SPARKS, Royal Clifford
| Service Number: | 1806 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 December 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, June 1891 |
| Home Town: | Carlton North, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Lee State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Bootmaker |
| Died: | GSW - fracture right arm, Died at sea HS Delta , Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 8 August 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" The Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 7), Gallipoli, Turkey, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Carlton North St. Michael's Anglican Church Great War Honour Roll, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1806, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Apr 1915: | Involvement Private, 1806, 8th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: '' | |
| 14 Apr 1915: | Embarked Private, 1806, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From How We Served
The private commemoration for; - 1806 Private Royal (aka Roy) Clifford Sparks of North Carlton, Victoria who prior to his joining up for War Service on the 4th of January 1915 had been employed as a bootmaker.
Roy was allocated to reinforcements for the 8th Battalion 1st AIF and was embarked for Egypt and further training on the 14th of April, after which he joined his Battalion in the trenches of Gallipoli on the 26th of May following the fighting at Krithia. Roy’s Unit was committed to assist in the capture of Lone Pine, and it was during this battle that he sustained multiple gunshot wounds on the 7th of August and was evacuated for hospitalization.
Placed aboard the Hospital Ship ‘Delta’, Roy was sent to Mudros Island but died of his wounds whilst on route during the following day, and was formally buried at sea. He was aged 24 at the time of his death. Roy has no actual war grave and is instead officially commemorated on the walls of the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey.
Back in Australia, Roy’s grieving family had his supreme sacrifice made during the ‘Great War’ privately added to the Sparks family’s collective burial site within Melbourne General Cemetery, Victoria.
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