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Born in Nottingham, England, the son of Benjamin and Betsy Ann Clark.  His wife May remarried Hubert Wymark.  He was an ironmonger prior to his enlistment.

"...2366 Lance Corporal Benjamin Clark, 2nd Battalion, of Bondi, NSW. An ironmonger prior to his enlistment, LCpl Clark enlisted on 29 May 1915 and died of wounds at Pozieres, France on 20 July 1916..." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

Obituary published 30th August 1916 in the Nottingham Evening Post: CLARK. - On July 21st, 1916, of wounds, Lance-Corporal Benjamin Clark (of Sydney), Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force, late of Nottingham and West Bridgford. - From his sorrowing wife.”

From François Berthout

LCpl 2066 Benjamin Clark,
2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
1st Brigade, 1st Australian Division
 
In the green fields of the Somme, sway under the summer breeze, millions of poppies which, more than a hundred years ago, grew between the lifeless bodies of thousands of young men who, for their country and for France answered the call of duty to do their part on the battlefields of the great war and who, for peace and freedom, fought and fell in the barbed wire and the mud on which so much blood flowed under fire.

United forever in eternal camaraderie and fraternity, these heroes who gave their all, their lives, still stand together behind the shadows of their white tombs, proud and young in silence and reach out their hands to us so that the bond of remembrance lives on forever,to remember who they were in order to perpetuate their memory and their stories to the next generations so that the bravery and sacrifices of these young men who were mowed down in the Somme are never forgotten so that their names may live on through eternity.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and the deepest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow. I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Lance Corporal number 2066 Benjamin Clark who fought in the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 1st Brigade, 1st Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 106 years ago, on July 20, 1916 at the age of 36 during the Battle of the Somme.

Benjamin was born in 1881 in Nottingham, England, and was the son of Benjamin and Betsy Ann Clark. He was educated at Loughborough Grammar School, England and then worked initially as a hardware assistant but soon after emigrated to Australia, initially lived in Bondi, Waverley, New South Wales, where he met his future wife, May Clark (née Wymark) and lived in May Villa, Belgrave Street, Bronte, Waverley, where Benjamin worked as an Ironmonger.

Benjamin enlisted on 29 May 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales, as a Private in the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Reinforcement, battalion whose nickname was "City Of Newcastle Regiment", whose motto was "Nulli Secundus" (Second To None) and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, a citizen soldier and member of Parliament in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, who held the seat of Armidale. After a training period of just over a month, Benjamin embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A67 Orsova on July 14, 1915 and sailed for the Gallipoli Peninsula.

On November 4, 1915, Benjamin was disembarked at Gallipoli and with the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion, fought in a defensive role at ANZAC but Lieutenant Colonel George Braund, the Commanding Officer of the battalion was accidentally killed a few months earlier, on the night of 3 on May 4, 1915 then Lieutenant Colonel Robert Scobie took command but was killed in August during an attack on Lone Pine.

Finally, on December 8, the orders to begin the evacuation of the peninsula were given and Benjamin, alongside of his comrades embarked on board "Huntsgreen" and were sent to Egypt.

On December 28, 1915, Benjamin was disembarked in Alexandria where he followed a period of training and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on February 15, 1916 in Serapeum then the following month, on March 22, embarked on board "Invernia" and proceeded overseas for France.

On March 28, 1916, after a week of uneventful travel on the Mediterranean Sea, Benjamin arrived in France and was disembarked in Marseilles then with the 2nd Battalion, marched for Renescure (Hauts-De-France) on April 1 and followed a training period which ended on April 9. The following day, the battalion joined Outtersteen where they remained until April 19 and the following day, entered the trenches near Bailleul.

A month later, on May 22, 1916, Benjamin was sent in Terdeghem to Stokes School of instruction, a mortar invented by Wilfred Stokes. The Stokes mortar was a simple weapon, consisting of a smoothbore metal tube fixed to a base plate (to absorb recoil) with a lightweight bipod mount. When a mortar bomb was dropped into the tube, an impact sensitive primer in the base of the bomb would make contact with a firing pin at the base of the tube, and detonate, firing the bomb towards the target. During the first world war, the Stokes Mortar could fire as many as 25 bombs per minute and had a maximum range of 800 yards firing the original cylindrical unstabilised projectile.

On May 28, 1916, Benjamin marched out of the school of instruction and joined his unit at Sailly, near Fleurbaix then on June 1, the 2nd Battalion proceeded to Steenbecque for musketry practice and were mainly employed in fatigue parties. On June 2, the battalion was reviewed by Australian Prime Minister William Hughes then on June 5, moved back to Sailly and on June 11, entered the trenches at Fleurbaix from where a successful raid was launched on June 13 which ended ended with the capture of several German prisoners as well as the capture of several enemy mortars and machine guns and fought in this sector until July 8.

On July 11, 1916, Benjamin and the 2nd Australian Infantry Battalion were sent to the Somme and arrived at Candas, marched through Domart, Vignacourt and reached the small village of Allonville on July 13. Two days later, on July 15, Benjamin was on command of a unit of trench mortar battery, probably armed with Stokes mortars and proceeded for Warloy-Baillon the next day and on July 20, entered the trenches of Pozieres, under the fire of German artillery. Unfortunately, it was during that day that Benjamin met his fate and was seriously wounded by a shell, an event recorded in the battalion's war diary as follows:

"July 20,1916:Enemy Artillery active throughout the night.Casualties:Two other rank killed,one wounded (Benjamin Clark)."

After being wounded, Benjamin was immediately evacuated to the 3rd Field Ambulance located in Becourt Wood but he died shortly after being admitted, he was 36 years old.

Today, Lance Corporal Benjamin Clark rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Becourt Military Cemetery, Somme, which in 1916 was called Becourt Wood Cemetery.

Benjamin, brave, determined and ready, it is with conviction, with faith and courage that in the prime of your life you answered the call of duty to serve your country, the young and strong Australian nation, to fight in the name of peace and freedom on the battlefields of the great war, under the bullets and the shells, in the fury and the madness of a world which sank in flames and chaos but proud, thousands of young Diggers marched Side by side with the deep desire to fight, to do what was right and together, behind the drums and the bagpipes, in the mud and the poppy fields, in the heat and the darkness, in the dust, they followed the neighs horses which, heads down and courageous, in endless files, followed their masters who went to the front singing in the innocence and ardor of their youth, guided by their ideals, their convictions without knowing what horrors awaited them on the battlefields but they saw far away, in the din and the thunder the horizon torn by the howling thunder of the artillery which, relentlessly, like a beast thirsty for destruction and blood, worked to destroy all humanity, to crush the beauty and the silence of once verdant landscapes under tons of shells that left behind only ashes and putrid quagmires on which lay lifeless, amputated, dismembered, a whole generation of men who a few hours earlier were full of life, were loved and were pushed forward by their dreams and the hopes of peace which without pity were swept away by hail of lead, by the relentless fire of the machine guns which spat death at an infernal rate and very quickly, other young men arrived to replace them in the trenches and in this hell, in this cauldron of death, their innocence, their youth were lost forever when they saw helpless, thousands of their brothers who fell earlier and who in heartbreaking moans, implored god and their mothers in their last moments of a too short life that was shattered in the hell of an insane war that was to last four years and that would leave nothing and no one unchanged. Bayonets forward, in brave waves, these admirable men faced death and their fears, their faces blackened by the filth and blood of their comrades they went over the top with in their hearts, a rage that guided them through the no man's land and nothing could stop them, they fought fiercely for the friends, for the men who stood by their side, they fought like lions under the admiring eyes of their brothers in arms who had the honor to fight alongside the young Australians and this was the case with the French who, in their horizon blue uniforms, were proud to serve alongside the Diggers and with whom they forged an indestructible and fraternal friendship of which we are proud and which I carry with admiration in my heart. In the Somme, the Australians were always in the front line and paid heavy sacrifices. At Pozieres, Amiens, Villers-Bretonneux, Mouquet Farm, thousands of them fell in the bravest assaults of the whole war but in battles that were among the deadliest of the 20th century. Despite this and the catastrophic losses they suffered, the Australians never backed down and never gave up, they remained united and strong in mateship and always kept their sense of humor but here in the Somme, to me, they will be always true heroes whom I will always watch over with the highest respect, with gratitude and admiration, with love and care to keep their memory alive so that their names live forever. Thank you so much Benjamin, for everything. At thegoing down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him,we will remember them.