There are lots of of late veterans from the South West area who served in the course of the two main conflicts of the early twentieth century, however not all have a narrative fairly like Raymond Arthur Clarke.
Mr Clarke was born in 1889 because the sixth of 10 kids in his household. His father Ephraim Mayo Clarke was the primary elected mayor of Bunbury and went on to serve in State Parliament for greater than twenty years.
After receiving his schooling in Bunbury and Perth, he labored in agriculture within the Kimberley area and on the household farm in Roelands.
He and shut good friend, Burekup’s Tom Rose, each enlisted in 1914 after the annual rifle prize shoot they have been travelling to Kalgoorlie for was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I.
South West struggle historian Jeff Peirce stated the pair accomplished their coaching at Blackboy Hill camp in Greenmount earlier than heading to Egypt.
“Further training was then undertaken, including an elimination shoot involving the entire 20,000 First Division of the AIF,” he stated.
“This shoot was to identify the elite sharpshooters who were to act as snipers in the battles ahead. Tom Rose won the shoot and Ray Clarke was runner-up.”
The pair proved priceless in the course of the Gallipoli marketing campaign, at one level each serving as the private safety guards for Allied Commander Sir Ian Hamilton.
While Mr Rose was pressured off the entrance line attributable to illness, Mr Clarke was one of many few unique members of the eleventh Battalion to not be evacuated with ailing well being and accidents or killed whereas at Gallipoli.
Before being transferred to the Western Front in 1916, Mr Clarke was appointed as a bombing officer for D Company.
Mr Peirce stated Mr Clarke was a part of the battle at Pozieres, the place greater than 700 males have been killed.
“(He) was the only officer in D Company able to walk out of this battle unaided,” he stated.
He was later awarded a Military Cross for his efforts in the course of the second battle of the Somme, earlier than being appointed as chief bombing teacher for the First Division in February 1917.
After being severely injured throughout a bomb throwing competitors in June of the identical 12 months, he spent the remainder of the battle on the sidelines.
Mr Clarke was as soon as once more referred to as upon for his army experience in World War II, being made the officer-in-command of the Port Hedland Garrison throughout Japanese air raids in town.
Mr Peirce stated Mr Clarke stored up his capturing abilities after ending his army profession, inserting third within the WA Queen’s Shoot in 1957 at age 68.
“In a further touch of irony, Ray collapsed and died on the Busselton rifle range in 1959, aged 70 years,” he stated.
https://thewest.com.au/news/south-western-times/anzac-day-a-bunbury-born-farmer-one-of-australias-sharpest-shooters-during-world-war-i-c-14409667
