LEONARD ‘LEN’ HAROLD CLARKE
Born
On 12 February 1911 at Penguin.
Connection to South Riana
Attended school in South Riana.
Parents
Walter Stephen CLARKE and Emma Rose SCOTT who married at South Riana in 1906.
Siblings
Norman Walter 1906 – 1989
Alice Louise 1908 – 1987
Allan Harry 1913 – 1996
Raymond Robert 1915 – 1989
Wilfred Stephen 1921 – 1989
Alfred George 1924 – 2007
Married
Jean OLIVER (1912 – 1985) on 21 May 1932 at Penguin. Divorced 1953. Remarried Henryk Will (1922 – 2002) in 1959 in Victoria.
Dulcie Hilder GRAHAM (1915 – 1988) on 22 May 1955 at Ulverstone. Previously married to Charley Bischoff MacDonald Aylett, divorced in 1954.
Family
Miriam Rose
Noel
Trevor
Errol
Dulcie had 7 children from her first marriage.
Died
On 22 July 1993 at Ridgley, buried at Burnie Lawn Cemetery, East Cam.
School Records
Enrolment number184 at South Riana by his father Walter, a farmer, living in the ‘country’ ½ mile from the school. Len was admitted on 23 November 1917. He left school on 26 September 1924 aged 13 ½ as he was ‘required at home’.
Military Records
TX10633, enlisting at South Arm on 3 Sept 1942, giving his next of kin as Jean, living at South Burnie. He was 35 years of age, 5’9” with fair hair and hazel eyes. He was a member of the C.M.F. 26 Feb 1941 to 2 Sept 1942, then the A.I.F. 3 Sep 1942 to 24 Jan 1946. In 1941 he worked as an Orderly and Cook, and was promoted to Cpl then a year later to Sgt. In March 1943 he did a course ‘Cooking and Catering’ whilst at North Geelong, but did not pass due to ‘insufficient experience’ but he ‘worked well and tried hard’. In March 1944 he was promoted to Acting Warrant Officer but only held this rank for 4 months. He served in New Guinea from 4 October 1944 to 2 April 1945 and 14 May 1945 to 30 November 1945. His Active Service was for 1002 days in Australia and 379 days overseas.
