William (“Bill”) Brown Clark was born in Sarnia on June 20, 1912. He was the only son of William Brown Clark (a dry goods merchant in Sarnia) and Agnes Jane (nee Steed) Clark (born in San Francisco), of North Christina Street, Sarnia. He had four sisters including Janie Clark who resided with their mother on Lakeshore Road, Sarnia at the time of William’s death. His other sisters were Mrs. Roy M. Smith and Mrs. Charles Weir, both of Sarnia, and Mrs. L. Woolley, of Toronto. Prior to enlistment, William was a keen builder of model airplanes and an expert yachtsman at the Sarnia Yacht Club. He was a well-known downtown businessman, managing the W.B. Clark Company Limited on North Front Street, with which his family had been associated for many years. William enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in July of 1940, leaving Sarnia on July 22, 1940 to go into training. Eight months later, in mid-March of 1941, on the evening before his scheduled wedding, the then Sergeant Observer William Clark of the R.C.A.F., was honoured by a number of his friends at a stag party at the Sarnia Yacht Club. Among those who attended were Logan Mackenzie, Lorne and Lyle Watcher, Gordon Link, David Wright, Charles Weir, Roy Smith, James Harris, Jack Lewis, Mel Garside, Dr. Jack Garrett, Reginald Ewener, Stewart Austin, Patrick Butler, Gordon Ferguson and Arthur Wilkinson. William was presented with a purse of money as a gift.

On March 21, 1941, William married Marian Emily Leach, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norwood A. Leach of Toronto (former residents of Sarnia), at St. George’s Anglican Church. At the ceremony, Miss Leach’s attendants were her sisters Mrs. Allan Warwick of Detroit and Miss Ilean Leach of Toronto. Serving as best man was Norwood F. Leach. Nearly three months later, the bride’s sister, Miss Ilean Leach, would also get married at St. George’s Anglican Church to Donald Fraser of St. Thomas. Following William and Marian’s wedding ceremony, a reception was held at the Sarnia Riding Club. After the reception, the newlywed couple left for a wedding trip to the Maritimes. Their residence was listed as 110 Oriole Parkway, Apt. 303, Toronto.

William had enlisted and departed en route to the manning pool in Toronto of the Royal Canadian Air Force in mid-July of 1940, along with fellow Sarnians John Murray and John Hallam (Hallam is also included in this project). In May of 1941, two months after getting married, William Clark would arrive in England along with three other Sarnia airmen: Sergeants Lloyd Gallaway (also included in this project); John Bennett; and J.D. Murray. Almost immediately, William was put into combat flying, becoming a member of the RCAF #12 squadron “Leads the Field” as a Sergeant-Observer and flying a Wellington aircraft W5577. On August 31, 1941 his Wellington aircraft was shot down off Dieppe during a bombing operation. Perishing with 29 year-old Sergeant-Observer William Clark were pilot-officer R.N. Dastur, a member of the Royal Indian Air Force, and Sgt. R.B. Russell (RAF). Two of the crew, not Canadians, were reported missing and believed killed.

In early September of 1941, William’s relatives in Sarnia received an official message informing them that, Sergeant William B. Clark was reported missing as the result of an air operation overseas on August 31. There were no further particulars, so according to the Canadian Observer, “the fact that the flyer was designated as missing held out some hope that he might be a prisoner or had made an escape in some other way.” In early November of 1941, William’s relatives, however, received the following message from Ottawa: Sgt. Clark who was previously reported missing is still missing, now believed killed in action. The Clark family regarded this message as a customary notice sent to the relatives of men who are reported as missing and about whom no reliable information has been received within two months. William’s relatives and friends still hoped that he might be safe, a probable prisoner of war in Nazi-occupied Europe.

William Clark would later be officially listed as, Previously reported missing after air operations overseas, now for official purposes, presumed to have died. Twenty-nine year old Sergeant William Clark was buried at Berneval Le Grand, France, exhumed, and reburied in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-Ser-mer, Seine-Maritime, France, Grave H.7. William’s wife of only five months, Mrs. Marion Clark of Sarnia, was residing in Toronto at the time of his death.

SOURCES: A, B, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, 2C, 2D