12/01/2021
Born, 1 December 1892, Waterdown Ontario Canada, Victoria Cross recipient, Lionel Beaumaurice Clarke
Died 19 October 1916; Regina Trench, Somme, France
On September 9, 1916, Leo Clarke’s 2nd Battalion joined the Allied attack as part of the Battle of the Somme, France.
Corporal Clarke carried Mills grenades and small arms ammunition, and moved forward in a bayonet charge supported by an artillery barrage.
As the battle intensified, the Germans countered with heavy artillery and machine gun fire. The Canadians worked hard to strengthen the shattered enemy trenches they occupied during the assault, driving back several German counterattacks in a frenzy of fire.
Water and ammunition were running out and it was vital for Clarke and the bombers to secure two ends of a captured enemy trench, at Pozières Ridge near Courcelette, in order to protect the captured area. Clarke's flank suffered the worst of the fighting, requiring soldiers to drive back the enemy in close-quarters fighting.
After holding their flank – but with his companions now all wounded or killed – Clarke continued fortifying the captured trench, when an enemy party of 20 men, plus two officers, suddenly appeared inside the trench. Clarke fought them off, targeting one or two Germans at a time from behind his barricade.
Suffering a bayonet wound to his leg and bleeding heavily, Clarke continued to fight alone, killing or wounding all his attackers except for the last one, whom he took back to his own lines as a prisoner.
