Discover Top Posts Tagged with #robert clothier

Much has already been said of RCAF veteran Robert Clothier’s service online, but I’d like to delve a bit deeper into his WWII accomplishments. Robert was normally rather soft spoken about this part of his life, so these details may have been obscured to many of those who knew him.

Robert was a pilot, actor, and even a sculptor. His work Three Forms is displayed on UBC grounds, near the north side of the Lasserre Building.

His wikipedia entry gives a good introduction:

Like many of his contemporaries, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at an early age. He learned to fly at #1 Elementary Flying School and #4 Service Flying Training School, and flew operationally with 408 Squadron RCAF. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on December 5, 1944, the citation reading,

"This officer has completed numerous sorties in the role of pilot, involving attacks on most of the enemy's heavily defended targets. On all occasions he has pressed home his attacks with great determination and by his personal example of courage, coolness and confidence has set an example which has inspired all with whom he has flown."

In the first photo above, you can see Robert in October 1944 on his last trip after his second tour overseas. Crew members are (front) F/O Larry Corbeil, Bomb Aimer & Sgt. Joe McCart, Flight Engineer. (Back row) F/L Bob Austen, Wireless Air Gunner; Sandy De Zorzi, Navigator; Robert Clothier, Pilot; Tom Murdoch, Gunner; Bob Fitzgerald, Rear Gunner. In this photo, 408 squadron was using Halifax B. Mk VII's.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of his service, via the RCAF Association Honours and Awards page:

CLOTHIER, F/L Robert Allan (J15680) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.408 Squadron - Award effective 5 December 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 293/45 dated 16 February 1945. Born 22 October 1921 in Prince Rupert (Wikipedia entry says 21 October 1921); home in Vancouver; enlisted there 19 October 1940. To Trenton, 10 November 1940. To No.1 ITS, 27 January 1941; graduated and promoted LAC, 5 March 1941 but not posted to No.1 EFTS until 16 March 1941; graduated 4 May 1941 when posted to No.4 SFTS; graduated and promoted Sergeant, 27 July 1941. To Embarkation Depot, 28 July 1941; to RAF overseas, 19 August 1941. Commissioned 9 June 1942. Promoted Flying Officer, 9 December 1942. Promoted Flight Lieutenant, 15 June 1944. Appears to have been repatriated at some point but posted overseas again in March 1944. Finally repatriated 28 October 1944. To No.5 OTU, 3 December 1944 to instruct. Survived the crash of Mitchell HD315, 23 December 1944 which killed three others; severely injured with a broken back. At the time of the accident he had some 1,204 hours flying including 260 on Hampdens, 364 on Wellingtons and 111 on Lancasters. He was paralyzed from the waist down for two years. To Release Centre, 26 October 1945. Retired 9 January 1946. Studied architecture at University of British Columbia and theatre in England. On return to Vancouver he became an actor, painter and sculptor. He got the role of “Relic” on The Beachcombers, which ran on Canadian TV from 1972 to 1990. Died 10 February 1999 in Vancouver. Award sent by registered mail 21 May 1956.

As mentioned above, after returning home from two tours overseas, Robert suffered a serious crash at Boundary Bay, but survived.

In the Court of Inquiry, he testified that he had not fastened his seat belts, which may have contributed to his injuries...but it may have also saved his life, as he may have been thrown out of the aircraft. Also, the others may not have had their belts done up either, so they were thrashed around and perished. One crewman survived, but died in hospital, while the other two were killed in the crash or were trapped and killed in the fire.

He was a staff pilot at No. 5 OTU, and the aircraft was going up to do a "compass swing" in the air, rather than on the ground, so he had maintenance personnel on board, not trainees. The aircraft lost an engine on takeoff and crashed into a large drainage ditch near the runway.

Sadly, a few months later, Robert also lost his brother during active service overseas. Via findagrave.com:

432 Squadron’s Halifax VII (#RG-475) aircraft was one of about 160 aircraft that participated in a major air operation over Chemnitz, Germany on 5/6 March 1945. The Halifax took off from RAF East Moor in Yorkshire with eight air crew members aboard; after its successful operation in Germany, the aircraft was on its return flight back to its base in England when it was tragically shot down by ‘friendly flak’ from British Coastal Defence anti-aircraft guns. All eight airmen perished when the Halifax crashed north of Walton-on-Naze in Essex.

Miraculously, Robert recovered from his injuries, though he always walked with a limp.

I’d like to rewind briefly and highlight a small detail noted in the clipping after his second tour overseas. From the Vancouver Sun November 2, 1944, Page 6:

Flight-Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Clothier of 1979 Waterloo Road, Vancouver the bomber pilot who once flew his big Hampden upside down, while laden with bombs, over Mannheim has completed his second full tour of operations, according to an RCAF statement released today. He is the first pilot in the Goose Squadron to have done this, flying Hampdens for the first tour, and swinging over to Lancasters and Halifaxes for the second. Flt.-Lt. Clothier, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. L, Clothier, 1979 Waterloo Road, was born in Prince Rupert and attended St. George's School in Vancouver. He went overseas in August, 1941. A brother, FO. John Clothier, 24, is also overseas with the RCAF.

Did I read that correctly?! He flew his big Hampden upside down, while laden with bombs?! This is no small feat, especially considering the reputation of the Hampden! This was also quoted on the RCAF Association page, where it states: “His mates like to tell of the time Clothier tried a stall turn on a Hampden with a full bomb load aboard and the bomber did a complete upside-down flip.”

Jerry Vernon, the Vancouver Chapter President of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society writes:

You certainly would not want to deliberately fly a Hampden upside down, especially with a bomb load still on board. However, it is possible that he found himself involuntarily in this position as a result of air turbulence, violent evasive action to avoid another aircraft or a nearby flak burst! The Hampden was not a very forgiving airplane! People who flew (and survived) the Hampden were very brave, because it was a bad airplane with nasty aerodynamic problems...

The worst problem with the Handley-Page Hampden was instability, due to the “tadpole” shape of the rear fuselage and the very minimal vertical tail surfaces. I can probably recite at least half a dozen (or more) that crashed at No. 32 OTUS at Pat Bay due to this. As a result, pilots were instructed to fly straight ahead and never turn while climbing slowly at low altitude.

The early models of the Handley-Page Halifax bomber had a similar problem, with inadequate vertical fins. The RAF complained but Handley-Page rejected the complaints…eventually the later models of the Hampden had large “barn door’ tail fins!!

The Hampden we have at the Canadian Museum of Flight was lost due to failure to respect these instructions. They were dropping a torpedo, at low level of course, and were slowly starting to climb. The pilot turned the aircraft a bit to see where the torpedo was heading, and lost control. Rudder action had no effect nor did differential throttle, and they crashed into the water off Pat Bay. The Bomb Aimer quickly realized what was happening and climbed back up to his seat behind the pilot and had the overhead hatch open before they hit the water! They were lucky and got out quickly and were picked up by a Stranraer that was just taking off nearby at the time. Minor injuries and barely got their feet wet!!

In another case the following aircraft saw the Hampden ahead of them, flying at only 500 feet, attempt to do a 180, stall, roll over onto its back and fall into the ocean. They would send out perhaps 10 or 12 Hampdens on 5 minute intervals on a Navigation & Bombing Exercise that involved flying a couple of hundred miles out into the Pacific, doing about a 90° turn towards land, which brought them back over Port Hardy, then down to the South end of Vancouver Island where there was a bombing range. They had no weather information from the West, so the instructions were to turn around and return to Pat Bay if they ran into bad weather, in which case a radio message would be sent out for all aircraft to return. Some never got the message due to bad radios or poor reception and several simply disappeared without trace.

They had earlier done this exercise with Ansons, such as the one discovered in the trees near Port Renfrew several years ago, and later with Mitchells from Boundary Bay, such as one discovered on Brooks Peninsula in 1960. If they disappeared they were assumed to have been lost at sea, but that wasn’t always the case and the odd one has turned up on Vancouver Island over the years.

I’ll end this post with a quote from his DHH file 181.009 D.1513 (Library and Archives Canada RG.24 vol.20600) where his recommendation was raised by W/C R.A. McLernon, 26 September 1944 when he had completed 45 sorties (256 hours 40 minutes):

Flight Lieutenant Clothier has completed two tours of operations on heavy bombers in an exemplary manner. During these two tours he attacked practically every heavily defended target in Europe including Essen, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Hamburg. On all occasions he pressed home his attacks with very great determination and inspired his whole crew with great confidence. His courage and coolness were at all times of the highest order despite the intensity of the defences encountered, and never did he permit his bombs to be dropped unless he was certain that they would fall on the target. Flight Lieutenant Clothier, by his skillful leadership and operational ability, has moulded together one of the finest crews that this squadron has ever known. He is admired by those serving under him and also by his superiors. He is indeed a splendid example of what a fine operational pilot should be. Therefore I recommend that he be awarded an immediate Distinguished Flying Cross.

#rcaf #wwii #robert clothier #hadley hampden