In memory of Philip Clark

When we were in Rye in July 2008 we visited the church and found Philip Clark on the War Memorial. Philip is my cousin's grandfather (but not a blood relative of mine).



Rye war memorial can be found in the south-east corner of the grounds of St Mary's Church, Rye and bears the names and initials of 145 men from the WW1 and 48 from WW II plus two from recent campaigns: one from the Gulf War and one from the Iraq. The memorial was designed and its construction supervised by Sir Reginald Blomfield, who had a home in Rye. Its form is a two-stepped base surmounted by two stone blocks, a plinth and a tapering shaft with a cross of sacrifice with a metal sword on the face of the cross with the inscription carved into the sides of the blocks. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Leconfield and dedicated by the Rev. A P Howes on 19th October 1919. The WW II names include eight civilian air raid casualties and one member of the Home Guard.
IN MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS AND MEN FROM RYE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR MCMXIV - MCMXIX 1914-1919 http://www.ryebritishlegion.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Rye-and-Rye-Harbour-Rolls-of-Honour-MASTER.pdf



Then this summer I went to the Merchant Navy memorial on Tower Hill. After careful looking until I was nearly cross-eyed I found a P G Clarke (note the 'e' on the end).





This then made me look at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website where the following certificate can be found. They too have spelt the name wrong.


http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=2977621

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Jenton Road
Sydenham
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire CV31 1XS
United Kingdom
Tel: 01926 330137

The CWGC is a wonderful organisation that pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. www.cwgc.org

As a post script to this blog a little information about the Steam Trawler Cassiopeia.

Built: 1898. Builders: Edwards Bros, North Shields. Yard No: 589. Launched: Tuesday 26th July 1898. Completed: September 1898. Registered: September 1898. Gross Tons: 152. Nett Tons: 55. Length: 104.8 feet. Beam: 20.9 feet. Draught: 10.8 feet. Quarterdeck: 18 feet. Forecastle: 20 feet. Official Number: 109810. Original Owners: Grimsby & North Sea Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Grimsby.
Fate: Missing since Saturday 6th November 1915.R. P. Harwood. | F. Glenton. | P. Clark. | J. Beecham. | F. Baker. | R. Thompson. | J. Phillips.


from the website http://homepage.ntlworld.com/grimsby.trawlers/trawlers.htm