Rex Clark

Rex Clark (14 September 1935 — 19 October 1978) was an officer of the Australian Army and a collector of orders, decorations and medals as well as military history books and ephemera. Clark gained notoriety due to his service as a mercenary in foreign wars while on leave from the Australian Army. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Saint John and received Imperial and Australian awards for Vietnam service and long service. He was awarded a number of foreign awards although during his lifetime such awards were not officially recognised by Australia. He ended his own life while being investigated in relation to the disappearance of militaria from museums and private collections.

Military service Major Rex Clark served as a member of the Australian Army Training Team in South Vietnam in 1963–1964. In April 1964, during operation Lam Son 115, while one of two Australian observers with Vietnamese Rangers, they found themselves under fire from entrenched Viet Cong around their helicopter landing zone. The Australians switched from observers to leaders, organized two groups from the disorganised rangers and while Clark's group provided supporting fire, the other Australian led his group to attack and clear the enemy. He was assigned to the Army staff in London for two years in 1968 and returned to Vietnam as project officer in the Australian Army Assistance Group Vietnam in 1972. Clark also served secretly while attached to an American unit which was fighting in Cambodia. Due to Australian Government policy and military regulations at that time, permission to wear foreign awards for Vietnam service, other than the South Vietnam Campaign Medal 1964-73, were neither approved nor gazetted. He was also controversial for serving as a mercenary in foreign wars while on leave from the Australian Army and where he was awarded a number of foreign awards for bravery.

Vietnam War He was awarded the US Soldiers Medal for saving two wounded South Vietnamese soldiers by crawling through a minefield, for saving Iranian soldiers caught in a battle during the Dhofar Rebellion. including Sabretache, The Journal of the Military Historical Society of Australia, and articles in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Militaria collections scandal Major Rex Clark was an established authority on militaria and possessed an extensive collection. In 1967 his expertise was cited in a case of counterfeit medals being sold in militaria shops in Sydney. It was claimed that he possessed the world's largest collection of military medals awarded to Australians.

In the 1970s Clark was working at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra as one of the unofficial army historians connected with the museum due to his knowledge of military history and also due to his connections with military museums overseas. Certain militaria from these museums were found to be missing or replaced by copies, and Clarks was believed to be the only person who had accessed them during his visits. During this time, the medals of the Australian war hero Harold Elliott, were discovered to be missing from the Australian War Memorial. These were never recovered. The application for extradition was dismissed in May 1974 due to lack of evidence.

Clark was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at his home in the Canberra suburb of Page, while still being under investigation.