Captain R. E. Graham-Clarke

[Granite-Yorkie]

Can anybody shed any light on Captain R. E. Graham-Clarke, who was an officer in the 9th KOYLIs? The only information that I can find on him from the London Gazette is that he was commissioned as Temporary Lieutenant on October 4th 1914 and promoted to Temporary Captain on October 22nd 1914. Does anybody have any other information on him, such as when he left the Army (he did not go to France with the 9th Battalion, or indeed any other battalion) or where he came from or who he was?

[sotonmate]

G-Y

Here the content of the Officer Service records index for the name GRAHAM-CLARKE:

WO339/26901 Captain G.

WO339/30561 2/Lt J A S.

WO339/30988 Major R C. (he doesn't have an E on the end)

WO339/57270 (no rank) L.

Someone here with a WO338 Index might be able to help with defining if he had a file under this spelling !

Sotonmate

[IPT]

They would perhaps be;

Gerald Graham Clarke 3rd South Wales Borderers Captain

John Altham Stobart Graham Clarke King's Own Scottish Borderers attached Border Regiment Second Lieutenant

Robert Charles Graham Clark 11th The Queen's Regiment Major

Leonard Warre Graham Clarke 5th Reserve Cavalry Regiment Second Lieutenant

There's also;

J E H Graham Clarke Glamorgan Yeomanry Second Lieutenant (later captain)

Reginald Graham Clark Royal West Surrey Regiment Captain

Edmund Graham Clark Army Service Corps Captain

David Ian Graham Clark 4th Seaforth Highlanders Second Lieutenant

[IPT]

Could it be Robert Charles Graham-Clark?

The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment).

Temporary Captain R. C. Graham-Clark,

from The King's Own (Yorkshire Light

Infantry), to be temporary Captain. Dated

10th September, 1915.

Medal card of Clark, Robert Charles Graham

CorpsRegiment NoRank

11th The Queen's Regiment Major

19th Lancashire Fusiliers attached Royal EngineersMajor

Date1914-192

0Catalogue referenceWO 372/4

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 13 MAY, 1920. 5471

Lan. Fus.

Temp. Maj. R. C. Graham-Clark relinquishes

his commission on completion of service,

14 Apr. 1920, and'retains the rank of

Maj.

[sotonmate]

IPT

I'd go along with that,well done ! So it is likely to be WO339/30988.

Sotonmate

[Granite-Yorkie]

IPT, I don't know where you are in the world but I owe you a pint or six! The date, September 10th 1915, ties in with the promotion to the rank of Captain of Leslie Dymoke Head and Arthur Stephenson (the latter gentleman is covered in great detail in Jack Alexander's excellent book McCrae's Battalion).

[IPT]

A few more jigsaw pieces;

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 24 MARCH 1916

Lan. Fus.

Temp. Maj. R. C. Graham-Clarke from

R.W. Surr. R. to be temp. Maj. 12 Mar.

1917, but with seniority from 1 Mar. 1916

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 30 MARCH, 1917.

The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment).

Temporary Captain Robert C. Graham-

Clark to be temporary Major. Dated 1st

March, 1916.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 14 FEBRUARY, 1918

Lan. Fus.

Temp. Maj. R. C. Graham-Clark, from

a Serv. Bn., to be temp. Maj. (attd.). 23

Dec. 1917, with seniority 1 Mar. 1916.

[Granite-Yorkie]

Thanks IPT,

I think I've found his death on FreeBMD. There is a record, indeed it is the only record, for a Robert C G Clark dying in the Williton district of Somerset in 1930 (aged 59). I assume this is the same bloke.

Frank

[Granite-Yorkie]

1881 census: Robert C. G. Clark was a pupil at school in Margate (Ditton House). He was born at Dunster in Somerset according to the census return.

I can't seem to find him in 1901: perhaps he was fighting in the Boer War?

[nthornton1979]

Just checked the index of the KOYLI Regiment history. There is a 2/Lt E.R Graham (no mention of Clarke).... Not sure of this is your man ?

I can post details if needed. He was wounded in action on the Somme 1916 with the 10th Battalion.

Neil

[Granite-Yorkie]

Neil, it's a different bloke but are you referring to the R C Bond history? I got it delivered t'other day and it is a brilliant read. Was up until dawn today reading it- much to my girlfriend's irritation.

[IPT]

On the 1871 census, there is one month old Robert Clark, living with his parents Thomas, a physician from Perthshire, and Emma(?) and lots of servants in Dunster.

On the 1891 census, there's a Robert CG Clark, age 20, who is an electrical engineer boarding in Exeter.

There is also a Robert Charles Graham Clark on a passenger list returning from Peru in 1913.

[Granite-Yorkie]

IPM,

That's the very same bloke- he was the son of Thomas Patterson Clark and his wife Georgiana. The 1881 census did not mention the Perthshire connection: I happen to love Perthshire, but haven't been down in a few months. Almost gives me an excuse to go down there!

[Granite-Yorkie]

Sorry, IPT. Gosh, I am a doughnut at times!

[Granite-Yorkie]

Thomas Patterson Clark was born on June 2nd 1838 at Blairgowrie, Perthshire- the son of Charles Clark and Janet Patterson.

[nthornton1979]

Neil, it's a different bloke but are you referring to the R C Bond history? I got it delivered t'other day and it is a brilliant read. Was up until dawn today reading it- much to my girlfriend's irritation.

Yes that's the book. I must confess I haven't read it yet. I recently bought about 20 Regiment histories when they were reduced with Pen & Sword. I'm still working my way through them !

Neil

[Granite-Yorkie]

Neil,

You will not be disappointed by Bond's history, although I do note that the list of officers who embarked for France in September 1915 with 9/KOYLI is inaccurate- I happen to have trawled through the medal rolls and have put together an accurate list of officers of the 9/KOYLI who went to France in September 1915. Also, Bond notes that R.C. Dill was given command of 9/KOYLIs- whilst I happen to have record of command being held by Guy Holland MVO (late Indian Army), before being handed over to Colmer Lynch in June 1915. But apart from those minor flaws, it is an excellent read.

Frank

[Terry_Reeves]

Two years to late, but Major R C Graham-Clarke was attached to the RE Works Directorate from, 26.2.1918. Someinfantry officers with engineering backgrounds passed through the Directorate.

TR

[Simon R]

Col. Dill was dug out from retirement to command 9/KOYLI but only did so for a short period of time - he moved from them to command 12/KOYLI very early on. Home service only and retired by 1915, health.