Arthur Clarke, Newchurch, Kent.

In September 2021 I was driving out of Newchurch on Romney Marsh. I was heading down an unnamed road surrounded by fields containing hay bales and sheep. At the road side was a grave stone. 

The gravestone was for a young Hurricane pilot called Arthur Clarke from Manchester who had been shot down whilst attacking a squadron of German bombers over  Kent. He was shot down by a Messerschmitt and crashed on fire in a field where he died. His body was left undisturbed and the stone placed next to the road as a memorial.

Arthur William Clarke was born in Altrincham on December 26th 1919. In January 1931 he and his sister went to Cheadle Hulme (Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks Orphan School) after their father died. Clarke became a house captain and then School Captain in September 1937. He left in March 1938 having been awarded the 'John Rylands' Gold Watch and took up a post in the Meteorological Department at the Air Ministry. 

He left when he joined the RAF on a short service commission in June 1939. With training completed, Clarke went to 12 Group Pool on March 8th 1940. He converted to Hurricanes and joined 504 Squadron on April 7th. He was shot down on September 11th in combat over the Kent coast and reported "missing". His name is on the Runnymeade Memorial, Panel 7. 

However, an investigation of an aircraft which crashed and burned out south of Rooklands, near Newchurch on Romney Marsh, proved beyond doubt that it was Hurricane P3770. He had been shot down by a Messerschmitt while attempting to attack a group of 30 enemy bombers. Items found confirmed the pilots identity as being Pilot Officer A. W. Clarke and also that he had not left the cockpit. He had only been 20 years of age. His next-of-kin decided that his remains should be left undisturbed and that a memorial should be erected close to the crash site. The memorial was dedicated on September 11th 1986. 

It is visited and cared for by Branch 425 of the Royal Air Forces Association at Hythe & New Romney.

Arthur William Clarke Service number 42485.

More information here. 

Newchurch had an RAF airfield that operated Hawker Tempests during the war.

Arthur Clarke’s online Find A Grave memorial is here.