| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
John was the son of Henry and Emma Clarke, who married in 1888. He was born in 1889 and baptized at Beverley St Nicholas in 1890, when the family was living in Cherry Tree Terrace, Beverley. In 1911 John was a boarder with Robert and Ada Holmes at 63 Bridlington Street, Hull. He was a labourer working at the flour mills and 5 years later he married their eldest daughter, Agnes, who was a factory hand at a starch and blue manufacturers.
John enlisted with the Yorkshire Regiment, the Green Howards, in Aug 1914 but was discharged on 30 Oct 1914 with a note on his army service record stating “Not being likely to become an efficient soldier”. John must have immediately applied to the East Yorkshire Regiment because by 6 Mar 1915 Private 12371 Clarke had arrived in France, less than 2 weeks later he was admitted to hospital. A medical report shows he was taken from No 8 Casualty Clearing Station to 2nd General Hospital and then to HS Asturias. On 12 Jun 1915 a photograph appeared in the Beverley Guardian with the caption “… son of Mr H Clarke of Burton Terrace, Chantry Lane, Beverley. In hospital at Lincoln suffering from gunshot wound in the left knee”. While John was convalescing he married Agnes Holmes and their first son, John Henry, was born in Aug 1916. JOhn was discharged in 1919
John and Agnes remained in Hull and had 10 children, 3 died in infancy, and 17 year old Johnny, a galley boy, in Dec 1943 when German bombers hit the harbour of Bari in Italy. John died aged 78 in 1968 in Hull.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |