Warwick Clouston - A Heroic death

[Dave Homewood]

I would like to try to find out more about a young man named Sgt Pilot Warwick Ashling Clouston, an RNZAF pilot who died on the 20th of June 1942 whilst flying a Spitfire with No. 616 Squadron.

Warwick was the only son of Douglas Clark Clouston who worked for the Auckland Star, and Kathleen Amelia Clouston, of Milford, Auckland.

Apparently something was wrong with his Spitfire, which I think was a Mk VI, and he'd lined up to land it on a beach somewhere in Britain. An eyewitness who was standing on the cliff above watched as the pilot was making an approach to land on the beach but at the last minute Warwick realised that there were children playing on the beach right in front of his path. He obviously made a last minute snap decision, and turned towards the sea, crashing and losing his own life to save the kids.

It's dreadfully sad, and extremely heroic. Though he was the only son, Warwick had a sister called Phillis. I wonder if she's still around or perhaps her children. I also wonder what those children on the beach went on to become, if they survived the war.

Such a selfless act that took Warwick's life should not be forgotten. I hope those kids on that beach did not forget the sacrifice he made when he could just as easily been safe down himself at their own peril.

[alanw]

Dave,

I know this does not answer your question but might be of interest.

The name Clouston was the surname of a another Kiwi in the RAF.

Wilfred Clouston flew with the RAF 19 Sqn before/during
the Battle of Britain, then went on to command 488 sqn
in Singapore.

Was captured by the Japanese in 1942.

Also born in Auckland I wonder if they are related?

[Dave Homewood]

I don't know if they were cousins but certainly not borthers. I thought of him too, and also there was Arthur Edmond Clouston who wrote a great book. I think he may have been Wilf's brother. Another Clouston was John Greville Clouston, also RNZAF and killed in 1945.

It doesn't seem to have been a common name but there were a few in the RNZAF and NZ'ers in the RAF. Possibly they were all inter-related somehow.

[angelsonefive]

I have managed to glean a little more information off the 'net.

616 ( South Yorkshire ) Squadron was based at King's Cliffe, Northhamptonshire, from 30/1/42 to 3/7/42, when it shifted to West Malling in Kent.

The squadron was equipped with Spitfire Mark VI's from 4/42 to 11/43.

The Mark VI was a high altitude version developed from the Mark Vb.
It had a Merlin 47 engine with 4-blade prop., a pressurised cockpit, extended wing tips increasing the span from 36 feet to 40 feet, and other relatively minor changes.
The pressure cockpit gave the pilot a cabin pressure equivalent to 30,000 feet when flying at 40,000 feet.
The slight compression of the air in the 'pit ( about 2 pounds per square inch above the outside pressure ) had the effect of raising the temperature to a point where the pilot flew in ' shirtsleeves' and did not need the electrically heated flying gear required hitherto.
The Mark VI was not a popular Spitfire though.
In order to expedite the introduction of the mark into service Vickers Supermarine took a short cut . Because of the engineering difficulties in sealing a sliding canopy they opted for a canopy that was bolted in place by the fitters prior to flight.
While the pilot was able to jettison the hood in an emergency, it could not be opened for taxiing, or take off and landing as most Spit. pilots preferred.

Warwick Clouston is buried in Grave 269 in Scottow Cemetery in Norfolk.

616 Sqdn does not appear to have been in action on 20/6/42 so
Warwick's crash seems to be the result of reasons other than enemy action.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Ray.

[johnwright]

I can share a little bit of information on Warwick Clouston. In my father's papers I've found a newpaper clipping from October 1942 referring to a letter sent to Mr & Mrs DC Clouston of Ocean View Rd, Milford, Auckland by an RAF padre the Rev AG Macintyre who conducted the funeral service for Sergeant-Pilot Warwick A Clouston. This gives an account of the crash and the deliberate ditching in the sea rather than on a beach which had children playing on it.

My father Phil Wright, died in 2015, so cannot verify this, but as they were both born in 1922 and Dad was brought up in Milford, I'd guess they were contemporaries/classmates at Milford Primary school and Takapuna Grammar School.

Dad, his older brothers and his uncle would have all been in the army or air force by October 1942, so from the shape of the fragment the article has been cut/torn out of the paper - either the NZ Herald or the Auckland Star - probably by their mother Vivian Wright who may have been a friend of the parents.

e-mail me on [e-mail] if you'd like a copy of the clipping.

[Dave Homewood]

Here is a photo of Warwick Clouston.

Sergeant W. A. Clouston, of Auckland, believed killed in an aircraft accident.
NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 24 JUNE 1942

[Antonio]

For Your Tomorrow, Volume 1, has an entry for him on Page 213.
There is no reference to him being related to other Clouston airmen.

[angelsonefive]

While 616 Sqdn was operating Spitfire Mark VI's at the time of Warwick Clouston's fatal crash, he was actually in a Mk Vb, s/n AD559. The flight was an engine test.