Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

CLARKE John Joseph PTE  2031 

2nd FIELD AMBULANCE

1888-1915

On 20 August 1914, two months after WW1 had been declared the 2nd Field Ambulance was formed. The idea was born out of experiences in the Boer War when it was found desirable to get medical attention to wounded soldiers as fast as possible.

The first Commanding Officer was LTCL Alfred Sturdee, a Boer War veteran, born in England who came to Australia as a ship’s doctor.

Senior officers were doctors, older men who were not expected to be involved in combat; NCO’s were mainly men who had prior experience in Field Ambulances of the Citizen Forces. Men who’d had some other military service, who held a St John Certificate, or had hospital experience or were medical students, were drafted into the Field Ambulance. Dentists were well represented and several soldiers worked as dental assistants and mechanics. Five soldiers who had experience as chemists were also drafted into the Field Ambulance.

Training at Broadmeadows Camp began with the issuing of equipment, inoculations, and frequent route marches; accent being on Military Proficiency and Physical Fitness. There were lectures on sanitation, haemorrhage, anatomy and first aid, treatment of fractures and the use of improvised splints.

The first contingent embarked from Melbourne aboard the SS Wiltshire on 18 October 1914.  Life on board was good…comfortable hammocks, good meals, concerts, and fair weather. They arrived off Albany where there were further inoculations and on 1 November, left Australia.  The encounter with and sinking of the Emden by HMAS Sydney lent some excitement on the way to Colombo; then on to Aden, Port Said and Alexandria. On 2 December they were on a train bound for Cairo and their last destination at Mena Camp.

They were soon involved in further training; long, heavy route marches over desert sand as well as practise in retrieving wounded under battle fire. At the 2nd AGH they received valuable training in nursing and bandaging patients. 

On Sunday 4 April they embarked on SS Mashobra bound for Mudros harbour on the island of Lemnos.  Here they undertook daily training in climbing down rope ladders and into life boats in readiness for the landing on Gallipoli Peninsula three weeks later.    

On Saturday 24 April they were anchored off Mudros harbour awaiting the rest of the invasion convoy. The men had been briefed thoroughly about the invasion and were issued with enough water and iron rations to last for 48 hours. The Officers in charge of the three Bearer Sub-divisions were each equipped with a medical haversack.

At 6 am the men clambered down the ship’s side taking with them 36 stretchers. They transferred into waiting boats and were rowed ashore. With the guns of HMS Triumph silencing any enemy fire the men waded ashore at 6.30. The three Field Ambulance sections met up and moved to Anzac Cove where hundreds of troops were assembled. The Bearer Subdivisions climbed what was to become known as MacLagan’s Ridge, Shrapnel Valley and Monash Valley evacuating casualties back to Anzac Cove where a dressing station had been established. The rough, precipitous terrain made their work extremely difficult and slow. The aim was to get casualties away from the firing line and  onto the Hospital Ship as quickly as possible.

Supplies of bandages were soon depleted as were splints. Both had to be improvised from anything available – sticks, entrenching tools, bayonets, anything that would immobilise a shattered limb.  An over-riding feature was the shortage of water as all casualties suffered acutely from thirst due to shock and loss of blood.  

A hospital was erected on the beach as it became necessary for amputations to be done before casualties were sent to hospital ships. The soldiers who died at sea, mostly from head wounds, were sewn in canvas, laid out on the deck covered by the Union Jack, the burial service read, and then they were put overboard.

John, or Jack as he was known was born at Casterton in 1888, the second youngest son of 10 surviving children of Bernard Clarke and his wife Catherine (née Fox).  He trained to be a teacher and was a popular staff member at Burke’s Hill Primary School, north of Violet Town when he enlisted, thus creating a link with Violet Town.

There was a series of unfortunate accidents in the family.  In 1898, when he was 27 years old the eldest son Peter was killed when he was thrown from a horse and hit a tree. A few months later 13-year-old Thomas died as the result of a snake bite. Their mother, Catherine, died in 1915 after a short illness, while Jack was serving on Gallipoli. It was all too much for the father Bernard, who was too upset to attend his wife’s funeral.  

Jack enlisted on 22 September 1914 as reinforcements to 2nd Field ambulance.  He was 26. After training he embarked on HMAT Shropshire for Egypt. He would have undertaken similar training as did the original Field Ambulance members before being shipped to Gallipoli, where, according to his Service Records he joined his unit on 6 June 1915. The August Offensive at Lone Pine saw tremendous casualties, including Jack who was mortally wounded on 6 August. He was evacuated to the HS Dunluce Castle which was standing off between Gaba Tepe and Imbros. He died soon after being taken on board.

Jack’s father would have received his son’s medals – 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal as well as a Memorial Plaque and Scroll.

Jack is remembered with honour at the Lone Pine Memorial.

Tree No 3 was planted in Cowslip Street in 1917 by Cr McShane.

In 2013 the Violet Town State School children planted a Callistemon – King’s Park Special – in Jack’s memory.

His name appears on the Violet Town State School Honour Board.

© 2015 Sheila Burnell