Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Thomas Clarke enlisted for active service when the Great War first broke out, aged 42. He was an Inspector with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and in 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal, when;

"On the 11th October 1917, whilst at MIDDLE FARM Dump, near GREY RUIN about 4000 yards North East of YPRES, this N.C.O. rescued two Officers viz;- Major A.V. MEEHAN, 9th Field Ambulance, and Captain H.F. DUNSTAN, 11th Field Ambulance, and also one Private whose identity has not been ascertained. These Officers were looking for a position for a Dressing Station when they were wounded, Farrier Sergeant CLARKE rushed away some distance through shell fire, and got a rescue party together, and succeeded in getting the wounded persons out of the shelled zone. Almost immediately afterwards MIDDLE FARM Dump was being shelled, and Farrier Sergeant CLARKE, by his coolness and energy, succeeded in getting the Pack animals clear, which were crowded at the Dump, without casualties being inflicted." Source: Commonwealth Gazette No. 95 - 27 June 1918

"CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. ENTHUSIASTIC GATHERING.

There was a large and enthusiastic attendance at the annual meeting of the Sodety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at 23 Waymouth street on Tuesday afternoon. The President (Sir Edward Stirling) occupied the chair, and moved the adoption of the report and balance sheet which stated, inter alia:—

The committee is proud to record that one of the two inspectors with the A.I.F., (Farrier-Sgt. J. T. Clarke), who has been on active service with the artillery since the first few months of the war, has been awarded the Military Medal in France for great gallantly under heavy shellfire..." - from the Adelaide Register 19 Jun 1918 (nla.gov.au)

John Thomas Clarke was born on the 27th of June 1872, in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a natural born British subject, and his religion was Church of England. Before his work as an inspector for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), John Thomas Clarke was apprenticed to his father in Adelaide for five years. John Thomas Clarke was married to Ellen Muriel Clarke, and he and his wife lived in Birnie Avenue, Beulah Estate, South Australia. Clarke and his wife had one child; a daughter named Hilda.

At the age of 41 years, John Thomas Clarke enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Adelaide South Australia on the 19th of August 1914. This was only months after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning World War I on 28th July 1914. Clarke became a Farrier Sergeant with the 1st Division Artillery, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade (FAB), in the 3rd Brigade Ammunition Column.
 
The 3rd Field Artillery Brigade comprised the 7th, 8th, and 9th Field Artillery Batteries as well as the 3rd Brigade Ammunition Column to which Clarke belonged. The role of the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade was to support the Infantry Brigades. In World War 1 on the Western Front, artillery dominated the battlefield. It was a huge logistic effort to keep ammunition up to the guns on the front line. It was the role of Clarke’s Ammunition Column to keep ammunition up to the guns by moving it from “Third line” storage to the Front, or “First Line”. This was an enormous task which involved motor and horse-drawn transport. As using horses to transport ammunition often involved casualties, Clarke’s duty as a Farrier Sergeant was to manage the condition, housing and shoeing of horses and to act as medic to both horses and riders.

On the 20th of October 1914, Clarke’s unit embarked on the His Majesty’s Australian Transport (HMAT) A7 Medic from Adelaide, when Australia had been at war for 73 days. HMAT Medic was one of many ships requisitioned by the government for wartime service transporting the troops and over 139,000 horses. From Adelaide, the Medic travelled to Freemantle in Western Australia taking on supplies and more troops. Departing Freemantle on the 31st of October 1914, the Medic was bound for Egypt where troops would undergo military training and make final preparations for war at Mena near Cairo. The Medic arrived in Alexandrina in Egypt on the 5th December 1914. Clarke was one of the original “Anzacs” as, during training in Egypt, the Australian and New Zealand soldiers were combined into one corps – the Australian and New Zealand Army corps (ANZAC).
 
On 25 April 1915, Clarke’s 1st Division made an assault on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey A. Clarke became ill with Erteric Fever and was hospitalised 27/6/25 in Alexandria. He was transferred to the Pt Said Convalescent Hospital on 7/9/1915 and was sent back to Australia 16/10/16. After recovering in Australia he reembarked in Melbourne 1/8/16 and arrived in PLymouth 14/9/16. He proceeded to France on 20/11/16

He served on the Western Front from November 1916. In October 1917 Clarke was awarded the Military Medal for bravery.The records state that about 4000 meters north-east of Ypres in Belgium, on the 11 October, 1917, that Farrier Sergeant Clarke rescued two officers of the 9th and 11th Field Ambulances and a Private who had been wounded. After organizing a rescue party, Farrier Sergeant Clarke rushed through shell fire and succeeded in getting the wounded men out of the shelled zone. Farrier Sergeant Clarke was also effective in getting horses clear of the ammunition dump, without any casualties being inflicted.  Clarke was awarded the 1914 – 1915 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal for his service in the AIF.

John Thomas Clarke returned to Australia and, from 15th October 1919, continued to serve the AIF as Warrant Officer Class 2 at the AIF Headquarters in South Australia. He was discharged on 16th April, 1920. Clarke died on the 28th April, 1959, of natural causes at the age of 86 years, at Kensington Park, South Australia. He was laid to rest at the AIF Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia, where his headstone may be viewed.