RAF veteran celebrates 90th birthday.

[Peter Clare]

RAF - News by Date

Yorkshire's last survivor of the Battle of Britain, Terry Clark, has spent his 90th birthday with fellow RAF veterans as well as current Service personnel at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.



Mr Clark was treated to a birthday party thrown by members of 76 Squadron at the RAF base in Yorkshire. Also present were veterans Bert Kirtland DFC and George Smith who flew with 76 Squadron during the war and who presented Mr Clark with a cake decorated with an RAF roundel motif.
Of his surprise party, Mr Clark said:
"I thought I had been invited to Linton to tell war stories for schoolchildren but when I arrived I was completely taken aback. It was such a marvelous surprise and I almost ended up in tears."
As with the majority of veterans, Mr Clark has an amazing tale to tell of his time from 1940 when he was helping to defend the UK's skies from the Nazis as a navigator, locating enemy positions in order to attack.



Mr Clark earned his pay as an air gunner on Blenheims before switching roles to become a radar navigator on Beaufighters where his job was to track enemy aircraft and guide the pilot towards the 'contact' and, once within range, he would give the order to the pilot to open fire.
One night Mr Clark and his pilot shot down two enemy fighters. In all he claimed five 'kills'.
Returning to RAF Linton-on-Ouse always rekindles Mr Clark's love of flying:
"I do love coming to Linton," he said. "For me being back with the pilots and navigators is like going home. If only I was a few years younger I would be back in the air with them."
For his wartime bravery, Mr Clark was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal which to this day he still wears with pride alongside five others - including the rare Battle of Britain medal and clasp; all bear testimony to his courage.
76 Squadron was formed in 1916 at Ripon as part of the Royal Flying Corps and during the Second World War it spent much of its existence in North Yorkshire and served twice as a Halifax bomber unit at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
Four years ago the RAF decided to reform some of its disbanded squadrons to name previously unnamed training squadrons. It was seen as a way of bringing the heritage of famous units back to life as reserve squadrons and now 76 Squadron is the the Tucano Air Navigation Squadron.

Photographs: Matt Clark.
Image 1: (Larger size) Mr Clark, a survivor of the Battle of Britain, celebrates his 90th birthday with members of 76 Squadron.
Image 2: (Larger size) Terry Clark celebrates his 90th birthday at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

[Smudger Jnr]

It looks like Terry had a great Birthday.

Regards
Tom