BORN HULL 1894. SON OF JOHN MUNRO CLARK (1859-1932) & MARTHA MINNIE SOWERBY (1869-1949). SON OF AN ‘OIL FILLER’. SON OF AN OIL REFINER. ONE OF ELEVEN CHILDREN. THE FAMILY WERE LIVING AT 9 SYMONS STREET, FOUNTAIN ROAD (1911 CENSUS). WORKED AS A CLERK.
HE ENLISTED HULL. SERVED AT GALLIPOLI. COMMISSIONED INTO THE 10TH EYR. AWARDED THE MILITARY CROSS AND TEMPORARY CAPTAIN, OF THE 10TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. HE WAS ACCIDENTALLY KILLED, AT MERICOURT, ON 10/07/1917, AGED 23. HE LEFT £46 IN HIS WILL TO HIS FATHER. HIS NAME IS LISTED ON THE HULL METHODIST CHURCH MEMORIAL, PRINCES AVENUE. HE IS BURIED IN FRANCE. HIS GARVE INSCRIPTION, READS, “AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST”.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. CAPTAIN WILLIAM SOWERBY CLARK. Born in 1894, William was the son of John and Martha Clark of Hull. Details are sketchy, but it appears he was accidentally killed during bombing practice on 10th July 1917. He was buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery at Mont St.Eloy the day after. His name is also commemorated on the Methodist Church War Memorial on Princes Ave in Hull. It was in stark contrast to what was supposed to be a great day for the 10th Battalion, for they were meant to be viewed by the King. However, they were kept waiting in the in the cold for a very long time and their cheers when the monarch finally deigned to arrive were somewhat muted and less than enthusiastic. July 1917 marked a dangerous point in the war. The French had suffered mutinies in their ranks and were vulnerable. It is not too dramatic to suggest that if the Germans had known this and launched an attack against the French part of the line, they would have met little resistance and could have won the war. To prevent this, Haig launched an attack intended to divert all enemy troops to the British line at Ypres with the objective of taking the Channel Ports and the ridge looking down on the city from a little known village called Passchendaele. The rest is history.
