Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private C. Clarke, Oxfordshire Light Infantry

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Transvaal (5936 Pte. C. Clarke. 1/Oxfd. L.I.) engraved naming; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (5396 Pte. C. Clark [sic]. Oxford L.I.); together with a Training Ship Exmouth Medal for ‘Special Good Conduct’ , silver, the reverse engraved ‘C. Clarke. 24 June 1899’, very fine (3) £160-£200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum.

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Charles Clarke was born at Hampstead, Middlesex, in 1879 and attested for the Oxfordshire Light Infantry at London on 9 November 1898, having previously served with the 5th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. He served with the 1st Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War, before transferring to the Army Reserve on 18 October 1902. In 1908 he was tried and convicted for an unknown felony and imprisoned for six months, and was dismissed from the Army Reserve.

The Training Ship Exmouth took boys from the poorhouse and trained them in aspects of military service; many (though not all) were destined for a career in the Royal Navy, and the Special Good Conduct Medal was awarded for achievement. Given the date of the award it is probable that the medal was awarded to another C. Clarke.