pages/CoronaryArteryDisease.aspx. [Accessed 08 September 2017].
RSL Virtual War Memorial, 2017. William Thomas CLARK. Available at: https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/299585 [Accessed 08 September 2017].
During battle he was also troubled by Mustard gas (a terrible gas that deforms the skin and causes small pus bubbles to erupt over the surface of the skin). On the 18th August 1915 William embarked on the Hospital Ship HS Asturias to return to England, where he was admitted to Bethnal Green Military Hospital. He spent 32 days receiving medical treatment after suffering from D.V.D (Double Vessel Disease); a disease which affects the arteries causing them to close due to blood clots (NHCS, 2017). William was discharged and again returned to the front line on the 11th September, 1915; he suffered a further injury to his neck in February, 1918 (RSL War Memorial, 2017).
During his service William was promoted to Corporal in June 1918 and later Sargent in September of the same year. He was listed to return to Australia on October 18th, 1918 on board the Taranto; however, he decided to undertake a machine gun course at Weymouth. He received a first class pass and later returned to the battle lines, where he was transferred to the Artillery at Tel-elkiba (RSL War Memorial, 2017). It was prior to his deployment that he met his future wife Lily in Salisbury Plain, ENgland; she arrived in Australia a couple of years after William’s return home and they were finally married in March 1921.
William survived four years of fighting and only to perish in a fire after his return to Australia. He was filling up his truck when the fumes from the benzine caught alight from a nearby hurricane lamp and William was very badly burnt in the explosion. He sadly passed away the next day at the Bombala Hospital on the 20th February, 1930 at the age of 39. William is buried in Grave N27, in the Presbyterian Section of the Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery.