Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Magnus Daniel Stanley 'Stan' Clark was born on 18 May 1890 at Nowra New South Wales, the forth child of six children born to William 'Bill' and Agnes (nee Sinclair) Clark. The Clark and Sinclair families had their origins in the Shetland Islands. Agnes and most of her family emigrated to Australia in 1877. Bill and Agnes married in 1883 living and rearing their family near Nowra until 1902 when they moved to the Hawkesbury River area and stayed with Bill`s brother Dan Clark before going to Lismore.

In 1911 Bill and Agnes moved to Maleny with five of their children, daughters Bell, Lizzie, Nellie, Minnie and son Bill Jnr. Stan had left earlier to work as a drover and then cook in the Kingaroy area before joining the family to help his father establish a dairy farm at 'Rockview' Reesville, Maleny. Agnes died in August 1912.

AIF Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad states that: Magnus Daniel Stanley 'Stan' Clark, Service No 2636, enlisted on the 12 January 1915; age 24 years 8 months; height 6 feet 2 inches; weight 10 stone; dark complexion; brown eyes; brown hair; occupation dairy farming; religion Presbyterian; next of kin his father William 'Bill' Clark.

Stan, a keen and accomplished horseman, was placed in the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance AIF "A" Section. After initial training at Enoggera Army Barracks Brisbane, Driver Stan Clark embarked from Kangaroo Point on the 16 June 1915 aboard HMAT A30 Borda which weighed 11,136 tons with an average cruise speed of 14 knots or 25.92 kmph. It was owned by the P & O SN Co, London and leased by the Commonwealth until 10 September 1917.

A letter to his sister Minnie tells: "As all our letters are censored now there is jolly little to tell you about...we had a grand trip so far and very few of the boys are sick...". A postcard dated 17 August 1915 states: "Arrived here safely, had a good time on the trip over, only calling place being Adelaide. We disembarked at Port Suez and came on here by rail. There is a rumour that we will be going to the front in a few days, but I think its all bosh. This place suits me alright, it's a better camp than Enoggera. We rise at 4.30 am and drill till 8.30 am and then spell till 4.30 pm when we do two more hours. We are camped about six miles from Cairo, have been out to see the Pyramids and a few of the mosques and citadels". In a letter to his brother Bill on 28 October 1915 says: "...haven't had a chance of going away to the front yet. The brigade has broken up, all went away as reinforcements and we were left in the desert. We have about 2,500 horses in this camp and are preparing for 4,000 more, bringing them back from Alexandria, so we will have a few horses here soon...". Again on 3 November 1915 a picture postcard with Stan in charge of a two horse Ambulance Cart with his cousin Roy and a little boy sitting with him on the bench seat. He writes: "What do you think of my turnout?...the little boy came out of the house along side and said he would get-up if I didn't let the horses escape. He is an Italian and can speak four languages, real smart kiddie. There are 200,000 soldiers around Cairo, we have to go into the bakery for bread. They send out 100,000 every day and we are allowed half a loaf per man per day so we have an idea how many men are here..." Other photos show Stan riding horses he has just broken. He trained horses in the field ambulance which had two horses in the shaft and one horse out in front. Stan rode the front horse when they went out to pick up the wounded. One night his horse`s rump was shot away. Luckily Stan was not hurt. It is not known where he was when this happened. Excerpt from "Adopt A Digger "