CARL GUSTAV ADOLPH KLAR MM

Rank: Corporal

Service Number: 1985

Unit: 54th Battery Australian Field Artillery

Carl Gustav Adolph Klar was born on the 8^th of April 1892 in Morphett Vale, South Australia. He was the first son of Carl Gustav Adolph and Emma (nee Frick) Klar and had a younger brother Alfred George, who also enlisted and fought in WWI. More commonly known as Adolph, he also had the nickname of ‘Hardy’ among friends. He grew up around O’Halloran Hill and was a motor driver before enlisting.

He enlisted to the Australian Imperial Force on the 20^th August 1915, embarking for Egypt on the 10^th February 1916, as a Private in the 3^rd Light Horse Brigade, aboard the HMAT Warilda.

While in Egypt, he was transferred to the 54^th Battery, a unit of the 14^th Field Artillery Brigade. Disembarking in Marseilles in June 1916, he served through the final stages of the Somme. He then fought in The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, where he was awarded the Military Medal on 20^th November 1917 for his actions on the 4th October. . His recommendation for this award reads that after a gun pit had been hit by artillery shells and the ammunition pit was burning, he assisted by taking away the burining camouflage and throwing damaged shells away from the area, saving a considerable amount of ammunition. This was during the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge and every shell was vital to support the attacking Australians. He  continued to serve on the Western Front, and was promoted to temporary corporal in December 1917. Three months later while fighting in the spring offensive, he was taken to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station with gunshot wounds to his legs and thigh. Corporal Adolph Klar died of wounds received in action on the 25th March 1918, aged 25. He is buried in the Outtersteene Communal Cemetery, Bailleul, France in Section II, Row C, Grave 30.