103401 Sapper WILLIAM J. CLARKE
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis ©2008
William J. Clarke enlisted in the Royal Engineers in August of 1914 and was posted to the 88th Field Company with the 13th Division. His unit was training at Aldershot in February of 1915 and by July of 1915 his division was off the coast of Gallipoli. The 88th Field Company took part in the Landing at Sulva between the 6th and 15th of August 1915, at the action at Sari Bair between the 6th and 10th of August 1915, and in the battle at Scimitar Hill on the 21st of August 1915.
After the evacuation of the 13th Division from Gallipoli in January of 1916, Sapper Clarke moved to Egypt with his unit enroute to Mesopotamia. The unit took part in the following actions while in Mesopotamia:
The Campaign on the Tigris: 6 January to 22 April 1916
The Battle of Kut: 9 January to 24 February 1917
Baghdad: 25 February to 10 March 1917
Advance to the Jabal Hamrin in Northern Mesopotamia: September 1917
In June of 1918 Clarke's company went into summer quarters near Tuz Khurmatli and Kifri. In October of 1918 he took part in the final offensive against the Turks and in February of 1919 he and his unit left Mesopotamia for Egypt.
Sapper Clarke survived the war. For his service during the Great War, he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory medal.
REFERENCES:
1. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers
Journal, 1925-1932.
2. History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume VII.
3. Medal Index Card.