Diary of George William Edward Clark, January 1940 - August 1941

Clark, George William Edward (Gunner, b.1914)

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Places	Africa: Egypt, Alexandria Africa: Egypt, Cairo Africa: Egypt, Suez Canal, Suez Asia: Ceylon, Colombo Middle East: British Mandate of Palestine, Haifa Middle East: British Mandate of Palestine, Palestine, Gaza Middle East: British Mandate of Palestine, Palestine, Jerusalem Middle East: British Mandate of Palestine, Palestine, Qastina Middle East: British Mandate of Palestine, Tel Aviv Oceania: Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle
Accession Number	AWM2019.22.81
Collection number	PR01035
Collection type	Digitised Collection
Record type	Item
Item count	1
Object type	Diary
Physical description	100 Image/s captured
Maker	Clark, George William Edward
Place made	At sea, Australia, Austria, British Mandate of Palestine: Palestine, Egypt, Sri Lanka
Date made	1940-1941
Conflict	Second World War, 1939-1945
Copying Provisions	Digital format and content protected by copyright.
Source credit to	This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government.

Description

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX1058 Gunner George William Edward Clark, 1 Battery, 2/1 Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, 1940-1988.

In the first of five diaries, Clark documents his voyage to the Middle East and service with 2/1st Field Regiment in Egypt and Palestine. He generally records his activities and observations in short but often revealing entries that encompass his embarkation from Sydney in early January to his hospitalisation in Egypt during late December 1940. He outlines training activities and duties as a gunner at numerous camps, and comments on the challenges of moving and maintaining heavy artillery in hot and dusty conditions. He also regularly refers to air raids and recreational activities in camp such as sports, film screenings and drinking sessions in the canteen. During periods of leave, he details excursions to cities such as Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Cairo including firsthand accounts of flagging Arab-Jewish relations.

The diary entry for 14 October 1940 was annotated by Clark on 1 August 1941 whilst hospitalised at Stalag XVIII-B at Spittal an der Drau in Austria. Other annotations penned during this period of internment are found on the opening pages of the diary, and include a comprehensive list of places visited, a summary of conduct relating to service in the Middle East, movements whilst a prisoner of war, and a list of names and addresses.