Pte. Frank Claydon . British Army
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Pte. George Frederick Claydon . Royal Air Force from Romford My grandfather George Claydon volunteered for the 1/4th Battalion, Essex Regiment, Territorial Force on 9th of February 1914 and served throughout WW1 in the Essex Regiment.
Towards the end of the war he was in Palestine and Egypt and transferred on 15th of May 1918 to the Royal Air Force with the Egypt Expeditionary Force near Cairo at Abbassia.
He spent most of the next 20 years in the RAF and went back on active service at the start of WW2 with the rank of Warrant Officer. He appears to have been evacuated from France on 2nd of June 1940.
He was Gazetted MBE on 11th of July 1940 for Distinguished services rendered in recent operations, but always told my mother it was for organising sports and social events at RAF camps!
He has, I imagine, the pretty rare distinction of having been at Gallipoli and Dunkirk.
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Sgt. Alan Harvey Clayton . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 150 Squadron (d.15th November 1942) John Duncan was my uncle and came from Aberdeenshire. Like many of their generation the tragedy was seldom referred to by his brother and sisters. He had left after home leave and on returning to his base must have gone straight out on his final mission almost immediately if not that day. The period was so short the family initially thought he had been killed on his way back to his base. Apparently during a visit to the cemetery in 1947, they were advised that the plane had been blown up in the air while on route to bomb submarine pens. The following is a list of the bomber crew from 150 Squadron who were shot down on 15th of November 1942 and are interred at Dinard Cemetery: - Alan Harvey Clayton, Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 1376606
- John George Duncan Sergeant (Obs.) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Age 21 1346350
- Francis Ferguson Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 1370437.
- Hugh Laurence John Mackender, Flight Sergeant (Nav.) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Age 25. 924909
- John James Perry Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 150 Sqdn. Age 27. 1261701
- Vivien James Wotton Pilot Officer (Bomb Aimer) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Age 20, 126963.
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Pte. Albert Edward Clayton . British Army 8th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment from Flitwick, Bedfordshire (d.28th Feb 1942) My Great Uncle Albert Clayton enlisted into the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment before the outbreak of the war.
When war broke out he joined the 8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and was sent to France as part of the Expeditionary Force.
He was captured at Dunkirk and spent the next 2 years in a POW camp in Poland.
I think it may have been Stalag XXA at Torun, but this has not yet been confirmed.
He died of TB on 28th of February 1942 and is buried at Malborg Cemetery in Poland.
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E. Clayton . Auxiliary Fire Service Horsham
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2nd Ofcr. Edward Boniface Clayton . US Merchant Marines from New Jersey My father Edward Clayton sailed on the American Manufacturer on two occasions during WWII: 10th to 14th of January 1942 and 19th of February to 16th of June 1942.
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Sergeant F Clayton . RAF 59 Squadron
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FG Clayton . British Army Royal Armoured Corps FG Clayton served with the Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt. Frederick George Clayton . British Army Royal Signals from Wembley Frederick George Clayton was a Special Radio operator.
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Harry Clayton . British Army West Surrey (Queens Royal) Rgt. My grandfather was a POW at Stalag XXA in Poland from 1940 until 1945.
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Able Sea. Harry Clayton . Royal Navy HMS Corinthian from Birkenhead I have just found out Harry Clayton is my father.
I have a little history. I just wanted him to be honoured, he served on HMS Corinthian and HMS Tyne.
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Sgt. Henry Clayton . RAF air gunner. 15 Sqd (d.16th Nov 1944)
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Pte. Horace Wilfred "Yorkie" Clayton . British Army York and Lancs from Snaith Horace Clayton was a regular in the Army when the war broke out. He trained in France and was sent to Norway where he was captured and became a prisoner in 1940.
He worked mainly on farms and became friendly with the Polish family he worked with. He used to escape through a hole in the fence to steal veg and any other food he could boil up for his hut mates. He was hit on the side of the head by a guard for not bringing the hut to attention and had a cauliflower ear for the rest of his life.
He was on the long march in Feb 1945 when the guards took them out of the camp away from Russian and American troops. He was liberated by the Americans weighing only 6 stone and spent a number of weeks in hospital with a severely infected neck.
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Canteen Asst. Horace Clayton . Royal Navy HMS Walney Horace Clayton was my father. He served on HMS Walney from 13th of June 1941 to 14th of June 1942. He requested to remain on Walney but was transferred.
I still have an article about the sinking of Walney in battle, which affected him deeply. He even called one of their homes Walney.
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Spr. Richard Clayton . British Army 1047th Port Op. Coy., Section B Royal Engineers from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England (d.27th January 1945) Richard Clayton was my uncle, I never knew him but my mother always said what a wonderful man he was. He left a wife Lily and son Tony when he died.
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Pfc. Robert D. Clayton BSM.. United States Army 2nd Btn. 30th Infantry Regiment from Illinois
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S Clayton . British Army S Clayton served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Thomas F. P. Clayton . Canadian Army 23 Battery 1st Medium Regt Royal Canadian Artillery My brother, Thomas F.P. Clayton, 23 Battery, 1st. Medium Regiment was stationed at Borden, Hant's, England, in 1939/40 as a Canadian soldier. As he landed in England he recieved a letter "welcoming him to the shores of England, the son of Thomas James Clayton", (a British Beoer War Vetran and C.E.F. WW1 Vetran). He never got to even finish reading that letter as he was wounded, and it was lost in the English Hospital, and now he is requesting me to ask if it would be possible to get a copy of that letter or that type of historical document? Does anyone have a copy?
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Flight Engineer Thomas Charles Clayton . Royal Air Force 514 Squadron
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Thomas Charles Clayton . Royal Air Force 514 Sdq. Thomas Clayton was my Grandfather, he served as a Royal Air Force Flight Engineer for 514 Squadron. I don't know much about his service, but the Lancaster he flew for most of the war was blown up by its own bombs. While being re-armed in a rain shower by the ground crew, a static discharge caused the bomb bay to release its load on the ground. The ground crew were all killed.
He survived the war, emigrating to Canada in 1956 with his son Roger, and his wife Gertrude Chitty who had served in the WAAF.
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W Clayton . British Army Royal Tank Regiment W Clayton served with the Royal Tank Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Walter Clayton . Royal Navy Walter Clayton served with the Royal Navy.
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William Irving Clayton . British Army 7th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment William Clayton served with the 7th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt Eric Wilfred Clayton. . RAF 12Sqd. (d.28th Aug 1943) Eric Clayton was a Mid Upper Gnr. He was killed on 28th Aug 1943 in Lancaster DV187 PH-A of 12sqd
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Lance Sgt. Hugh Clearie . Army 5th Btn. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (d.9th Feb 1945)
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Daniel David Cleary . Royal Air Force 35 Sqd. David was shot down in Aug 1943 and spent the rest of the war in Stalag IVB Muhlberg on Elbe prisoner of war camp. He kept a log, this has been digitised, www.terrorfliegerwarlog.co.uk
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T Cleary . Royal Navy HMS Nigeria
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T. Cleary . Royal Navy HMS Nelson
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Spr. Ronald Keith Cleave Military Medal. British Army 256 Field Company Royal Engineers from Reading, Berkshire. My Father enlisted at Collompton in Devon on the 19.10.1939. He was 19 at the time. He had happy memories of training camps where local villagers would supply the troops with tea and buns or on passes out of camp they would be bought pints of beer in a local pub. One time I know he and a mate nearly missed the train taking them to their next posting while being entertained by some local villagers in the pub. They made it by the skin of their teeth.
Dad's company was posted to the Orkneys around Christmas time where their job was building the huts that the troops following on behind would use. It was bitterly cold, not much cheer that Christmas. Once their posting there was finished they travelled back by train. My father talked about how slow the train travelled, they could pick wild flowers on the trackside at times. There were stops at stations where buckets of tea were provided.
My Dad also talked about being involved in laying booby traps on the beaches to prevent an invasion of the South Coast.
Like lots of other troops Dad served in Africa. They travelled by ship and landed in South Africa and saw the Table Top mountain. He also experienced the Colour Bar when he went into a local pub and was told he was in the wrong bar, he was in the black's bar. The landlord tried to order the other men out, but My father insisted they stayed. I don't know how long he was in South Africa, but he ended up in the deserts of Iraq.
While he was in the desert my father spoke of how every week they would all have to take their beds apart and debug them. Every morning before putting on his boots he had to turn them upside down and bang them on the floor so that any scorpions or other poisonous creatures fell out.
Travelling in the desert was hard, very hot by day, very cold by night. The armoured vehicles broke down or overheated at times. Drinks of tea were made by using water from the vehicle's radiator.
As an engineer my father was involved in laying mines and defusing them where neccessary. He also helped build the Bailey bridges which were used to create quick routes over rivers and gorges. Often these were to replace previous ones which had been destroyed by the enemy.
After the Africa Campaign my Father was sent to Italy. He won his Military medal there in Callibreto. He defused some mines while under enemy fire. While in Italy he saw Venice and didn't think much of the canals which were rather dirty at the time. While in Italy he developed a love of Opera or to be more exact Opera Houses. Dad found they were often the only place that he could get a beer.
On the 20.6.44 my Father was taken ill with pneumonia and was off sick for a few weeks. I remember he told me that while sick he was given M+B tablets which he thought was a type of penicillin.
For a while my father was stationed in Austria which he loved. The beautiful scenery and the majestic mountains enthralled him. He stayed at a place called Seeboden and worked for 6 months building hutted camps and hospitals. Sapper Cleave left Austria from Villach station on 17.02.46 he was bound for Calais and then Blighty. Dad was demobbed in 1946, but remained on the reservist list till the day he died in 2007.
Amongst my father's effects I found a letter he wrote to PR Sgt. dated March 2nd 1945.
Subject. Loss of bayonet.
I beg to report the loss of my bayonet which occurred during training on March 1st '45. A large area of ground was covered during this training and a search proved of no avail. I beg to deny the loss was through my neglect.
My father enjoyed telling his stories of his time in the army. He never told of awful things, just the interesting and happy bits. It wasn't until he was in his 80s that we found out the truth behind his Military Medal. He seemed to enjoy the camaraderie of army life.
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Henry Cleaver . British Army Royal Artillery
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