CLARK Magnus Daniel Stanley

Magnus Daniel Stanley 'Stan' Clark was born on 18 May 1890 at Nowra New South Wales, the forth child of six children born to William 'Bill' and Agnes (nee Sinclair) Clark. The Clark and Sinclair families had their origins in the Shetland Islands. Agnes and most of her family emigrated to Australia in 1877. Bill and Agnes married in 1883 living and rearing their family near Nowra until 1902 when they moved to the Hawkesbury River area and stayed with Bill`s brother Dan Clark before going to Lismore.

In 1911 Bill and Agnes moved to Maleny with five of their children, daughters Bell, Lizzie, Nellie, Minnie and son Bill Jnr. Stan had left earlier to work as a drover and then cook in the Kingaroy area before joining the family to help his father establish a dairy farm at 'Rockview' Reesville, Maleny. Agnes died in August 1912.

AIF Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad states that: Magnus Daniel Stanley 'Stan' Clark, Service No 2636, enlisted on the 12 January 1915; age 24 years 8 months; height 6 feet 2 inches; weight 10 stone; dark complexion; brown eyes; brown hair; occupation dairy farming; religion Presbyterian; next of kin his father William 'Bill' Clark.

Stan, a keen and accomplished horseman, was placed in the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance AIF "A" Section. After initial training at Enoggera Army Barracks Brisbane, Driver Stan Clark embarked from Kangaroo Point on the 16 June 1915 aboard HMAT A30 Borda which weighed 11,136 tons with an average cruise speed of 14 knots or 25.92 kmph. It was owned by the P & O SN Co, London and leased by the Commonwealth until 10 September 1917.

A letter to his sister Minnie tells: "As all our letters are censored now there is jolly little to tell you about...we had a grand trip so far and very few of the boys are sick...". A postcard dated 17 August 1915 states: "Arrived here safely, had a good time on the trip over, only calling place being Adelaide. We disembarked at Port Suez and came on here by rail. There is a rumour that we will be going to the front in a few days, but I think its all bosh. This place suits me alright, it's a better camp than Enoggera. We rise at 4.30 am and drill till 8.30 am and then spell till 4.30 pm when we do two more hours. We are camped about six miles from Cairo, have been out to see the Pyramids and a few of the mosques and citadels". In a letter to his brother Bill on 28 October 1915 says: "...haven't had a chance of going away to the front yet. The brigade has broken up, all went away as reinforcements and we were left in the desert. We have about 2,500 horses in this camp and are preparing for 4,000 more, bringing them back from Alexandria, so we will have a few horses here soon...". Again on 3 November 1915 a picture postcard with Stan in charge of a two horse Ambulance Cart with his cousin Roy and a little boy sitting with him on the bench seat. He writes: "What do you think of my turnout?...the little boy came out of the house along side and said he would get-up if I didn't let the horses escape. He is an Italian and can speak four languages, real smart kiddie. There are 200,000 soldiers around Cairo, we have to go into the bakery for bread. They send out 100,000 every day and we are allowed half a loaf per man per day so we have an idea how many men are here..." Other photos show Stan riding horses he has just broken. He trained horses in the field ambulance which had two horses in the shaft and one horse out in front. Stan rode the front horse when they went out to pick up the wounded. One night his horse`s rump was shot away. Luckily Stan was not hurt. It is not known where he was when this happened.

The Unit War Diaries of the 15th Field Company Australian Engineers, show that the Company was formed on 10 March 1915 in Tel-el-Kebir when men of various ranks were transferred from various Field and Light Horse Companies.

Casualty Form - Active Service for Stan Clark shows that on the 16 March 1916 he was: "Taken on strength of the 15th Field Ambulance from the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance - his rank of Driver reverted to Private. Then on the 22 March 1916: "Taken on strength to be Driver, on 23 March 1916 was "transferred to the 15th Field Company Engineers at Tel-el-Kebir." At this point Stan took sick and spent some time in hospital at Ferry Post and rejoined the 15th Field Coy Engineers before he embarked to France from Alexandria on 7 June 1916 and disembarked at Marseilles on 15 June 1916. An entry dated 6 August 1916 states: "Taken on strength of the 15th F.C. from Reinforcements - France." A postcard to his sister Bell dated 17 June 1916 he writes:"Somewhere in France" and his mailing address as "5th A D B D, A P.6 S.17, B E F, France."

The War Diaries of the 15th Field Company Engineers shed light on the construction of roads, dugouts and buildings etc and some of the towns, areas but many are marked "Secret".

In an undated postcard to his brother Bill, Stan states: "The language here is harder to understand than in France. We are back at Ypres again now, have been out for a spell near Bolounge, will write and let you know at what places we move by putting a dot under different letters making the word" - there are no family records of any letters with any of those markings. Periods of leave were spent in Paris, the United Kingdom and London.

On 30 March 1917 Stan was promoted to Lance Corporal and at times acted as Temporary Corporal and even Sergeant as the need arose. On 11 November 1918 was "Promoted to Corporal". His Discharge Papers List his rank as Corporal.

Stan was sent to the AA Lewis Gun School for a fortnight commencing 1 March 1918 and returned to his Company in France upon completion of the course.

"Centurion", on 16 October 2011 said: A Lewis gun crew had a core of two men who had been to a Lewis Gun School and trained in things such as care and maintenance, selection of firing positions, ranging, direct and indirect fire, firing on the move etc. However there would also be men trained "in battalion" in loading and firing, basic clearing jams etc who could step in if one or more of the core team got knocked out (they would probably also have other non Lewis duties). In an attack others might be assigned to carry ammo, provide protection for the core crew etc depending on circumstances. Just which of these came within the remit of the battalion Lewis Gun Officer`s remit would also be likely to vary according to circumstance.

Armistice was declared on 11.11.1918 and after 3 weeks leave to Paris Stan rejoined the company and began "Marching out for return to Australia" on the 10 January 1919.

Corporal MDS Clark marched in from Havre, France on 17 January 1919, reaching Codford England by 19 February 1919 and embarked for Australia per 'Kildomian Castle' from Devonport England on 21 March 1919 and disembarked in Australia on the 15 May 1919 and discharged on 14 July 1919.

Upon his return to Maleny, Stan took over the running of his family dairy farm which had been run by his family following his father`s death in February 1916.

Stan was welcomed back into the Maleny community and a special Medal was presented with the following inscription on the reverse side :"Cpl S Clark By the Citizens of Maleny & District On His Return From Active Service 22.5.19". He became a member of the Returned Sailors Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA) Maleny Branch, and was financial until his death.

Stan met and married Dorothy Horsley, a teacher at Maleny School, in the gardens of the family home "Rockview" Maleny on the 7 October 1921. They had no family and Stan passed away, after a few months of illness, in the Maleny Soldiers Memorial Hospital on the 27.9.1934 aged 44 years. He was laid to rest at the Witta Cemetery alongside his Mother and Father.

Maleny's memorial began with the Maleny Soldiers Memorial Hospital. During WW1 discussions took place to erect a suitable memorial to the many boys who enlisted from the district. It was decided that the memorial should take the form of a Nursing Home. So the Soldiers Memorial Hospital was built on land purchased for a doctor`s residence. Mr P Tesch erected the Hospital for 1157 pounds, with a further 300 pounds for furnishings. The money was raised by public subscription, with Dr Anderson as Medical Officer, with Matron Gorringe and a cook. The original hospital was where the Ambulance Station is in 2013.

Maleny - Soldiers€™ Memorial Hospital Maleny Roll of Honor, Soldiers€™ Memorial Hospital, Bean Street, Maleny

Landsborough - Shire of Landsborough Roll of Honour, Caloundra RSL, West Terrace, Caloundra

Family Records including many postcards.