WILKS, Clarence Melville
| Service Number: | 4313 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 September 1915, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Albany, Western Australia, 18 June 1895 |
| Home Town: | Wiluna, Wiluna, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Wiluna Primary School |
| Occupation: | Postal employee |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Bullecourt, France, 7 May 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Albany & Districts Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kalgoorlie St John's Anglican Church Honour Roll, Postmaster General's Department Perth WWI HR, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4313, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Jan 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4313, 11th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Jan 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4313, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Fremantle | |
| 7 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 4313, 11th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) |
Help us honour Clarence Melville Wilks's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
Friends of ANZAC Cottage Inc
Today we honour Pte Clarence Melville Wilks, a young man who enlisted in the AIF on this day 16 September 1915. Clarence came from a very big family of 9 sons and 7 daughters. Two of his brothers also served in World War I. Clarence was a member of the famous 11th Battalion with a service number of 4313. Sadly, Clarence’s service ended abruptly on 7 May 1917 when he was killed in action at Bullecourt.
Below in the images is Clarence’s story of service as written by his family, so I will concentrate on his ‘civvy’ life.
Clarence’s occupation as listed in his attestation papers was a ‘telegraphist’. As an employee of the Australian Post Office, Clarence served in the mining town of Lawlers and in Carnamah. He was a popular fellow as can be seen by the notice below of his farewell from Lawlers. He is remembered on the Postmaster General’s Honour Roll in Perth.
The Wilks family had many addresses, with Clarence born in Albany, educated at Wiluna and the family also lived in Katanning and 60 Ellesmere Street Mount Hawthorn with the latter address being the one that makes us feel he is truly a Mount Hawthorn veteran.
Dear Clarence we thank you for your service and mourn the loss of your young life. Rest in peace, we will remember you.
Thank you to Sandra Playle for your help with this.
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Graham Wilks (great nephew)
Clarence Melville (4313 13th Reinf 11 Batt) is my great uncle, a younger brother to my grandfather Percy (8057 27th Reinf 11 Batt). The story is that on the day before Clarence was killed at Bullecourt he had helped his younger brother William Alfred (6351 20th Reinf 11 Batt) from the front lines after he had been wounded. Clarence went back into action and was killed the next day. His resting place is known only to God and he is commemorated on the memorial at Villers Bretonneux. Clarence had previously been wounded at Pozieres. Bullecourt is a very sobbering place. I travelled there in 2018 and gazed upon a field where it is believed the remain of some 3,000 Australians who where killed in the first and second battles lie. I am not aware if there is any appetite to excavate this site, and our heroes will continue to lie safe in the French countryside.
RIP
Biography
Second son of Alfred & Elisabeth Wilks (nee Sanders)
13th Reinf 11th Battalion
Brother to Percy Wilks (#8057 11th & 51st Battalion) and William Alfred Wilks (#6351 11th Battalion)
Click images to start slideshow.