‘I am quite well’ said Henry ... CROSS COUNTRY
THE SOUTH HETTON SOLDIER WHO HAD ONLY JUST WRITTEN HOME WHEN HE WAS CAUGHT IN THE MIDST OF A MASSIVE GERMAN ATTACK ON BRITISH TROOPS ... AND HE WAS JUST A TEENAGER AT THE TIME
He’d written home to reassure his family that he was still alive. But within a week of it being sent home, Private Henry Edward Clark from South Hetton was dead – yet another of the men of Wearside to die in the First World War. His story comes to us courtesy of historian Kevin Dance who explained further.
It must have been a welcome sight to get a letter from The Front. In July 1917, the Clark family received a postcard from their son Henry which contained only the most basic details. It was standard Army issue. Soldiers had to cross out the bits that didn’t refer to them – a sort of multiple choice reply. Henry crossed out the bit which said he was either admitted to hospital or hoping to be discharged soon and left the one in, which said: ‘I am quite well’. It was the last his family would hear from him. On July 12 that year, he was part of a battle which ended badly for the British. Kevin explained: “The Battalion were involved in what became known as The Battle of the Dunes. “The British took over an area for a brief period of time, from July to September 1917, that had been controlled by the Belgian army. “The plan was to prepare for a British assault on a German U-boat base at Bruges.” The attack was to be known as Operation Hush but, as Kevin explained: “This assault was eventually cancelled. Once the Germans realised what was going on they launched a massive pre-emptive attack on July 12, 1917. “The bombardment from the German artillery quickly destroyed many bridges in the area leaving British soldiers isolated in the sand dunes. Those isolated men were quickly overrun, captured or killed. “It is during this German attack that Henry is killed and his body never recovered.” It was a tragic end, just days after Henry’s family had been given news from the Front saying he was safe. Henry was awarded the Victory and British War Medals. Behind his sad story of war was the tale of a much-travelled family whose journeys had taken them around the British Isles. His father John Richard Clark hailed from Cornwall but married Catherine whilst working as a Customs Officer in Ireland. Yet by 1901, the family were