Sergeant Fairley Clarke (ALSO spelled Clark in some of
the Archive records) Stewart, #25/142, of the New
Zealand Expeditionary Forces, served in the Egyptian Theatre in 1915,
the Egyptian Expeditionary Force Theatre
in 1916 and in the European Theatre of 1916-18,
receiving the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Kiwi Volunteers went with Australians in the
first “wave”. In August 1915 Conscription was introduced in NZ, so I’m
GUESSING that he was “called up”, as the date he commenced
duty was 11th October 1915. He then served 145 days (amost 5 months) in
New Zealand, presumably in Training, before being shipped to Egypt around the first week of March 1916,
thereafter being relocated to SOMEWHERE in Europe, date unknown.
(That said, I have learned that the NZ Division
FIRST went to Arras, ex Egypt, in April 1916.)
The Battle of the Somme started on 1st July 1916 and raged for almost five months,
until the end of November. The original NZEF (those combined with the
Aussies) featured prominently, along with the French, at the southern end
of the front-lines of that battle throughout that time.
In mid-September 1916, “the New Zealand
Division”, comprising 15,000 men, joined that battle en-masse, in the area of High Woods and Delville
Woods. On 15th September they
took the village of Flers.
600 Kiwis were killed that day, 1,200 wounded or
missing... the single worst day in NZ
Military History to that point in time, only to be exceeded the
following year at Passchendaele. Altogether,
6,000 of the division were wounded and 2,000 killed, many from poison-gas shells.
The NZ Division began THEIR withdrawal from the Somme
in October 1916. They then started major operations in Belgium in June
1917 with the capture of Messines (Messen Ridge),
with the climax being the Battle of Passchendaele, near Ieper (Ypres) in October 1917.
Grandad served 2 years and 359 days overseas,
for a total of 3 years and 139 days of War Service, finally being honourably discharged on 26th February 1919, being
issued with an NZEF Great War Honourable Discharge/Disabled
Certificate dated 21st February 1919.
So, it is conceivable, that outside of Egypt, he
COULD have served on the Somme and/or at Vimy Ridge (Arras) and/or at
Passchendaele !
At the time of this writing (October2023), Geoff is awaiting a response from "Archives New Zealand" in
Wellington... but he's been waiting for a decade now! Access to Sergeant Stewart's Military Personnel Files is
restricted... The records are contained on microfilm strips which are kept
secure for Preservation reasons... Geoff has requested that a digital copy be
made but there is apparently a long waiting list. I am quite pleased with my sleuthing-to-date, and
would be MOST interested to know if ANYone might be able to shed any further
light on matters?
And I will certainly be VERY interesting to hear
back from Wellington... after which I will be posting the latest info here.I would DEARLY like to be able to visit the places
where my Grandfather served while I still live in this part of the world.
Pic Geoff's Grandfather & HIS father
Pic Geoff's Grandparents - 14 May 1970
(3 days before Geoff's 17th Birthday)
Unlike his wife, My Grandfather...
... was an austere man.
I was never aware of him expressing any LOVE
or even FONDNESS for me.
"Little boys should
be seen and not heard" he used to proclaim, loudly.
My mother and grandmother have told me that, like
most of his ilk, he NEVER discussed "The Great War" with ANYbody. Yet remarkably, he DID (albeit only a little) to
ME, the grandson sitting on the floor, at his feet, dutifully keeping his mouth
shut !
With regard to the Egyptian Theatre, he painted a
vivid picture of having to sweep away the bees/wasps with one hand when trying
to insert a slice of jam-coated bread into his mouth with the other.
And, in Europe, he told of being "paid in
full" prior to having to "go over the top" the next day... How
all the men who could would go to the local village and... Well, with
the Life-Expectency of the time, some things are probably best left unsaid...But most would secure a hip-flask of whiskey, the
contents of which would be sculled at first light. I'd have done the same! The Germans often reported that many of their
"opponents" appeared to be drunk!
Grandad would speak of slithering out across
No-Man's Land, into a shell crater, and playing cards "with Jerry"...
and the prospect of having to "fix bayonets" and charge those same
people a few hours later! Unspeakable horrors, where one might have to stare
at one's friend's body hanging off barbed-wire, a hundred yards away... for
DAYS or WEEKS ! I can't believe that somebody I KNEW was forced to
go through such a thing. And I wish, NOW, that I could thank him !
Especially, as I had little or no appreciation for
his/their sacrifice when he died, so many years later... At a time that he must
have DESPAIRED of the new "Younger Generation" of "long-haired
hippy louts" with their loud music, debauchery and ignorant ingratitude!... another of the dangers of our ever forgetting.
