Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alan Gordon Clark-Kennedy (765)
Researched and Written by The Cardwell and District Historical Society, Cardwell Queensland.
Alan Gordon Clark-Kennedy and his brother Kenneth were sons of William Frederick Clark-Kennedy who first came to the Cardwell district in about 1880 as a jackaroo. Later he returned to invest a legacy in a property north of Cardwell, having become married in May 1882 to Sarah Alice Gordon. Miss Gordon was the teacher at the Cardwell Provisional School from May 1880 to May 1881.

William was in partnership with the Skardon brothers, Andrew and John, in a tin-mining venture at Five Mile Creek, known as “Ruby Tin Mine” and in the Post Office Directory for Cardwell for 1915-16, he is listed as “Mine owner”. He also took up a selection at Kennedy Creek, calling it Carruchan, which was thought to be an aboriginal word for “home of the wild duck”. In addition he owned a cane farm on the Herbert River.

W. F. Clark-Kennedy served on the Cardwell Shire Council from 1903 to 1905 and 1909 to 1911. He was Chairman in 1910. His son, Alan Gordon Clark-Kennedy, who purchased a property in the Parish of Meunga from Shire Clerk P. J. Hull in 1911 also was a Councillor, serving for a time in 1914. During the war years W. F. Clark-Kennedy sold the Carruchan properties and proceeded with his vocation as a minister in the Church of England.

Alan Gordon Clark-Kennedy, known as Gordon, was born at Harrisville, south-eastern Queensland (17 August 1884). He had his army medical at Ingham, enlisted at Townsville and took his oath to the King on 12 December 1914 being then appointed to Enoggera (with service number 765). After training he departed from Brisbane with the 3rd Reinforcements of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in February 1915 for Alexandria.

From there he went to Gallipoli, when the mounted divisions, without their horses, were deployed to reinforce the infantry. The 2nd Light Horse Regiment landed on 12 May 1915, joining the New Zealand and Australian Division, and Clark-Kennedy joined his unit there later in the year. The regiment played a defensive role for most of the campaign. The 2nd Light Horse was withdrawn from the front line in September and left the peninsula on 18 December. Back in Egypt, the 2nd Light Horse joined the ANZAC Mounted Division.

Gordon spent time in hospital at Alexandria in August 1915, then returned to duty on Gallipoli in September but was again in hospital a week later. He was sent back to Egypt, to Mena Hospital, in October but returned “to duty” on 8 November and took part in the evacuation of Gallipoli.

He continued to serve in Egypt and was with the regiment at the Battle of Romani in July 1916. After this he was transferred to the 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Section and passed as First Class Gunner on 14 October 1916. In November he marched out to the 1st Anzac Battalion, Imperial Camel Corps to be taken on strength and served in the Near East for the remainder of the war. He attained the rank of Corporal and then Temporary Sergeant. The Camel Corps was recruited originally from the AIF battalions and British forces recuperating after Gallipoli. In 1916 they performed long patrols and entered brief skirmishes with pro-Turkish desert dwellers in Egypt. They fought alongside the Light Horse units in the Sinai Desert in late 1916 and in Palestine in 1917 and 1918.

Gordon Clark-Kennedy was hospitalized several times during his service, in particular he was wounded in action at Gaza, 19 April 1917 when he suffered gunshot wounds to forearm and arm. This must have been at the second battle of Gaza when after three days of fighting the attack was called off as the Turkish redoubts were too well-sited and no headway could be made against them. The Camel Corps suffered heavily in this action.

He spent some days in various field hospital stations, including time on a train at El Arish (namesake of the soldier settlement El Arish, near Tully). He rejoined his unit in the field on 5 June 1917 and continued to serve, suffer sicknesses and further time in hospital. In July 1918 he was transferred to the 14th Light Horse which was formed in Palestine from members of the Imperial Camel Corps. The ICC was disbanded because camel-mounted troops, while very useful in the deserts of Egypt and the Sinai, were not suitable for the conditions in Palestine. The regiment took part in mopping up operations around Damascus.

On 7 May 1919 Gordon embarked from Port Said for London on leave. He finally returned to Australia (on the Argyleshire) and was discharged at Melbourne in November 1919. He was awarded the 1914-15 Medal, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. After the war, he returned to Cardwell briefly and on the night of his return there was a “big gathering” at the pub.

He then moved to Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria, where his father was residing. While in England he had become engaged to Miss Elizabeth Mabel Moore of Lichfield. He applied for a repatriation grant to build a War Home and also, in April 1920, applied for a passage for his fiancée to join him. The cost was £10, with an additional £20 to convert the passage from 3rd class to 2nd class. Eventually, after the first vessel to which she had been assigned sailed without notifying her, Elizabeth was able to board the Orontes and sail for Australia on June 19, 1920. They lived at Phillip Island for some years. Alan Gordon died at the age of 65 in 1950 at Auburn South, Victoria. In 1967 his widow, received the Gallipoli Medallion.