Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Clark Road

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Street Name: Clark Road
Name of Veteran: Horace Sefton Clark Dec. 27, 1920-Nov. 11, 2016
Rank: Coder
Ship Served: HMS Ajax
Date of Service on Ship: March 18, 1941 to June 30, 1941
Year of Visit/Dedication: n/a
Veteran or Family Visit: n/a
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: No
Died at Battle: No

Horace Sefton (“Jack”) Clark was born in Goole, Yorkshire on December 27, 1920, to parents John Willie and Elsie Clark. At a young age, Jack moved with his family to Acomb, York where his father was a Police Constable. He went on to attend Archbishop Holgate’s Grammar School, gaining his school football colours in 1936-37.

Jack enlisted with the Royal Navy in 1940 along with his friends, many of whom were killed in action during WW2 including his close pal, Don Rennison, who was lost with the sinking of HMS Barham. Jack was a Coder serving onboard HMS Ajax from March 18 until June 30, 1941, experiencing both the Battle of Matapan and the Battle of Crete during this time.
From July 1941 there followed various periods of inshore service at Alexandria, Egypt with HMS Nile (Western Desert Force) until Jack boarded HMS Woolwich as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet’s signal base in March 1942. The ship then moved via the Red Sea for service in the Indian Ocean including time at Cape Town. Upon return to Alexandria, after a brief spell onboard HMS Panther, Jack re-joined inshore service in February 1943 with HMS Nile (Special Service) spending time in Sousse, Tunisia before eventually returning to the U.K. and subsequent release from service in December 1944.
Jack began Colliery Training at The Prince of Wales Colliery, Pontefract, West Yorkshire but, disliking work in the colliery, he studied in his own time and later went on to have a long career in industry as a company accountant and company secretary before retiring.

In May 1950, Jack married Hazel and they settled in Manchester. They had four children, a daughter and three sons. Sadly, Hazel suffered a major stroke in 1994 and passed away seven years later with Jack caring for her throughout. Jack died peacefully and somewhat fittingly on Armistice Day 2016 at the age of ninety-five.

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