Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

David Adamson Clarke was born on 7 December 1895 at Palmerston, Otago, the second son of James Izatt and Jane (née Walker) Clarke. He was educated at Palmerston School. His father was a Presbyterian minister and was called to various churches, being at Fairlie early on in his ministry in New Zealand. In early 1918, when he was stationed at Wyndham, he responded to a call from Knox Church, Waimate. David Clarke was a railway clerk at Granity when he enlisted. His father, whom he named as next-of kin, moved to Waimate while David was serving overseas. James Izatt Clarke died at Waimate in April 1919, after a very short illness, and was buried there, Mrs Jane Arnott Clarke with him in 1944. He had been recovering well following a heart attack, but collapsed and died only days after taking a Bible lesson at the school, In little more than a year he had become loved and honoured in Waimate, being remembered especially for his “really memorable funeral sermon on Dr Margaret Cruickshank.” The Reverend J. I. Clarke was a patriotic man, whose address at Wyndham on Anzac Day 1918 was very moralistic. He, too, was the one who had addressed edifying words to the departing men at a Waimate soldiers’ social in June 1918. At the Armistice Day celebrations at Waimate, the Rev. J. I. Clarke mimicked the Germans in proclaiming to applause, “This is ‘The Day’! This is not ‘The Day’ that the Germans have made. This is the day which the Lord hath made! The Allies have won The Day.” Rev Clarke, himself, had two soldier sons – William Gillies Clarke and David Adamson Clarke, who was in Palestine when his father died. “Many in Fairlie, Palmerston South and Wyndham will join with the Waimate community in moruning the loss of a beloved pastor, . . . .”

A bottle which washed ashore at Martin’s Bay and was picked up on 26 January 1917, contained 10 messages to friends from soldiers on an outgoing troopship. One of the messages, in an envelope, was addressed to Mrs J. I. Clarke, Wyndham, while one of the other messages contained the names and addresses of six soldiers, including Sapper Clarke, Wyndham. Sapper Clarke was William Gillies Clarke, the elder brother of David. He also served in World War One. .

D. A. Clarke, 16245, of Waimate, returned to New Zealand from Egypt, in a draft of 1095, per the “Ulimaroa”, which was due at Auckland on 6 August 1919. He married Olive Elizabeth Sara Clarke in 1921. David Adamson Clarke died on 8 July 1970, at Hamilton, aged 74 years, and was buried at Hamilton Park Cemetery. His widow must have returned to Waimate and died there in 1974. She was cremated at Salisbury Park Crematorium, her ashes being interred with her huasband many years later.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [29 October 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [10 November 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [10 November 2020]; School Admission record (Dunedin Branch NZSG) [30 October 2020]; Hamilton Park Cemetery burial records (Hamilton City Council) [12 November 2020]; Salisbury Park Crematorium record [12 November 2002]; Waimate Cemetery headstone transcription & burial records (Waimate District Council) [12 November 2020]; Evening Star, 2 April 1917, Timaru Herald, 27 March 1918, NZ Times, 31 July 1919, Southern Cross, 4 May 1918, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 8 May 1918, 6 June 1918, 13 November 1918, 2 [x 2] & 4 April 1919 (Papers Past) [29 October 2020; 10 November 2020]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.