William Augustus Clarke
Memorial: Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial
Regiment: 6th Maritime Regiment
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Gunner
Parents: Joseph Augustus and Edith Ellen Clarke
Marital status: Married
Home address: Home address: 267 Olton Boulevard, East Birmingham. Lived: Acocks Green, Birmingham
Date of birth: 1921
Date of death: 19/07/1942
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 21
Further information:
William was the eldest of 5 children, with 3 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. In 1939 William's father was working as a machine tool fitter and his mother as a capstan lathe hand. He married Daisy Louisa Beech in 1941
On the day of his death, William was serving aboard the British Steam Merchant ‘Empire Hawksbill’, which was part of convoy OS-34, carrying a cargo of Government stores on route from Belfast to Cape Town. At 02.30 hours, 200 miles North of the Azores, The Hawksbill was hit by 2 torpedoes from U-boat U-564. A second ship in the convoy, The Lavington Court, was also hit by another 2 torpedoes. All 37 crew members and 8 gunners including William, from The Empire Hawksbill, lost their lives. There were no survivors.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1949.html