Clarke, Charles: Service no. 776073

Digitized Service Record

Source: Facebook Group via contribution by Ed Clarke.

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Wounded on August 21, 1917 by a German shell hitting a road.

Summary of Service[i] for Private Charles Clarke, reg. no. 776073

Date	Event	Remarks
May 8, 1876	Born	Born England.
May 13, 1916	Enlists	Enlists with the 126th Overseas Battalion at Toronto, Ontario on May 13, 1916. He is a fireman and claims 12-years service with the Imperial Garrison Artillery which includes 2-years in South Africa and 3-years in China. He is 40-years old, almost too old to enlist, and he stands 5’9” tall. He follows the Church of England. He lists his mother as his next of kin. Ruth Clarke lives at Norton, Littleworth, Worcestershire, England. His current address is 20 Arlington Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
June 7, 1916	Forfeits Pay	Forfeits 2-day’s pay AWL per DO 133.
July 1, 1916	Forfeits Pay	Forfeits 4-day’s pay AWL per DO 154.
July 31, 1916	Submits Form	Submits “Particulars of Family of an Officer or Man Enlisted in the C.E.F.” This form shows his place of birth as Worcester, England and that he is not married with no children. He indicates on this form he has no other next-of-kin except his sister, Mrs. Julia Wells living at 20 Arlington Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
August 8, 1916	Forfeits Pay	Forfeits 4-day’s pay AWL per DO 189.
August 1916	Assigns Pay	Assigns $20.00 per month to his sister, Mrs. Julia Wells, 20 Arlington Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
August 14, 1916	Unit Sails
August 24, 1916	Unit Arrives	Unit arrives aboard the SS Empress of Britain.
October 15, 1916	Transferred	SOS 126th Battalion and transferred to the 116th Battalion at Bramshott.
November 28, 1916	Transferred	SOS 116th Battalion to 18th Battalion.
November 29, 1916	TOS	TOS 18th Battalion and arrives at CBD, Etaples, France.
December 3, 1916	Joins 18th	Joins the 18th Battalion.
August 21, 1917	Admitted	“Wounded by enemy shell bursting in road.” This shell wounds and kills 23 men of the 28th Battalion. Admitted to No. 12 Field Ambulance Depot for GSW to left knee.
August 22, 1917	Admitted	Admitted to No. 6 CCS for GSW to left knee.
August 23, 1917	Admitted	Admitted to No. 4 General Hospital, Camiers, France for GSW to left knee.
September 11, 1917	Admitted	Transported by the AT Ville de Liege hospital ship to England. Admitted to 2nd West General Hospital, Manchester, England for GWS left knee. Noted that he was wounded on August 22, 1917 (incorrect) and that that a small foreign body was detected but not removed. He is “posted” to the WORD.
October 28, 1917	Admitted	Admitted to Canadian Convalescent Hospital, West Cote, Epsom.
November 2, 1917	Discharged and Posted	Discharged and posted to 4th Reserve Battalion, Bramshott.
March 25, 1918	Attached	Attached to duty with CTWS (this abbreviation is unknown to author0, Bexhill, England.
June 11, 1918	Appointed	Appointed Lance-Corporal with pay at Witley Camp.
October 12, 1918	Permission to Marry
December 16, 1918	Medical Exam	Medical exam in preparation for repatriation to Canada. On this form it indicates he was born a Worcester, England.
December 18, 1918	Dental Exam	Dental exam shows only one filling. Kinmel Park, North Wales.
December 21, 1918	Proceeds to Canada
December 30, 1918	Arrives Canada	Arrives at Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the SS Carmania.
January 2, 1919	Demobilized	Demobilized at Toronto, Ontario. He has the rank of Lance-Corporal.
January 18, 1919	Medical Exam	Indicates he is suffering from myalgia.
January 23, 1919	Discharged
February 17, 1919	Applies for War Service Gratuity
January 29, 1961	Passes	Passes and is buried

Acronyms

AWL	Absent Without Leave: Generally, a soldier would be deducted 1-days pay for every day absent. In some cases, the soldier would be confined to barracks. Sometimes it was a combination of both.
A Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. A1, A2, A3 and A4 were assigned to different units with the expectation that these men would be able to serve with active combat units. See this link for more information.
B Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. B1, B2, and B3 were assigned to different service units such as railway and forestry corps. See this link for more information.
D Classification	See this link for more information.
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CB	Confined to Barracks: a punishment for minor infractions.
CCD	Casualty Convalescent Depot: a depot at a base where men, in their final stages of convalescing, would be prepared for duty depending on their rating.
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CCRC	Canadian Corps Reserve Camp
CCS	Casualty Clearing Station: this facility was attached to rail transportation from the front to hospitals on the coast of France
CDC	Canadian Dispatch Camp
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance/Canadian Field Artillery. Most common usage would be Canadian Field Ambulance.
DAH	Disorderly Action of the Heart
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
In the Field	This term relates to a soldier arriving at an active-duty unit after transporting from England, to France, and then to his duty assignment. The routing varied from soldier to soldier and could take 2-3 days to several months.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin: This was a term used for any illness that could not clearly be identified and typically was related to influenza symptoms.
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
WORD	Western Ontario Regimental Depot

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[i] The Summary of Service for this soldier is meant as just that, a summary of his service. It is not intended to be an exhaustive biographical relation of his life or his war service. Some information may be deliberately suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to the soldier. Readers are encouraged to reference the actual service records available at the Library and Archives Canada in PDF format if they wish to learn more about this soldier. Such additional information (i.e. hyperlinks etc.) are for informational purpose only and no claim to verification or accuracy is made by the author of this summary.