ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 202379
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| Date: | Thursday 30 November 1939 |
| Time: | afternoon |
| Type: | Blackburn Skua Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 2 AACU RAF |
| Registration: | L2981 |
| MSN: | 7840/25 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Fareham Creek, off Bedenham Point, Portsmouth Harbour, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Gosport, Hampshire |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Squadron Leader Cecil Christain Clark, RAF Service Number 70130, was the son of Henry and Katherine Marie Clark. He was the husband of Katherine Haswell Clark, of North Berwick, East Lothian. On Thursday 30th November 1939 he was flying the Skua II L2981 of No 2 Anti Aircraft Co-operation Unit (2 AACU) based at RAF Gosport.
It was late afternoon, the visibility was closing in, Squadron Leader Clark an experienced pilot knew that he would have to return to his airfield, returning from the HMS Fraser AA Range off Eastney, Portsmouth, the visibility became nil. What happened next is unsure, but his aircraft was seen to go out of control and drop from the sky, plunging into the shallow water of the upper reaches of Portsmouth Harbour, at a point off Bedenham Point, known locally as Fareham Creek.
With dusk fast approaching, a boat was dispatched from the shore, in an attempt to rescue the downed aviator. With hardly any visibility and light failing, the searchers could not locate the pilot. The aircraft had plunged deep into the mud of the shallow water. Hope of rescue faded, and was finally abandoned until the following day, when the search was resumed. The aircraft was located late in the afternoon, but unfortunately the body of Squadron Leader Clark was not in the cockpit. Days went by and, as no sign of the body had been found, a memorial service was held in Squadron Leader Clark’s memory. It was not until the 20th of April the next year that Clark’s body was found, probably dislodged by the strong Spring tides, recovered from Portchester Creek, half a mile from where he had crashed.
Squadron Leader Cecil Christain Clark, R.A.F., was buried on the 24th April 1940, and is laid to rest in the War Graves Section Row 1 Grave 2, and is commemorated by a CWG headstone. He was 42 years old when he died.
Sources:
1. https://gosport.info/gosport-history/anns-hill-cemetery-war-graves/war-graves-page-4-c/
2. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
3. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Skua.htm
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Harbour
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939a.htm
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2438126/clark,-cecil-christian/
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Nov-2017 21:46 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 28-Apr-2018 20:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 28-Apr-2018 20:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Apr-2018 20:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 28-Apr-2018 20:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source] |
| 05-Jan-2021 16:09 | Peter Clarke | Updated [Cn] |
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