Group Captain Clifford Arthur Bowman Wilcock, (28 April 1898 – 14 January 1962) was a British engineer, company director and politician who is noted for his contributions to civil and military aviation.

Great War service

Born in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Wilcock was educated at

St Dunstan's College St Dunstan's College is a coeducation, co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Catford, south-east London, England. It is a registered charity, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference a ...

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

. He had joined the 14th London Regiment ( London Scottish) in 1912 and served with them in the First World War, later transferring to the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. Wounded at

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality c ...

, he was seconded into the Royal Flying Corps in June 1917 on his recovery, and he became a founding member of the

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) an ...

. He won the Air Force Cross in 1919.

Royal Air Force

At the end of the war Wilcock studied engineering at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

before rejoining the RAF with no. 208 Squadron in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

from 1921 to 1923. He alternated between home postings dealing with administration, and engineering work on RAF bases (including in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

until 1932). Among his posts was assisting at the Experimental Establishment in

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...

. From July 1935 he was on administrative duties at

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

, where he founded one of the first Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Squadrons in 1937.

Second World War

Retiring in September 1938 with the rank of Group Captain, Wilcock became a broker and underwriter at

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

. He was a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

. On the outbreak of the Second World War he offered his services and was made an Air Ministry civil servant (deputy director of Manning), and ultimately rose to Senior Personnel Officer for RAF Transport Command. He was awarded the OBE in 1944.

Parliament

A member of the Labour Party and the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

since 1921, Wilcock was chosen in February 1945 as one of the Labour candidates for

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, a two-member constituency. He and his fellow candidate

Philip Noel-Baker Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, (1 November 1889 – 8 October 1982), born Philip John Baker, was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a ...

won the seat in the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

with majorities over 20,000. After the Boundary Commission split Derby into two single-member seats, Wilcock was elected for Derby North from

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

. He specialised in aviation issues, and was Chairman of a departmental committee on training and recruitment for civil aviation from 1946 to 1949. He was also made a Director of several aviation companies, including Derby Aviation. Moderate in his politics, Wilcock was not a frequent speaker in the House of Commons, but he was respected for his knowledge of his subject. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, ...

and also developed an interest in health, being a member of the Medical Research Council and a Governor of Westminster Hospital. He had six children. He died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

References

*Obituary, ''The Times'', 15 January 1962.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcock, Clifford 1898 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Bedfordshire People educated at St Dunstan's College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Air Force officers Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 People from Luton British Army personnel of World War I Queen's Royal Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers London Scottish officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II