- Rex King-Clark
Robert "Rex" King-Clark MBE MC [http://www.thepeerage.com/p22587.htm#i225868 "Lt.-Col. Robert King-Clark"] , "
Burke's Peerage ", 107th edition, volume 1, page 804. cited bythePeerage.com . Retrieved2007-11-07 .] (born27 November 1913 died29 December 2007 ) was a British pilot, racer, photographer, author, and diarist.King-Clark was born
27 November 1913 , son of Alexander King Clark and Katherine Margaret Elizabeth Mainwaring Knocker. He was educated at theLoretto School . [http://tredelyn.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html "Rex King-Clark"] , Radnorian,April 23 ,2007 . Retrieved2007-11-07 .]King-Clark served in the
Manchester Regiment from 1934, and flew aMiles Whitney Straight airplane as far as Egypt, Singapore, and Bali. During March 1937, he flew aerialreconnaissance flight s of theharbor atBenghazi ,Africa , takingphotograph s which were later used by theRoyal Air Force duringWorld War II . He also served inPalestine , where he commanded one ofOrde Wingate ’s threeSpecial Night Squads , fighting Arab guerillas from 1936 to 1938, for which he was awarded theMilitary Cross . Outside his army career, he raced cars, driving a Monoposto MGJ4 in 1936 atBrooklands , and achieving 59 mph in a Lombard as well a racing a 1933 Singer 9 on Filey Sands. These achievements qualified him to become a member of the prestigiousBritish Racing Drivers' Club . His diaries of these years became the book "Free for a Blast".During
World War II , he participated in theBattle of France , and was evacuated from Dunkirk. [http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bierman-fire.html "Fire in the Night"] , by John Bierman and Colin Smith, Random House. First chapter online at the "New York Times ". Retrieved2007-11-07 .] He fought in theBattle of Kohima on theBurma /India border in 1944, and wrote two books from his diaries of those times, "The Battle for Kohima", and "Forward From Kohima".King-Clark was promoted Captain in 1942 and
Major in 1947 (although he was already acting in that rank). He married Jean May Evelyn Campbell, on 16 January 1950. They had two children, Robert Campbell King-Clark (born28 October 1950 ), and Catherine Mainwaring King-Clark (born30 October 1952 ). He retired from theManchester Regiment with the rank ofLieutenant Colonel in 1958.King-Clark was one of last two surviving drivers who raced at
Brooklands before World War II, and was the oldest surviving member of theBritish Racing Drivers' Club . He continued to be involved in the reconstruction of classic race cars until late in his life. [http://www.prewarcar.com/read_article.asp?ID=2514 "Forgotten Brooklands driver...!"] ,2007-05-16 , Pre War Car. Retrieved2007-11-07 .] [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.hyman/cars/d%20swann%20brooklands.htm "David Swann Brooklands Red"] . Retrieved2007-11-07 .]Bibliography
* "Free for a Blast", ISBN 0-903243-07-5 ISBN 9780903243070. The author's experiences racing and soldiering with the Manchester Regiment from 1934 to 1939. Grenville Publishing Company Limited, England, (
December 31 ,1988 ).
* "The Battle for Kohima 1944: The Narrative of the 2nd Battalion the Manchester Regiment - The Machine Gun Battalion of the British 2nd Division" ISBN 1-873907-01-X. Fleur de Lys Publishers (October 1995)
* "Forward From Kohima - A Burma Diary November 1944 to May 1945" ISBN 1-873907-11-7 Fleur de Lys Publishers (2003).
* "Jack Churchill: Unlimited Boldness", ISBN 1-873907-06-0, an account of the fantastic career of 'Mad Jack' Churchill, who fought World War 2 with a sword, and bow and arrows. Fleur-de-Lys Publishers (January 1997).References
External links
* [http://www.army.mod.uk/kings/shop/books.htm Books from the King's Regiment]
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