Notes
The Roll lists him as A.W. Clark, with no home address, stating that he died of cancer at home on 16/8/1918, having served as a Private in the Royal Engineers.
(Alexander William Clark's birth in Sedgefield was registered in Stockton District in Durham in 1865. He was baptised at Sedgefield on 22/9/1865 as the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Mary Clark. On the 1871 census he was living with his parents at 56 West End in Sedgefield; his father was recorded on that census as an attendant at the County Asylum.
On 9/4/1898 Alexander William Clark married Eleanor Jane Brown at Paston Church near Peterborough. The Marriage register records that he was a bachelor aged 32, working as an engineer fitter and living at Gladstone Street in Peterborough; his father was recorded as Alexander Clark, deceased Asylum Superintendent. On the 1901 census Alexander's wife was living at Wallace Cottage in Rogers Street, Peterborough with their daughter; Alexander himself was absent from the home on census night. His Army pension file records that he had enlisted at Peterborough on 2/3/1901 in the Royal Engineers under regimental number 8475, stating he was already a Volunteer in the 1st Battalion of the Northants Royal Engineers, and giving his next of kin as his wife, Eleanor Jane Clark of Wallace Cottage in Rogers Street. He was appointed as Sergeant and served in South Africa with the Royal Engineers from 30/3/1901 to 26/7/1902, earning clasps for the Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal Campaigns. He was discharged from the Army on 10/8/1902 on termination of engagement.
On the 1911 census his wife Eleanor and their two children were living at 24 Gilpin Street in Peterborough; Alexander was absent on that census night. Alexander's Army pension file records that he enlisted on 28/4/1916 in the Bedfordshire Regiment under regimental number 31327, giving his address as 24 Gilpin Street in Peterborough. He was appointed as Acting Colour Sergeant on 28/4/1916. On 3/3/1917 he transferred to the Royal Engineers under regimental number 265873, and was posted overseas on 12/3/1917. Shortly after arriving in France, he noticed a small lump under his tongue, which he showed to the Medic. After examination, on 7/4/1917 he was sent back to England, and was immediately admitted to No 4 Northern General Hospital in Lincoln, where he was diagnosed as having malignant cancer of the tongue. He was transferred on 3/7/1917 to University College Hospital in London for radium treatment. On 24/8/1917 he underwent surgery to remove his tongue and the glands in his neck. He left hospital on 6/2/1918. His Army file records that on 2/2/1918 he was examined and found to be unfit for further military service. The Army doctor stated that the cancer from which Alexander was suffering was not caused by War service, but had been aggravated by "active service conditions". He was honourably discharged from the Army under the rank of Sapper, Acting Company Sergeant Major, on 27/2/1918, and received the Silver War Badge serial number 336105. He was awarded an Army pension from 28/2/1918. On 13/7/1918 he was visited at home by an Army doctor, as he was too ill to travel.
Alexander died at 24 Gilpin Street in Peterborough on 16/8/1918, aged 53, from cancer of the tongue His death certificate records that he was an Army pensioner (engine fitter), and that his widow registered the death. His death and funeral were announced on 24/8/1918 in the Peterborough Advertiser, which reported that he had been an engineer at Messrs Brotherhoods prior to WW1. It also mentioned he had formerly been Captain of the St Paul's Boys' Brigade before serving with the Royal Engineers in the Boer War. The report stated that, after a service at St Paul's Church in Peterborough, Alexander's funeral had taken place at Paston on 19/8/1918. Although the Army doctor had stated on 2/2/1918 that the cancer from which Alexander was suffering was not caused by War service, he had declared that it was aggravated by active service conditions. However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has no record of him).