A travelling Man


John Clark was a travelling man from the time of his boyhood and right through his life. Born in April of 1923 in Lambeth Ontario, he moved with his parents at age 3 to Vangard Saskatchewan. His parents passed away before he was 8. His new home with adopted parents was in Pambrun Saskatchewan.
After his repatriation from the service he went to Manitoba where he joined up with the RCMP. With the Mounties he became part of the world famous Musical Ride, travelling with the Ride across Canada. His stay with the Mounties took him to postings in Ottawa, Lac la Biche and Jasper. He was also posted to Austria working with the interviewing of post-war applicants for immigration to Canada.

RCAF


Listing his home as St. Germain, a community in Winnipeg Manitoba, Clark enlisted in Regina Saskatchewan on October 7th, 1942.After joining the RCAF and volunteering for aircrew duty, his friends nick named him "Dodger", for going with the air force instead of the Army.
After is Manning Depot training he was posted to No. 3 Wireless School located in Tuxedo, another community in Winnipeg as the first leg of his training as Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. The courses covered theory, practical and applied electronics. The air force still pushed for a high degree of skills in Morse Code. Although many of the communications would be verbal over the wireless, keying and interpreting Morse was a necessary skill.
The keying and reading of the code started out at a learning level and quickly accelerated in it's pace. Testing was a regular part of the course and the wash out rate increased as the course demand for higher speed and more importantly higher accuracy was increased. His DFC citation shows him graduating on October 15th of 1942, but most likely was 1943.

No.7 Bombing and Gunnery School


Clark's next posting was to Paulson Manitoba, No.7 BGS, for his training as a gunner. His secondary position on the aircraft would be the nose gun. The training pattern followed the exact same path for Air Gunners. Classes in armaments, judging distances, heights, learning angles of deflection. The school used different aircraft, but mostly the Fairly Battle a single engine aircraft which from a distance had the look of the Spitfire fighter. The much larger Battle had an open gun position in the rear section of the cockpit area. Here the trainee gunners were learning the craft by shooting at target drones while in a moving, rolling shaking platform. Gunners also had training on the target range on gun turrets mounted on tracks, aiming at small moving targets off in the distance. On November 29th 1943, Clark completed his training and received his WAG Wings.

Overseas


Once overseas he was posted to a OTU where he became a member of P/O William Osborn's crew. At OTU the all new crew worked together to build a tight knit team, while flying the normal cross-country flights and training developed at a OTU base.
Once they completed this Sgt. Clark moved with the crew to No. 1664 HCU. Here two more crew members were added and Clark and the rest of the crew became familiar with the four engine heavy bombers.


419 Squadron


Arrival at 419 squadron in August of 1944, brought them to the air war over Europe and on September 28th they took part on their first operation. As part of Osborn's crew they flew together right up to May of 1945, which was a point where the air war was over and 419 squadron was preparing to return their Lancaster's to Canada.
His crew were:
Navigator F/O M. R. Young
Bomb Aimer H. S. Paisley
Pilot P/O William Osborn
F/E Sgt. H. W. Roper
A/G M/U Sgt. J. W. Aitken
A/G R/G Sgt. S. F. Campbell

A WAG's Operational Day


Sgt. Clark's operational day would not end until his Lancaster touched down at it's base. Then the aircraft would have to safely move along the paths to it's concrete dispersal pad. The time to get there gave Clark a chance to gather all his notes and documents he had been given for the operation.
Once the bomber was parked and the propellers stopped turning, Clark would report to the pilot any problems for the ground crews to look into regarding his intercom and radio equipment. After de-planeing the crew would wait for a drive back to the main section of the base which could be miles away by following the roads or paths leading to it. It would not be wise in any case to try to trek across an operating airfield at night or in the dark of early mornings, the normal times when all the crews returned from the sortie.
Once the WAAF driver dropped them off at the buildings, Clark along with the rest of Osborn's crew and all the other crews would wait to debrief with the Squadron Intelligence Officer or one of his men. In the mean time they would store their kit, have coffee or tea while waiting.
When their turn came the aircraft's captain would give his report on what he saw on the raid. Anyone else would give any information which they thought might be of importance. Then depending on if it was late evening or early morning, breakfast and then bed was in order for most of the men.

The next day a walk to the Sergeant's or Officer's Mess, Clark would go to the board and read the "Battle Order" for the day. Their listed in two columns broken down into a number of rectangles would be the names of the pilot and crews who were to be on operations that night. No target would be listed, that was secret. The serial number and the squadron code of which aircraft they would be flying on that night was shown in the rectangle. Beside the pilot's name would be a number, which would indicate the number of operations that pilot had flown.
In the bottom right corner would be listed two times. One the time for the meal to be served for those on for the night and the second time would reveal when the crews would meet to find out the details for the night. Between the current time and the time for the meeting Sgt. Clark could have lectures to attend, or not. Time to relax at the Mess and mingle with the others for a time. Or there my even be a parade or inspection to get ready for, the military never stops for individual pleasures.
As the time for the meeting draws near the crews find their way into the hall, hoping to catch an idea of what the target for the night will be. The carefully covered message boards and maps stay covered until all are in the hall and the area secured. The veterans of operations hazard a guess based on what they can see, the fuel load or length of the sortie which can sometimes be seen slightly. These veterans know the more fuel the deeper the operations is going to be into enemy territory.
For Clark and the other wireless operators the completion of the general briefing, brings them to gather around the Squadron Signals Officer. This officer will give them the three frequencies needed for the night's operation. One frequency will be for the normal traffic of messages, the second for identification and radio position fixes sent out by the aircraft to the receiving stations back in Britain during their trip. The final frequency is for homing and for distress procedures. The Signals Officer will relate any new information on wireless problems or the procedures for sending Mayday signals.
When they have finished Clark will go to his locker, empty pockets of forbidden articles, climb into his flying gear, then wait as the others in the crew gather and are again transported out to the dispersal area.
Sgt. Clark will make a series of quick checks of the intercom with each of the crew , then test his radio set. He tests the wireless with the Watch Office, somewhat like the control tower at an airport. Clark will call up the Watch Office giving his aircraft's code letter, and the Watch Office will reply to him as VR-E for "Easy" received loud and clear strength "niner". Once all his and the other crews complete their tests, it's time for all the bombers to start marshalling towards the main runway. Keeping an eye out for each other's movements, collisions with fully fueled and bombed aircraft were rare but still required the pilot's attention to move along the paths. Then wait until it is time to take off, individually taking off in two to five minute intervals.
Unlike the USAAF, the aircraft of Bombe Command takeoff one after the other, not in pairs.
So after a few short hours after returning from an operation, Clark is off again into the dark skies towards Europe. During these operations Clark's aircraft was hit by heavy flak on the way to the target and still continued on with one engine knocked out of service. The crew were a determined one, and not a crew to let things stop them from their duty.
On an operation to Hanau, while over the target with flak shells all around his aircraft, and through the movements of the aircraft in this turbulence the intercom within the Lancaster stopped operating. During this vital time when communications between the Bomb Aimer and the pilot was lost, with only the option of shouts between these two to direct the bomber on to the correct path or to abort the mission at this time, P/O Clark worked at and successfully repaired the intercom system. For his actions he was awarded the DFC.


DFC Comments


On one occasion this officer, as wireless operator, was detailed for an attack against Hanall. Fifteen minutes before reaching the target area the intercommunication system failed. Pilot Officer Clark effected repairs while the aircraft was actually over the target and the mission was successfully completed. This officer has always shown courage and devotion to duty even in the most hazardous circumstances.

The critical need of an aircraft to have a functioning intercom was recognized by Bomber Command, an "U/S" intercom would class a bomber as "unserviceable" in their eyes. The need for not only pilot, navigator, or pilot B/A communications within the noisy fuselage was important. But the need for the rear gunner to be able to fully communicate with his pilot to avoid attacks was highly important.