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600th qp: 6. Rung half-muffled on the centenary of the death of Victor John Clarke, aged 22, on 25 April 1918. Victor was born in Buxhall on 5 November 1895 and lived in the village after his marriage with his wife and daughter. He enlisted on 10 October 1916 as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. He was injured during the Battle of Arras in 1917 and gassed during action in 1918 but "back with his mates", now transferred to the 3rd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, at the end of March. On 25 April the Germans launched an attack on Kemmel Hill, part of the allies' defensive line. They broke through the French and engulfed part of the British front line and the 1/5th West Yorks suffered 132 fatalities. Victor was posted as missing, presumed dead, but it wasn't until 2 June 1919 that his wife was finally notified that as his body had not been found, they had to conclude that he was dead. He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.