CLARK, Walter Samuel Thomas
| Service Number: | 4761 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 September 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Noradjuha, Victoria, Australia , May 1889 |
| Home Town: | Warwick, Southern Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Warwick Central Boys School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 1 February 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Honour Roll, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Warwick War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 10 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4761, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Mar 1916: | Involvement Private, 4761, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Commonwealth embarkation_ship_number: A73 public_note: '' | |
| 28 Mar 1916: | Embarked Private, 4761, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Commonwealth, Brisbane |
Help us honour Walter Samuel Thomas Clark's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Walter Samuel Thomas Clark was the son of Richard and Edna Jane Clark, of Warwick, Queensland. His mother was widowed, his father passing away in 1909 and he was an only son.
Walter joined the 15th Battalion on the Western Front on 4 October 1916. Walter took part in a raid on 1 February 1917, near Gueudecourt, when the 15th Battalion attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. The party consisted of 150 men and six officers, or one and half companies. The attack started at about 7.00 p.m. on a frontage of 500 metres. Although the enemy trenches were only 100 metres from the Australian lines, inadequate artillery support caused the attack to fail. A German counter attack at 11 p.m. was beaten off. In the face of relentless German shelling of the captured trenches, and a stronger German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire. Although 52 German soldiers were captured, the 15th Battalion’s casualties were 38 men killed, over 20 captured by the Germans and over 80 wounded.
Walter was first reported missing but his death was soon confirmed and he has no known grave.
The Warwick Examiner reported in March 1917, “The deceased was a splendid young Australian, a good living young lad, whose one thought was for his mother and for her home. For a time, he was employed by Messrs. Barnes and Co., under Mr. H. Harris, but later he became a carpenter. He unlisted from Mount Morgan in September. His death re moves a lad of whom Australia might well have been proud had not his devotion to his country and its cause cut a promising life short.”
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