Re: William Clarke, Able seaman, HMS Repulse, Born 1922.
My grandfather Danny, and his brother Billy, were both serving in the Navy during the Second World War. Billy had been posted on the ill-fated HMS Repulse, when he became convinced that he would die at sea. He went AWOL and hid in my grandmothers loft. Eventually, Billy's father sent him back to sea and he set sail onboard HMS Repulse heading for Malaya in 1941.
As you will know, the Japanese fighter bombers sunk both Z Force boats, HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse on the 10th December 1941 with massive loss of life, just off teh coast of Kuantan, Malaya. Billy was missing presumed dead.
My grandfathers family were devestated, particularly my grandfather and his father as they saw themselves as to blame for sending him back to his ship. I don't remember Billy's mother (Annie) but she was said to have pined for him till she too died. Annie's pain was made all the more acute by several visits from one of Billy's friends who was serving onboard Repulse with Billy when it was lost. He told Annie that Billy had been with him in the water and he was sure that Billy had been rescued. Annie never believed her son was dead, but she grieved for the rest of her life. She lived till 1974 and never saw Billy again.
I started researching the family history in 2002. I went on the Z Force website (www.forcez-survivors.org.uk) and found to my astonishment that Billy was listed as a survivor.
My question is: Did Billy die between rescue and redelpoyment? Or did he survive and to ensure he never be redeployed, went AWOL in Asia? Any clues would be gratefully received.
The added irony is that Billy's father Daniel clarke, served in the Navy during the First World War, went AWOL no less than 5 times and was eventually given a dishonourable discharge with a hefty imprisonment. More than twenty years later he was to send his own son to a presumed death, after being unable to tolerate it himself.
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