DEREK CHARLES GRAY CLINKARD
39855 Flying Officer (Pilot), 61 Squadron, Royal Air Force

photo from John Williams, Zillah's nephew
killed in action 8th March 1940 aged 24
Derek was born on 19th April 1915, the eldest son of Cecil Henry and Margaret Tessier Clinkard (nee Gray) of Wanganui, New Zealand.
He had a younger brother named Ian Gray Clinkard and their father, a lawyer, became a Member of Parliament for Rotorua at the 1925 General Election.
In 1921 Derek went to St. John's Hill School in the town. He enrolled at the Wanganui Technical College in 1929 and swam and played rugby and tennis for them.
He moved to Wellington and became a clerical worker for the Shell Oil Company. Derek joined the Waiwhetu Golf Club and also got a private pilots licence.
In April 1936, with an 'A' licence and 10 hours flying experience, he applied to join the Royal Air Force under the 'Dominion Special Service' scheme. He was accepted and guaranteed a 'Short Service Commission' upon his enlistment in Britain.
Derek came to England at his own expense, working in the engine room of the Port Bowen to get his passage, and arrived in March 1937.
He trained at Brough Civil School, Yorkshire and then at No.7 Flying Training School in Northamptonshire. The 40 trainees on his course were allocated to various Squadrons. By the end of 1940 only 10 of these men were left.
On 19th February 1938, Derek reported to RAF Hemswell and joined No. 61 Squadron, part of 5 Group, Bomber Command. He was affectionately nicknamed 'Clink'.
At 20:18 on 7th March 1940 his Handley Page Hampden Mk1 bomber, number L4111, went on an 'offensive patrol' to attack the Luftwaffe base at Sylt, one of the German Frisian Islands.
The plane suffered severe damage during the raid and the crew struggled to bring it home. At 2am they were plotted just off the English coast but no requests for bearings were made until 3 hours later. They flew up and down the coast but enemy action and mist over the whole of England stopped them trying to land.
They managed to get as far as R.A.F. Digby near Lincoln. The usual method of landing was to perform a left hand turn but, perhaps due to rudder problems, they had to attempt a right hand turn. The airfield's lights were not put on and in the darkness, at 5:30am, the plane crashed into a nearby field.
They were the first aircrew of 61 Squadron to be lost in the war. Derek's comrades were Sergeant Charles Carlile Hobbs, Sergeant Ronald Philips Glasson (aged 19) and Leading Aircraftman Winston Kitchener Wood (aged 20).
Due to the unknown extent of their difficulties no recommendations were made for posthumous decoration. It is probable they had been engaged by the enemy because the body of LAC Wood, the wireless operator, had sustained gunshot wounds.
The medals Derek received for active service were:-
1939-1945 Star
Air Crew Europe Star
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939-1945
New Zealand War Medal
New Zealand Memorial Cross
Family and friends were informed the funeral service was to be held on 12th March 1940. Zillah wrote:-
'Our life together was short and sweet,
But our love will live forever'
The service for Flying Officer Derek Clinkard was held at St. Peter's Church and officiated by the Reverend A.R. Johnson who had performed his wedding service just three months earlier.
The coffin was draped with his cap and the Union flag. It was conveyed through the village from the Church to the cemetery and all the houses along the route drew their curtains as a mark of respect.
Derek was accorded full military honours and after a short service the Last Post sounded and a volley was fired over the grave. About 200 of his colleagues filed past to pay their last tribute to a brave comrade. Among the many wreaths and tributes was one from his parents in New Zealand.
In June 1954 Derek's mother travelled to see her son's resting place. She regularly placed fresh flowers on his grave and ended each visit by reading a verse by Sir Henry Newboult which is inscribed on the gravestone:-
'To count the light of battle good,
and dear the land that gave you birth,
and dearer yet the brotherhood
that binds the brave of all the Earth.
Underneath are the words 'A son of the Southern Seas'.
His tombstone says he was 25 when he died; surprisingly it is almost certainly incorrect.
Derek is also remembered on the Roll of Honour, Wanganui Technical College and at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, near Spilsby.
The 'best man' at the wedding, Charles William Glover, lost his life just 2 months after his friend when Hampden L4119 crashed during the return from a raid over Denmark.
Two years after returning to New Zealand his mother died in a motor accident.
On the day of Derek's funeral, with many RAF Hemswell personnel in Scotter, the base suffered its second lost plane crew of the war. There would be many more...
Weblinks
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WILLIAM HOLLAND
12027 Corporal, 8th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
GEORGE WILLIAM FITCHETT
13356 Private, 10th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
RICHARD PERCIVAL EMINSON
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SYDNEY JOHNSON
15294 Private, 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
ROBERT ASTLEY FRANKLIN EMINSON
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GEORGE ROWLAND KING
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WILLIAM STORM JACKSON
6665 Private, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own); 307694 Rifleman, 1st/8th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wale's Own)
JOSEPH ROBINSON
203385 Corporal, 10th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
HERBERT EMINSON
5197 Private, 3/8th Reserve Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottingham & Derbyshire Regiment); 203395 Private, 15th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment)
FRANCIS JOHN FOSTER
23035 Private, ‘C’ Company, 4th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment; 23035 Private, 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment
ALBERT PICKSLEY
31620 Private, 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
ARTHUR CLAYTON
82116 Private, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment; 19484 Private, 7th Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment); 405343 Private 865th Company, Labour Corps
WALTER SLEIGHT
6198 Private, 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
ROBERT RONALD BELL
567353 Flight Sergeant (Rear Gunner), 97 Squadron, Royal Air Force
ALBERT BIRKETT
RME/10039 Marine, Royal Marine Engineers, H.M.S. Highflyer (Shore Establishments)
JOHN DENNIS EDGAR
4804077 Serjeant, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
HAROLD KING
2655491 Guardsman, 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
RONALD WILLIAM LEEKE
P/JX 154364 Leading Signalman, Royal Navy, H.M.S. Aurora
ALBERT SNELL
4800317 Lance Corporal, 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
CHARLES ROY WILKINSON
C/SKX 1525 Stoker 2nd Class, Royal Navy, H.M.S. Vimiera
LAISTER COOK
Susworth's fallen hero of the Great War
The Fountain brothers
Other Great War casualties
In doing this research another 9 men have been found who lost their lives in the Great War and were associated with this parish.
A 4th Eminson cousin
Herbert Luther Eminson was also killed in the Great War.
Great War servicemen - side facing West
Arrand - Cottingham
Great War servicemen - side facing West
Eminson
Great War servicemen - side facing West
Holland - Lees
Great War servicemen - side facing South
Dawber - Nelson
Great War servicemen - side facing South
Osborne - Skelton
Great War servicemen - side facing East
Richards - Stutting
Great War servicemen - side facing East
Wakefield - Woods
SUSWORTH Great War servicemen
A forgotten heroine
A Scotter woman was a nurse in the French Red Cross. (Her name might have been wrongly transcribed when the memorial was refurbished in the 1980s)
Roll of Honour - March 1915
Roll of Honour - December 1915
Other Great War servicemen
More men have been found, associated with Scotter, who served in and survived the Great War but are not listed on the War Memorial.
Finally