Shown below is a portrait of Colonel W J Clarke OBE, formerly Chief Commissioner of the Natal Police, after his service with the South African Mounted Rifles in World War I. The neck badge he is wearing is the Russian Order of St Stanislaus with Swords, which was awarded for service in Russia in 1919, as was his OBE.
A very fortunate grandson has inherited Clarke's medals, diaries and other memorabilia. The diaries provide a remarkable record of the life of a remarkable man.
He started his career as a merchant seaman, during which he acquired the nickname "Dogwatch" for favouring duty during this period of the day, which was avoided if possible by other seamen. He joined the Natal Mounted Police in 1878 (No. 249), and remained with the NMP throughout its existence, serving in the Zulu War, Basutoland Rebellion, and 1st Boer War. He was with the NMP contingent that provided the escort for Empress Eugenie during her pilgrimage to Zululand to visit the place where her son, the Prince Imperial, had been killed by Zulus. Because Clarke could speak French, he befriended the Empress and later met her during his visits to England. Clarke, by then a Sub-Inspector, published a record of the NMP in 1894, the year in which it was reconstituted as the Natal Police.
Clarke was the first head of the NP's Criminal Investigation Department, and built up an effective CID in spite official indifference to its needs. Clarke saw the value of fingerprinting and initially, because of general scepticism, introduced it at his own expense. The good work done by the CID under Clarke, including proving the success of fingerprinting, raised his status in the NP. He added to his history of the NMP by publishing extracts from his diary in 'The Nongqai', the magazine of the NP. In November 1906 he was appointed Chief Commissioner, a position he held until the NP ceased to exist in 1913. He held the record as the longest serving man in the 40-year history of the NMP/NP.
Brett