Maj.
Gother Robert Carlisle Clarke

Informations sur naissance

Date de naissance:
27/04/1875
Lieu de naissance:
Willoughby, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Informations générales

Profession:
Médecin

Informations service militaire

Pays:
Australia
Force armée:
Australian Imperial Force
Rang:
Major
Numéro de service:
/
Incorporation date:
14/03/1916
Incorporation nom de lieu:
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Unités:
 —  Australian Infantry, 34th Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Informations sur décès

Date de décès:
12/10/1917
Lieu de décès:
Haalen, Passchendaele, Belgique
Cause du décès:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Âge:
42

Cimetière

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood
Parcelle: III
Rangée: A
Tombe: 5

Distinctions et médailles 2

British War Medal
Médaille
Victory Medal
Médaille

Points d'intérêt 3

#1 Lieu de naissance
#2 Lieu d'enrôlement
#3 Lieu du décès (approximatif)

Mon histoire

Major Gother Robert Carlisle Clarke, a doctor by trade, served in the Australian Infantry 34th Battalion, part of the 9th Brigade, of the 3rd Division.

On the 12th of October 1917 the 3rd Division participated in the First Battle of Passchendaele. The Division advanced with two brigades, the 9th and 10th. The attack of the 9th Brigade was carried by the 34th and 35th Battalion and had two main objectives. They would first secure the area until after Augustus Wood and then they would try and capture Passchendaele village.

At 5.25 am the 34th Battalion started to advance in total confusion due to the heavy German shelling of the jumping-off lines. The advance was even more complicated due to the mud that slowed the soldiers down. Not soon after, the 35th Battalion joined the attack. Together they moved on towards the first objective. On their way, the 35th Battalion was able to overrun Defy Crossing, Hillside Farm and Augustus Wood.

When they had consolidated the first objective, they moved along the Passchendaele road towards the village itself, in front of which lay their second objective. Once they arrived at the ruins of the village, they encountered only slight resistance.

Several patrols managed to enter Passchendaele, but they were soon forced to retreat, due to renewed German resistance. At around 3 pm, both Battalions were pushed back past Augustus Wood and they eventually ended up close to where they had initially started.

Major Gother Robert Carlisle Clarke was killed in action on the 12th of October 1917, in the vicinity of the hamlet of Haalen, just west of Passchendaele. Several witnesses in his Red Cross Wounded and Missing File state that Major Clarke was hit by a shell as he was dressing the wounds of another man near a pillbox. His remains were exhumed after the war and buried in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.

Fichiers 3

Sources 5

34 th Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/51/12).
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583
Sources utilisées
Australian War Memorial
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10315966
Sources utilisées
Beaver E. and Meldrum J.W.G., . A Short History of the 34th Battalion, AIF, (Carlton, Illawarra Press, 1957), pg. 22-24.
Sources utilisées
First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, CLARKE G R C).
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx.
Sources utilisées
McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 113-115.
Sources utilisées

Complément d’informations 4