British Army Veterinary Corps
John Ladyman CLARK
Captain
Died 11 December 1918 · Aged 42
Record note: Date discrepancy: this entry follows CWGC and Veterans Affairs Canada, which give 11 December 1918, also inscribed on his Cairo headstone. The private commemorative cross at Russell, Manitoba, photographed in the Veterans Affairs Canada gallery, reads “Died Dec 16, 1918 at Belbies”. Both surviving inscriptions are retained in the evidence record. Age and service-date note: the supplied entry gives a birth in October 1869 and an age at death of 42; those values do not agree. Its facts give arrival in France on 7 July 1916, while the biography gives July 1917. The newly inspected CWGC and Veterans Affairs Canada summaries do not establish an age or birth date, so these details require original-record checking.
Veterans Affairs Canada gallery — Russell commemorative cross and Cairo headstone · CWGC casualty record
His story
Captain John Ladyman Clark was born in Cumbria, England, in October 1869 and moved to Canada in the mid-1870s. He graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in 1896.
Following graduation, he worked as a veterinary Surgeon in Russell, Manitoba, Canada, for nineteen years.
He enlisted in the British Army and was appointed Lieutenant in the Veterinary Corps on 27 March 1916. He arrived in France in July 1917 and served with the 14th Division in France.
Clark was appointed Captain on 27 March 1917 and was transferred to Egypt.
He died in Egypt from heart failure on 11 December 1918. An inquest into his death indicated that the heart failure may have been brought on by stress and the physical nature of his work.
He is also commemorated by private memorials in Russell Memorial Gardens, Manitoba, and Avondale Cemetery, Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
Before the war
- Nationality
- Canadian
- Date of Birth
- October 1869
- Place of Birth
- Papcastle, Cumbria, England
- Veterinary College and Date of Graduation
- Ontario Veterinary College - March 1896
Military service
- Last Rank
- Captain
- Regiment/Service
- British Army Veterinary Corps
- Secondary Regiment
- Indian Veterinary Corps
- First Theatre of War
- France 07 July 1916
Medals and commemoration
- Name on RCVS Honour Board
- No
- Name In Officers who died in Great War
- No
- Medals and Awards
- British War Medal 1914-1918; Victory Medal
Death and burial
- Date of Death
- 11 December 1918
- Age at Death
- 42
- Place of Death
- Cairo, Egypt
- Cause of Death
- Heart Failure
- Cemetery
- British Cemetery
- Location
- Cairo, Egypt
- Grave Reference
- Q.187
- Commonwealth War Grave
- Yes - CWGC Headstone
- Emblem or Badge on Headstone
- British Army Veterinary Corps
Sources and further reading
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “John Ladyman Clark”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/john_ladyman_clark/.
Contribute information
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