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DORA CLEGG & WILLIE CLARK, SHEFFIELD.
Personal Collection of Original WW1 Documents & Photographs
William Spenceley Clark of Whitely Wood Hall, Sheffield, was the son of William Clark, the managing director of Vickers and was engaged to be married to Dora Clegg, the daughter of a Sheffield solicitor. Willie, as she knew him, served as a Captain with the 12th York & Lancaster Regiment, and was killed leading his Company over the top on the opening day of the Somme, July 1st, 1916.
Shortly after Willie was killed in action, Dora joined responded to a recruitment campaign and joined the Women\'s Legion, and was posted to the Army Rest Camp at Folkestone. In time she was promoted to the position of Women\'s Army Auxiliary Corps Area Controller, Eastern Command and based at Chatham Barracks. Later she met an ex-serviceman from Willie\'s section who had been blinded at 18 in the same attack that took the life of her fiance. They married and eventually became the adoptive parents of the unnamed author of the brief notes that accompany this collection, providing some of the background.
Part of this group is a framed colour miniature photograph of Willie, which measures approx. 2.% high x 2\" wide (6.5cm x 5cm). This is accompanied by his visiting card, addressed to Whitely Wood Hall, to the rear of which is, rather poignantly, in Wille\'s own hand:
\"In the event of my death please destroy or return to Dora without opening... Willie.\"
There are four letters from Willie to Dora written from the battlefield in thedays prior to his death, two being franked back in Sheffield on the very day he died in battle. These are each presented in their original field envelopes.
The collection also includes a three-page hand-written letter of condolence to Dora on the death of her fiance from his Batman, Lewis Hill, who worked as a gardener at Whitely Wood Hall, and enlisted on the same day with Clark at the outbreak of war. There is also a 3 page hand-written letter of condolence from Eric, a fellow soldier, who details the circumstances of Willie\'s death in the trenches, and the bravery he\'d shown, dated 5th July, 1916.
There are two caricatures - one each of Willie and Dora - hand-drawn by the Sheffield-born novelist Romer Wilson, during Willie\'s home leave at Whitely Wood Hall in May 1916, two months before his death. Each is accompanied by a short rhyme pertaining to the comic illustration. The picture of Willie measures 4\" x 3.5\" (10cm x 9cm); the other measuring approx. 4.5\" wide x 3\" (11.5cm x 7.75cm).
The other photographs are as follows:
17 original Carte-de-Visite sized photographs of Dora as a child and a young woman (5 having cropped edges).
A small glazed photograph of Dora, measuring approx. 4.75\" x a little under 3.25\" (12cm x 8cm). An inscription is fixed to the rear, stating: \"Willie had this. 1911 or 12.\"
Two miniature photographs of Willie as a schoolboy.
A No.3 Rest Camp Women\'s Legion group photograph measuring 11\" x a little under 8\" / 28cm x 20cm (with a closed tear to upper left); and a real photographic postcard-backed version of the same, dated 1917.
Six original photographs of the Cookhouse interiors at Folkestone camp with annototaion to rears (one with small corner loss). Each of these measures approx. 8\" x 5.75\" (20.5cm x 15cm).
Two of the camp entrances, and another view of the billets from above; again all written to rear. These measure 6\" x 4.25\" (15.5cm x 11cm).
A named photograph of the Sergeant Staff at Rest Camps 1 to 3, which measures approx. 4.5\" x 3.25\" (11.5cm x 8.5cm), alonside a slightly larger photo portrait of four of the Folkestone Women\'s Legion volunteers.
Two postcard-backed photographic portraits of Dora and one other in uniform.
An Officers group photograph, named to rear and measuring a little under 9.5\" x 9\" (24cm x 22.5cm).
Eight photographs showing personnel and camp buildings, etc. Fixed to card, four having annotation beneath. Each of these photos measures approx. 6\" x 4.5\" (15.5cm x 11.25cm).
A hand-signed photographic portrait of Florence Leach (wife of Brigadier-General Henry Edmund Burleigh Leach) who herself was Controller of the Cooks in the first group of 14 WAAC recruits to be sent to the battlefields in France. She later became President in the British Army, Queen Mary\'s Army Auxiliary Corps. Her sister, Violet - also a member of the WAAC - drowned while evacuating nurses from the Hospital Transport ship Warilda after it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in August 1918. There is another postcard-backed portrait of Leach, annotated to rear and trimmed at extremities.
A group WAAC South Hill Barracks (Chatham) photograph, dated August 1918 and depicting the subjects wearing black armbands for Violet in remembrance of the above (annotated to rear). Measures 10\" x 7.75\" (25.5cm x 19.5cm).
Victory Parade matt real photo postcard (with \'Chatham 1919 probably\' inscribed to rear ~ presumably by Dora\'s adopted family member); and another cropped \'Victory March\' RPPC, which states to the rear \'don\'t know where\'. There are two additional fixed-down photographs of the Folkestone Victory March, each measuring approx. 6\" x 4.25\" (15.5cm x 11cm).
A later photograph of Dora and her blind husband, with what may well be their adopted child, as an adult, standing in the background.
Other documents comprise:
Two hand-written letters from the Women\'s Legion at Folkestone regarding Dora\'s application dated 20th & 31st July 1916, just a few weeks after Willie\'s death.
A Post Office Telegraph summoning Dora to Folkestone, dated 2nd August 1916.
A copy of a letter received by Mr. Clark from one of Willie\'s men, transcribed in 1971 and stating that it had probably been written in early July 1916.
An OHMS War Office letter from the South Eastern Regional Controller, dated 15th July, 1917.
Two sheets of troop embarkation timetables for Folkestone Rest Camp, dated August and October of 1916 (taped crudely to a piece of card, as found).
Dora\'s oval thick-card Dover Garrison pass, and a paper \'Newhaven Special Military Area\' pass, dated 1918.
Three documents pertaining to Dora\'s WAAC promotion, dated January and February 1918, which are stapled to a cutting of a newspaper announcement.
An WAAC enlistment acceptance form, dated December 1917.
A Queen Mary\'s Auxiliary Controllers pictorial newspaper clipping, dated April 29th 1918.
A card invite, in its original envelope, to Dora from Brevet Colonel Brownley, 6th Bn. King\'s Royal Rifles at Sheerness, dated November 21st, 1918.
A newspaper clipping announcing the marriage of Dora\'s parents from the Sheffield & Rotherham (Gazette?) dated June 12th 1890. There\'s also a small engraved metal plaque, measuring 2.5\" x just over 1.25\" (6.5cm x 3.5cm), which was originally fixed to a work-box given to Dora\'s parents by her father\'s workmen on their wedding day, along with a hand-written card dedication frrom the same.
Warrant of Appointment, covering letter and invite regarding Dora\'s 1918 OBE award in recognition of her war work.
A Burke\'s Handbook proof and order form, with Dora\'s listing attached.
Sheffield Cathedral Dedication of Memorial Order of Service to the Officers and Men of the 12th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield City Battalion), for Saturday, December 20th, 1919.
Please see photos for further detail.
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