Wilfred Harry Clarke was born in Thame on 14th May 1896 and baptized at St Mary’s Church on 16th July 1896. He was the son of Harry Clarke and Esther Sarah (née Guntrip) of 17 Chinnor Road*, Thame. The eldest of four siblings, he was apprenticed to his father’s cycle repair business.

Wilfred enlisted in the Royal Navy on 30th September 1913. He spent five months in training at HMS Pembroke II, Sheerness, Kent before joining the battleship HMS Formidable on 21st February 1914.

On the night of 1st January 1915, in rough seas off Lyme Regis Bay in the English Channel, HMS Formidable took two direct torpedo hits and foundered quickly. Wilfred Clarke and another Thame man, Frederick North, went down with the ship.

SS114908 Stoker 1st Class Wilfred Harry Clarke, Royal Navy HMS Formidable, is commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. He is remembered in Thame on the War Memorial and on the Memorial Boards at St Mary’s Church, All Saints’ Church and Christchurch.

* Note on address:
Following various re-numbering post WW1 and again post WW2, we have been able to establish if 17 Chinnor Road became No. 71 Chinnor Road.