No.20124, Private, Ernest George CLARKE
Aged 21
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Born in 1894 in Bury St.Edmunds (qtr 2 4a:750) son of Richard and Susannah CLARKE (née LAMBERT)
1901 census...Aged 7, he was at 7 Finsbury Square, Bury St.Edmunds with his father Richard CLARKE [50] council roadman; his mother Susannah [46] sack maker born Lavenham; brother Frederick [9]; sisters Ellen [13], Hilda [5] and Viole [ 8 months]. All except his mother were born in Bury St.Edmunds. 1911 census...Aged 17, a stable lad, he was at 18 Church Walk, Bury St.Edmunds with his parents; brother Fred (painter) sisters Hilda (daygirl) and Violet. The pension card has his mother at 26 College Square, Bury St.Edmunds. |
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He enlisted in Bury St.Edmunds. Being killed in Belgium on 22nd Jan.1916, and no 1914-15 Star, he must have been killed within days of arriving in Belgium. 01/1916. His death was reported in the Bury Free Press on 1st April 1916.
The 2nd Suffolks were at The Bluff, near the Ypres-Comines canal. On the night of 21st/22nd the Germans exploded a mine, estimated to be around 6-7 tons of gunpowder, blastng a crater 60 x 40 yards and 40 feet deep. The SE face of the Bluff was carried away, ammunition boxes were blown hundred of yards and surrounding trenches caved in. Many men were buried several feet deep. Around 100 men were killed, buried alive or wounded. Survivors quickly set out to defend the crater, but the Germans made no attempt to attack. 23 of the 40+ dead are named on the Menin Gate, unsurprisingly they were never found, or identified. The Bluff, just east of St Eloi, was simply a mound of soil, about 3 feet high from when the canal was dug.
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details |
