CLARKE, George Francis
| Service Number: | 27 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 January 1902, Enlisted in Adelaide, South Australia Jan 1902 in "D" Squadron, Second Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse (SA) |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse |
| Born: | Wattle Flat, South Australia, 24 September 1876 |
| Home Town: | Yankalilla, Yankalilla, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Myponga and later Wattle Flat, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer and Miner |
| Died: | Miner's Phithisis (Silicosis), Willunga, South Australia, 20 October 1914, aged 38 years |
| Cemetery: |
Saint Peters Catholic Cemetery, Normanville, South Australia Unmarked grave |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 27, 1 Mounted Infantry Contingent | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 27, First (West Australian Mounted Infantry) Contingent. | |
| 7 Jan 1902: | Enlisted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 2nd Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse, Enlisted in Adelaide, South Australia Jan 1902 in "D" Squadron, Second Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse (SA) | |
| 20 Feb 1902: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 2nd Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Karen Park
George Francis Clarke was born 24 Sep 1876 at Wattle Flat in South Australia, to first generation South Australian, farmer Matthew Clarke and his Irish born mother, Julia. One of three children, his older brother John would go on to become a policeman, and later a Police Superintendent. His younger sister, Susan died in 1888 of typhoid fever, aged 12. George was described as being approximately 5ft 6in, having brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. At around age 18 or 19 George left the farm at Wattle Flat, and set out for the gold mines in W.A. where he worked as a labourer and miner. In 1899 he was one of the first to sign up to fight in the Boer War with the West Australian Contingent, and served for 13 months before returning back to Australia, this time to Adelaide. It was in Adelaide in 1902 that he signed up again, this time in the company of a younger cousin, Albert Ernest Clarke, also from Wattle Flat. He did return to Adelaide at the conclusion of the War, but it's currently believed that he travelled back to Sth Africa to take up mining and prospecting there. In 1813 he once again returned home, only by this time he had become unwell with "miner's phithisis" (silicosis). In 1914 his mother and father both perished in a house fire at their cottage in Wattle Flat, and were buried at St Peter's Catholic Church, Normanville. Several months after their death, George also died while being cared for by his older brother, John, who was by this time a Police Trooper, in the nearby town of Willunga. It's believed that George is also buried at St Peter's, along with his parents, however no grave markers remain.