Air Commodore Charles Henry Clarke, (25 November 1923 – 7 May 2019) was a British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

officer. Having served in

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was shot down and interned at

Stalag Luft III , partof = ''Luftwaffe'' , location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland) , image = , caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...

—this was The Great Escape camp and he acted as a watcher but was not involved in the escape itself. He remained in the RAF after the war, commanded

RAF Stafford RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. History The station was originally established as the home of No. 16 Maintenance Unit in the 1930s. It became home to No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron ...

, served in Palestine, Aden and Malta, before retiring in 1978. He later campaigned for a memorial to Bomber Command: one was finally erected in 2012 in London.

Early life and education

Clarke was born on 25 November 1923 in the

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

area of

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, London, England. He was the eldest of three children of Thomas Clarke, who had fought in the Machine Gun Corps in the First World War, and Elizabeth. He was educated at Down Lane

Central School A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where m ...

in Tottenham. He left school at the age of 17.

RAF career

Second World War

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945

In 1941, Clarke joined the

. Serving in the other ranks, he rose to

leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is a junior rank in some air forces. It sits between aircraftman and senior aircraftman, and has a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank badge is a horizontal two-bladed propeller. The ra ...

. On 1 March 1943, he was commissioned into the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on probation (emergency commission). He was posted to No. 619 Squadron, where he served as a bomb aimer on the squadron's Lancasters. He completed 18 missions before being shot down on his 19th. On 25 February 1944, while on a bombing mission to Germany, Clarke was shot down over the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. He and three others parachuted from the plane; the three other crew members died in the crash. He was captured by the Germans, and eventually taken to

: he arrived at the

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp weeks before The Great Escape of 24/25 March 1944. Clarke acted as a watcher to those digging the tunnels (warning them of any nearing guards) and as a forger (creating papers for the escapees). He did not take part in the escape itself, and remained in the camp until a

forced march A loaded march is a relatively fast march over distance carrying a load and is a common military exercise. A loaded march is known as a forced foot march in the US Army. Less formally, it is a ruck march in the Canadian Armed Forces and the US Ar ...

in January 1945 (the "Long March") took him and the remaining prisoners to a new camp near

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

. He was promoted to a

war substantive Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

on 1 March 1945. He was liberated by British forces in April 1945. In later life, he helped build a replica of Hut 104 (the start of The Great Escape tunnel) at Stalag Luft III, and would return each anniversary to Poland to retrace the steps he took on the "Long March".

Post-war service

On 1 January 1947, Clarke transferred to the equipment branch as a flying officer with seniority on that rank from 1 March 1945. He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 25 February 1948. He was granted a permanent commission on 1 April 1952, thereby allowing him to serve in the RAF until retirement. As part of the half-yearly promotions, he was promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

on 1 January 1953, to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

on 1 July 1961, and to

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

on 1 January 1967. In addition to his Second World War service, he undertook a number of overseas postings. He served in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

during the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

, in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

during the

Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen. Partly inspire ...

and the British withdrawal in 1967, and in Malta. From 1967 to 1970, he was

officer commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, ...

. He also had desk jobs at the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

, the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

, and at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. Clarke retired from the Royal Air Force in November 1978, with the rank of air commodore.

Later life

After retiring from the RAF, Clarke moved into business, including working as a director of the department store

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

. He maintained his links with the RAF through serving as President and Chair of the Royal Air Forces Ex-POW Association and as Chair of the Bomber Command Association. He was a leading figure in the campaign for a memorial to Bomber Command: one was eventually erected in 2012 in London's

Green Park Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Maryleb ...

. In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, he was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) "For services to the Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoners of War Association".

Personal life

Clarke met his wife, Eileen (née Fosh), at a war-time dance. They married in November 1946, following his return from the war. Together they had a daughter, Naida: she is a former merchant banker who married Sir Gordon Duff. Clarke died on 7 May 2019, aged 95.

References

External links

Clarke speaking to the BBC about The Great Escape

International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive: interviews and image
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Charles 1923 births 2019 deaths British military personnel of the Aden Emergency British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency British World War II prisoners of war Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Tottenham Royal Air Force air commodores Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Stalag Luft III prisoners of World War II Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Military personnel from London