Lance Corporal George Herbert Clarke
George Herbert Clarke was born on 13 July 1898 at Aghnasedagh, Monaghan, the fifth of six children of farmer John Clarke and his wife Jane (nee Crawford). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Aghnasedagh with his parents and four siblings.
Clarke enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 12 May 1915 (No.1538). He embarked for France between 1916 and the first half of 1917, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st or 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment.
In September 1917 the 2nd NIH Regiment was disbanded and its men, together with some surplus to the needs of the 1st NIH Regiment, were transferred to the infantry. Clarke, like most, was transferred to the 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – on 20 September. He was issued regimental number 41212. He probably saw action with the battalion during the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917.
During 1918 Clarke was wounded, though the date and circumstances are not known at present. At the end of October 1918 he was transferred to the Labour Corps (No.633625).
It appears that he was granted a pension – as late as September 1920 his level of disability was assessed at 20 per cent and permanent.
After the war he returned to Monaghan, where he worked as an auctioneer. On 9 September 1925 he married National School teacher Maude Moffett at the Reformed Presbyterian Meeting House, Creevagh, County Monaghan.