Joseph Clark (1887 - 1915)
Joseph worked at the British Xylonite factory at Brantham before the War. He volunteered to join the Essex Regiment in September 1914, but was transferred to the East Surrey Regiment shortly afterwards. Joseph lost his life in a tragic accident in January 1915.
- 18
- Died in the Great War
- 51.968892, 1.024205
Details
| Name: | Joseph Clark |
| Service: | British Army |
| Unit: | 11th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment |
| Regimental Number: | 8285 |
| Rank: | Private |
| Date of Death: | 10th January 1915 |
| Age: | 27 |
| Buried: | Dartmouth (Longcross) Cemetery, Dartmouth, Devon |
Family Background and Early Life
Joseph Clark was born in East Bergholt – almost certainly at his parents’ house at Burnt Oak – on 9th March 1887.
He was the sixth child from the marriage of Walter and Mary Ann Clark (nee Taylor). Walter was a Shoemaker, originally from Bentley, as was Joseph’s mother. They had started their married life in Tattingstone, before they moved to East Bergholt in 1877. Their marriage produced 9 children, all of whom reached adulthood.
Joseph started at the village school on 20th April 1891, and remained there until 19th May 1899. Two years after leaving school, he was employed at the British Xylonite factory in Brantham, initially in the Roller shop before later transferring to an earlier stage in the productions process in the Xyloidine or Acid shop. 1 Xylonite was an early plastic, and now perhaps better known under the trade name of Celluloid.
Joining Up
On 4th September 1914 – exactly one month after Great Britain declared war on Germany, following the latter’s invasion of neutral Belgium – Joseph volunteered to join the Essex Regiment. His surviving Service Papers record that he was 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighed 129 with a fresh complexion and dark brown hair.
Within a week of joining up, Joseph had been transferred to the East Surrey Regiment. He was posted initially to the East Surrey Regiment’s 4th Battalion and was sent to Plymouth – where they were then based – to commence his basic training.
To allow for the influx of new recruits in the late summer and early autumn of 1914, the East Surrey like many other regiments had created additional battalions. One of these newly created battalions was the 11th, formed at Devonport on 1st November 1914. Joseph was transferred to B Company of the new battalion, on the same day it was formed.
Dartmouth
The new battalion spent the next month and a half at Devonport, but in the middle of December the 11th marched to its new camp in Dartmouth.
On the afternoon of Sunday 10th January 1915, Joseph and three comrades started to walk from Dartmouth to the village of Stoke Fleming, less than three miles away along the coast. Part of the route was along cliffs 200 feet high, and Joseph fell to his death.
The following day, a Coroner’s Inquest was held in Dartmouth, and according to a local newspaper report Joseph “met his death by accidentally falling from the highest part of the cliff at Stoke Fleming to the rocks beneath, fracturing his skull.
The deceased and two other comrades started to walk from Dartmouth to Stoke Fleming, and on reaching Darkhole Farm the men crossed the fields which were off the road to get a view of the cliffs.
It is stated that the others warned Clark not to approach too near the edge he having climbed over a wall to get a better view. The ground was seen to fall away under his feet, and he fell on to the rocks below.
One of his comrades attempted to descend to his aid, but got into difficulties, having to be drawn up by means of a ladder.
A constable was sent for who descended by means of a rope guided by the others, and finding the body, hauled it to the top of the cliff, he himself ascending in the same way.
The Jury returned a verdict of accidental death.” 2 From a report of the Coroner’s Inquest, appearing in the Dartmouth Chronicle of 15 January 1915.
Joseph’s body was formally identified by a Bob Clifton, who was at Dartmouth serving in the same battalion. Bob claimed to have known Joseph “for years, practically all my life”. 3 It is interesting to speculate that the Bob Clifton who claimed to have known Joseph “practically all my life” may well be the man of that same name from East Bergholt. He was the younger brother of Fred and Max Clifton. Bob would have been 17 in January 1915 – legally, a man had to be 18 to have enlisted in the Army at that time, but we know that many lied about their age in order to “join up”.
Unfortunately, Bob’s Service Record was destroyed during the Blitz in the Second World War, and his entry on the East Bergholt Roll of Honour shows him serving with another Regiment, so we have no definitive proof that it was him who identified Joseph’s body.
Joseph’s parents were notified of his death by telegram, that same afternoon. Two of his brothers travelled down to Dartmouth, where they attended Joseph’s funeral in the town’s Longcross Cemetery on the 13th.
Joseph’s death was widely reported in both the local and national newspapers.
Copyright © Mark Ashmore, 2024
- 18
- Died in the Great War
- 51.968892, 1.024205
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