3rd Battalion
Royal Australian Regiment

Roll of Honour
Pte Jamie Clark

Died 10th March 2005 - 21 years.

Pte Jamie Clark

3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment

Soldier Dies In Accident On Solomon Islands, Defence Media Release CPA 080/04, 10 March 2005

The second Australian death in three months occurred on 10 March 2005, when ADF Private Jamie Clarke, aged 22, was accidentally killed, falling into the deep shaft of a cave while searching for a weapons stash during a bush patrol.

Touching News, Army – the soldiers’ newspaper, 15 December 2005

“An Australian soldier has died whilst on patrol in the Solomon Islands, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, said today…..The soldier was part of a patrol providing security to Police Officers from the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) when he died. Full details of the incident are not available at this time, however it appears that the soldier died from injuries he received after falling into a deep shaft in an area east of Honiara. He was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene of the accident. The soldier, from the Sydney-based 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), had been serving in the Solomon Islands since late January.”

Private Jamie Clark

Army
The Soldiers Newspaper

An Article By Pte Shannon Joyce (2005)

THE body of a 3RAR soldier who died while on patrol in the Solomon Islands has been brought home by his mates and laid to rest.

Family and battalion members were at Sydney airport to meet the casket of Pte Jamie Clark, 21, who fell down a deep shaft in an area east of Honiara.

A guard of honour and senior Army personnel, including CDF General Peter Cosgrove, saluted as the Australian flag-draped coffin was unloaded from the plane and placed into an open hearse, to the sound of the regimental piper’s farewell lament.

CA Lt-Gen Peter Leahy said Pte Clark was a well-respected team member of 3RAR.

“His loss will be sorely felt by his unit and the entire Army,” Lt-Gen Leahy said.

Pte Clark’s courage and respect as a soldier was evident when he was highly commended for his actions by Australian Federal Police in an incident in February.

During the arrest of a wanted criminal, a woman threatened him with a knife.

He resolved the potentially difficult situation and was able to get the woman to drop the knife without any undue escalation in force.

At the time of his death, Pte Clark was taking part in a section patrol searching for possible weapons caches in the hills of Mount Austen on March 10.

Pte Clark enlisted in the Army on April 23, 2001, and graduated from ARTC into the RAIC.

After completing his initial employment training at the School of Infantry he was posted to the 3RAR, where he was selected for the Ausbatt 6 tour in East Timor on Operation Citadel in 2002 as a rifleman.

Pte Clark deployed with Bravo Coy to the Solomon Islands in January.

His long-term military plan was to compete for SASR selection to develop his passion as an infantryman and be closer to his family in Perth.

CO 3RAR Lt-Col Adam Findlay said Pte Clark’s platoon sergeant had nothing but praise for the young rifleman.

“His platoon sergeant said he was the type of soldier to whom an NCO or officer could allocate tasks to and have absolute confidence that they would be carried out,” Lt-Col Findlay said.

“He also spoke of Jamie as hardworking; he put his mates and duty before himself, and would be an asset to any organisation, not just Defence.”

Pte Clark was buried in his hometown of Perth on March 22. His mates from 3RAR as well as Lt-Gen Leahy and Gen Cosgrove were among the mourners.

	Heavy sadness: Soldiers from 3RAR collect Pte Jamie Clark’s coffin on its arrival at Sydney airport. Photo by Maj Grant King, CPA

	Honour: RSM Land Command WO1 Kevin Vann, Land Commander Maj-Gen Ken Gillespie, CDF Gen Peter Cosgrove and Defence Minister Robert Hill pay respects.

	Emotional send-off: 3RAR soldiers at a service on the tarmac of Honiara airport as the body of Pte Clark begins the journey home.

Memorial Service

Private Jamie Clark

2011

(Utube Video no longer available......)

Combined Task Force 635 (CTF635) deployed on Operation Anode in the Solomon Islands paused today to remember fallen soldier Private Jamie Clark. CTF635 marked the 6th anniversary of Private Clark's death with a memorial service held at GBR Beachside Chapel which was also attended by Private Clark's mother, Mrs Avril Clark. Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Landford and Mrs Clark laid a wreath in commemoration of Private Clark's sacrifice. Private Clark died in an accident in the Solomon Islands in 2005.

Private Jamie Clark
Memorial Kindergarten Opening

Gifu Village, Solomon Islands

To honour the memory of the late Private Jamie Clark, a ceremony was held at Gifu Village, Solomon Islands, to officially open the Private Jamie Clark Memorial Kindergarten.

The Cross Roads
Local News for
Alexander Heights, Malaga, Ballajura and Lansdale
Western Australia
(Volume 9 Issue 31)

Solomons Islanders Remember Ballajura's Son
(An Article (Autumn 2009) taken from The Cross Roads with Permission)

It is four years since a young Ballajurite and Australian soldier, Pte Jamie Clark died in the Solomon Islands. Yet his relatively short life of 21 years continues to touch people locally and in the Pacific. On Saturday March 7, three days before the fourth anniversary of his death 300 people gathered at the Mary MacKillop Hall for a quiz night and raised $12,000. The money will build a Kindergarten and provide a teacher for 12 months in the mountain village of Mbrama out of Honiara.

Pte Jamie Clark

Jamie’s reconnaissance troop were assisting the Australian Federal Police searching out illegal weapons during the height of unrest in March 2005. It was dangerous work in rough mountainous and rocky terrain where Jamie slipped and fell to his death, some 20 meters.

After the funeral his parents, Peter and Avril were taken by the Army to see the place were Jamie died. They also meet the local villagers and children who knew Jamie. The head of the village came to greet them carrying a portrait of Jamie that hangs in his home. Since then Avril and Peter have been on a mission to help the children of the Solomons.

Peter told Cross Roads that at the age of 19, the Army sent the young Jamie to East Timor. He loved his Army work. He really wanted to help people. Jamie would ring home and lament the sorry state of affairs for the innocent children caught up in the unrest. His parent’s would send parcels for Jamie to give to the children in the mountains of East Timor and later in the Solomons.
He was home celebrating his 21st birthday when the Army called and asked him to consider a Solomon’s tour of duty.

His father said that Jamie was destined for the Army - at age 13 he joined the Morley Cadets 57 battalion. At 16 he would ride his bicycle to the SAS barracks in Swanbourne and peep through the perimeter fence to watch the activities of the soldiers. Even then he was good at ‘reconnaissances’ as he was never spotted.

Peter and Avril have taken on Jamie’s sentiments and the needs of the children of the Solomon Islands to heart. They have stirred 300 people and many businesses in Malaga and beyond to dip into their economically depressed pockets and find $12,000. Among the last pictures of Jamie with the children of Mbrama Village.

When Jamie’s parents Peter and Avril went to the Solomons to see where Jamie died, the chief of the village, Michael (right) had a portrait of Jamie in his house. Pictured Peter & Avril Clark, Willy(chief’s son), Michael.

Jamie would challenge the kids to some chin-ups while his mate (Bottom left) started on the army chores!

Among the last pictures of Jamie with the children of Mbrama Village.

Not forgotten: Pte Jamie Clark,
B Coy 3RAR, died on patrol in the Solomon Islands, 2005.

Lest We Forget

Pte Jamie Clark

Rank: Private

Unit: 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment

Service: Australian Army

Operation: Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) 2003-

Date of death: 10 March 2005

Place of death: Solomon Islands

Cause of death: Accidental

Cemetery or memorial details: Pinnaroo Point Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia

Private Jamie Clark Memorial Kindergarten Opening

Private Jamie Clark
Memorial Kindergarten Opening