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No. 414 Squadron - The War Years
Squadron Leader F. E. ClarkePhotographs by Fred Clarke, submitted by his son Chris Clarke
The pictures in this collection are from my father's files, and the people shown were all friends and comrades, many of who did not survive the war. Only a handful are alive today and they are passing away at an almost exponetial rate.
Dad (Fred Clarke) was the last of the original pilots that formed No. 414 Squadron. His great friend, Charlie "Smokey" Stover, died shortly after the reunion in 2002 and sadly, my Dad passed away in May 2005.
In 1942 the squadron converted from the the Curtiss Tomahawk aircraft to the North American Mustang Mk Ia. On a fateful day - August 19, 1942 - Dad became one of the first Mustang casualties of record when he was shot down during a tactical reconnaissance sortie over Dieppe. His wingman, Hollis "Holly" Hills, was flying cover for Dad as he was dropping down to do a low level pass over a road just to the south west of the town. Holly was a US Navy pilot flying in the RCAF with the bunch of Canaucks in 414. He is still alive (1/1/06), but is in ill health and living in Florida. When he saw the group of three FW 190s heading towards them he radioed a warning to Dad but as was so often the case in those days the radio malfunctioned and the warning was never heard. You can read more of the story here by clicking on the link to Mustangs over Dieppe and you can read the complete story of S/L F.E. Clarke in the article Depot to Dieppe by his son Ian Clarke.
The enclosed photo collection cover No. 414 'Black Knight' Squadron in operations from England and Europe with the Curtiss Tomahawk Mk I/Ii and the North American Mustang Mk Ia.
View Photo Collection