Dates:
War Service:
Second Lieutenant CYRIL CLARKE of 11th battalion East Surrey Regiment died on 16 June 1916 of wounds sustained on 14th June. At the time of his death he was attached to the 8th battalion.
Except from War Diary of 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment :
1916
June 14th. "The intense bombardment of our front line trenches which started at 11.30 pm on the 13th continued until shortly after midnight…..Our artillery continued firing until about 1.30am. Unfortunately some of the field guns were firing rather short and a number of our casualties were caused by our own shrapnel….. Some of our trenches especially those on the right and left were badly knocked about and we suffered the following casualties … 2/Lt C Clarke wounded……. Throughout the bombardment all ranks behaved with the utmost steadiness….."
June 16th. "News received that 2/Lt Clarke had died from wounds received on the night of 13/14th and was to be buried at Corby on the 17th."
He is buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension.
Location of Memorial:
He is remembered on the war memorial at St Dunstan’s College.
Details:
He was born in Beckenham, the third son of Agnes E. and the late Herbert Edwin Clarke, of 10, Fitzwilliam Avenue, Richmond. He was educated at St Dunstan’s College , Catford where he had a distinguished sporting career as a cricketer, footballer, runner and lacrosse player.
In 1908 he joined the London Scottish and Australian Bank in Lombard St.
Source:
Wisden, 1917
The Times of 22 June and 1 July 1916
War Diary of 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment
Contributed By: Andy Pepper
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