Hugh Reginald Clark

Born 26 Nov 1893 - Died 14 Dec 1963

Service number: WWI 2/2380 AWMM
Also known as: Reg Clark AWMM
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: —
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Hugh Reginald Clark — Nominal Roll Vol 1, Page: 127 - No known copyright restrictions No Known Copyright Restrictions

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Biographical information

Hugh Reginald “Reg” Clark was born in Onehunga on 26 November 1893, the son of Captain Hugh Shaw Clark and Isabella Clark, née Foot. Before World War I he worked as a schoolteacher and lived with his family in Captain Street, Onehunga.

Clark enlisted on 24 August 1915 and embarked with the 8th Reinforcements in November that year. He served as a Gunner with the New Zealand Field Artillery in Egypt and on the Western Front. His military history sheet records more than two years of overseas service before his discharge on 9 January 1919.

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira holds the Hugh Reginald Clark papers (MS-1615), which include letters, a diary, paybooks and other material relating to his wartime service. Examples of his correspondence are available to view digitally through Pou Kanohi New Zealand at War.

Writing from a gun pit in France on 29 May 1916, Clark told his parents that his duties required him to remain ready for action at short intervals, often disrupting his sleep. He reassured them that conditions in that part of the line had been comparatively quiet and that most enemy shells passed overhead (Letter to Hugh Shaw and Isabella Clark, 29 May 1916: MS-1615-1-2).

In July 1916, Clark wrote to “Jack” that he had been assigned to the 8th Battery and had spent nearly three months in the firing line. Although censorship prevented him from identifying his location, he described occasions when German shellfire had landed close enough to force the men from their positions (Letter to Jack, 24 July 1916: MS-1615-1-3).

On 23 September 1916, Clark described the effects of German tear shells, which caused the men’s eyes to stream for several hours. He added that water was scarce and that he had managed his first shave and wash in nearly a week, after the men had become covered in clay and badly in need of cleaning (Letter to Hugh Shaw and Isabella Clark, 23 September 1916: MS-1615-1-6).

Clark was admitted to hospital with severe appendicitis in April 1917 before returning to duty. The following month he wrote to his sister “Floss”, thanking her for her long letters and the parcels sent from home. Only one parcel had reached him by then, containing tobacco, which he enjoyed while writing his reply (Letter to “Floss”, 13 May 1917: MS-1615-1-10).

His service continued through 1918, including further periods of hospital treatment and evacuation from France to England. He returned to New Zealand aboard the troopship Remuera and was discharged on 9 January 1919 as no longer physically fit for war service because of illness contracted on active service.

After the war, Clark married Gladys Marion Langdale. His brother Owen Ralph Dalton Clark and his brother-in-law Robert Hugh Stables also served during World War I. Clark’s wartime service is commemorated on the Onehunga Roll of Honour and by a plaque on his father’s grave at Waikaraka Cemetery.

Hugh Reginald Clark died on 14 December 1963, aged 70. He was cremated at Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium. AWMM

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Hugh Reginald Clark