Cyril George Clarke was the only son of Freeman and Mary Ann Clarke (nee Harris). He was born in Haddenham in 1889, where his father was a baker at “Clementine” in the High Street and he had two younger sisters.
Educated at Lord Williams’s Grammar School in Thame, he went on to train as a teacher, and by 1911 he was an elementary teacher assistant for Bucks County Education Committee.
Enlisting with the army, he received a commission as Temporary 2nd Lieutenant on 23rd October 1914. Posted to the 8th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, most of 1915 was spent training at Halton camp, near Aylesbury, before entraining for France on the 9th September 1915.
Less than three weeks later, the battalion, part of the 62nd Brigade, 21st Division, took part in the main attack at Loos on the 25th September. They were fighting in the SE corner of Loos and the inexperienced troops suffered heavy casualties.
Lieutenant Cyril George Clarke died of wounds at No 6 Field Ambulance on the 26th September 1915, 26 years of age.
Lieutenant Cyril George Clarke, East Yorkshire Regiment, is buried in Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, near Bethune, France. He is remembered in Thame on Lord Williams’s school memorial board, and is also commemorated on Haddenham war memorial
The Thame Remembers Cross was delivered to Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France on 05th May 2017 by Ian & Mary Cleare