ROY HARWOOD CLARK

Rank: Sergeant

Service Number: 2985

Units served: 50^th Battalion

PERSONAL DETAILS:

Roy was born was born 7 January 1895 at Bowden SA. He was the son of William and Rosina Clark of 35 Gordon Road, Prospect and he had 4 brothers and 4 sisters. He worked at the Metropolitan Abattoirs Board until 4^th April 1914. He then became a home missionary and worked at the Wynarka Mission from April to September 1914, before moving to Lucindale Mission from September 1914 to May 1915.

He was 20 years of age when he enlisted on 24th May 1915 at Keith in SA and was assigned to the 10th Battalion, AIF. He left Adelaide on the 21st September 1915 aboard the Star of England and was Taken on Strength of the 10th Battalion at Mudros on the 25th November. He was then sent back to Egypt, where, on the 27th February 1916, he was transferred to the newly formed 50th Battalion. He was then promoted to corporal on the 23rd March. The 50th battalion left Egypt for France on the 5th June 1916 arriving in Marseilles a week later. He was wounded on the 13th August at Mouquet Farm, receiving shrapnel wounds to the face and re-joining his unit the next day. On the 11th October he was once again promoted, this time to sergeant. He was admitted to hospital on the 5th November with weak eyes, re-joining his unit over 2 months later on the 10th January 1917. He was then hospitalised again in May of that year, suffering from Quinsy, otherwise known as tonsillitis. He re-joined the unit once again on the 23rd. He was then transferred to the 13th Training Battalion on the 14th July. This saw him end up at Codford in the south of England where he spent the next 5 months as a drill instructor. He returned to France and the 50th Battalion on the 15th December 1917. 5 months later on the 3rd anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, he was killed in action during the operation to re-capture the village of Villers-Bretonneux. He was buried 500 yards south of the village but his remains were not identified after the war and his name is on the wall of the Australian National Memorial north of the village.