Marcus Clarke (doctor)
Encyclopedia
Marcus Carlyle Clarke is an Australia
n medical doctor who at the age of 23 was appointed District Surgeon, North Borneo
, based at Kudat
after answering an advertisement in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1938. After an eventful year in Kudat he was transferred to Sandakan
as Port Health Officer, then to Keningau
as District Surgeon, Beaufort and the Interior.
It was here that Clarke was stationed as tensions rose in SE Asia in 1940-1941. Dr Clarke recorded his experiences of capture, working as a doctor under the Japanese in Brunei
and his eventual incarceration in Batu Lintang camp
, an internment camp in Kuching
, Sarawak
under the pen-name Derwent Kell, in the book A Doctor's Borneo, In Peace and War published in 1984. He wrote under a pseudonym, because he said his "real name was pre-empted by a well-known professional writer", a reference to Australian author Marcus Clarke
.
This is one of the very few accounts of life under the Japanese in Brunei.
. Jean Paget’s role sees her being captured in Malaya when the Japanese invaded and she wishes to return and help the people who helped save her life. It was on this trip that Shute met Jimmie Edwards (Ringer Edwards
), whose wartime experiences of capture, torture and crucifixion (which he survived) by the Japanese are usually credited to have inspired the character of Joe Harman. Joe Harman meets and marries Jean Paget in the book.
During the trip with Nevil around the Gulf country they arrived in one township—just in time for Marcus to deliver a baby. The baby was christened Nevil Marcus—Marcus wondered why Nevil had been accorded the primary honour given he had done all the work.
A doctor in one of Nevil Shute's books was apparently based on Marcus Clarke, perhaps the young country doctor, Dr Turnbull, in The Rainbow and the Rose
or perhaps Carl Zlinter in The Far Country
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n medical doctor who at the age of 23 was appointed District Surgeon, North Borneo
North Borneo
North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...
, based at Kudat
Kudat
Kudat is a town in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the northern tip of Borneo island. It serves as the administrative center for the Kudat Division, which includes the towns of Kudat, Pitas, Kota Marudu, and some offshore islands....
after answering an advertisement in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1938. After an eventful year in Kudat he was transferred to Sandakan
Sandakan
Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo. It is located on the east coast of the island and it is the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo...
as Port Health Officer, then to Keningau
Keningau
Keningau is a sprawling timber and agricultural town and district located in the Interior Division of Sabah, east Malaysia on the island of Borneo...
as District Surgeon, Beaufort and the Interior.
It was here that Clarke was stationed as tensions rose in SE Asia in 1940-1941. Dr Clarke recorded his experiences of capture, working as a doctor under the Japanese in Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
and his eventual incarceration in Batu Lintang camp
Batu Lintang camp
Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees...
, an internment camp in Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....
, Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
under the pen-name Derwent Kell, in the book A Doctor's Borneo, In Peace and War published in 1984. He wrote under a pseudonym, because he said his "real name was pre-empted by a well-known professional writer", a reference to Australian author Marcus Clarke
Marcus Clarke
Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke was an Australian novelist and poet, best known for his novel For the Term of his Natural Life.- Biography :...
.
This is one of the very few accounts of life under the Japanese in Brunei.
Nevil Shute Connection
On Nevil Shute's trip to Australia, he offered to fly the local Cairns doctor, Marcus Clarke, on his rounds in Northern Queensland. Based on accounts from his daughter, Bev Clarke, it is likely Marcus partly inspired the characters of Jean Paget and Joe Harman in his famous book A Town Like AliceA Town Like Alice
A Town Like Alice is a novel by the British author Nevil Shute about a young Englishwoman in Malaya during World War II and in outback Australia post-war....
. Jean Paget’s role sees her being captured in Malaya when the Japanese invaded and she wishes to return and help the people who helped save her life. It was on this trip that Shute met Jimmie Edwards (Ringer Edwards
Ringer Edwards
Herbert James "Ringer" Edwards , was an Australian soldier during World War II. As a prisoner of war , he survived being crucified for 63 hours by Japanese soldiers on the Burma Railway. Edwards was the basis for the character of "Joe Harman" in the 1950 Nevil Shute novel A Town Like Alice...
), whose wartime experiences of capture, torture and crucifixion (which he survived) by the Japanese are usually credited to have inspired the character of Joe Harman. Joe Harman meets and marries Jean Paget in the book.
During the trip with Nevil around the Gulf country they arrived in one township—just in time for Marcus to deliver a baby. The baby was christened Nevil Marcus—Marcus wondered why Nevil had been accorded the primary honour given he had done all the work.
A doctor in one of Nevil Shute's books was apparently based on Marcus Clarke, perhaps the young country doctor, Dr Turnbull, in The Rainbow and the Rose
The Rainbow and the Rose
The Rainbow and the Rose is a novel by Nevil Shute. It was first published in England in 1958 by William Heinemann.-Plot summary:The story concerns the life of Johnnie Pascoe, a retired commercial and military pilot, who has engaged in a dangerous rescue in a mountainous region of Tasmania...
or perhaps Carl Zlinter in The Far Country
The Far Country
The Far Country is a 1954 American western movie directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their fourth western collaboration...
.