Wendell James Clark

Wendell James Clark, affectionately nicknamed Knobby, was born on February 19, 1915, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,and lived at 151 Glenora Ave, with his two sisters, Eileen and Grace Patterson. He started going to school when he was 5 and dropped out of school when he was 16 in 1931. He attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute from 1929-1931 , as did his two sisters. He enjoyed playing hockey and soccer at Lisgar. He was 5’11”, with blue eyes and brown hair, weighed 160 lbs, and was a Baptist. Before he enlisted, he had worked as a clerk, organizing and keeping records in the office, a truck driver, and a store clerk.

Before Clark joined WWII he had previously served in the Royal Canadian Regiment from 26 February 1936 to 1939 .On September 6, 1939, Wendell enlisted in Halifax, Nova Scotia, right after finishing his studies.

While in service, Clark earned the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, which was an award given to anyone who volunteered during September 3, 1939, to March 1, 1947, knowing it was an active service. He had just also earned the 1939-45 France Star and the Germany Star, given to soldiers who served on land, sea or air in France, Belgium, Germany, ect. He had earned this star when he participated in D-day. He was described as a suitable paratrooper and said to have excellent leadership qualities. Clark was promoted seven times, some examples of which were that first he was appointed to acting lance corporal, acting sergeant, then sergeant, then he was finally promoted to warrant officer.

During Wendell’s time of service he had been injured many times; he was admitted to the hospital in 1936 due to sickness. He had died on D-day - he went into battle as a paratrooper in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, R.C.I.C. Clark was laid to rest in Ranville War Cemetery Calvados, France, in grave two, plot five.

Clark was killed in action. First reported missing, his death was confirmed days later. He played an important role in the events that occurred during D-Day, and completed his mission along with the other brave soldiers in the Regiment One Parachute Battalion. They effectively eliminated German reinforcements prior to D-Day, and without their sacrifices, D-Day may have had a different outcome.

Primary Source Documents : https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2847779

The biographies appearing on this website have been written by students, roughly the same age as the soldiers they are studying, using primary source evidence from Library and Archives Canada, in addition to primary source documents from The Virtual War Memorial on veterans.ca. We welcome any corrections or additions you may have to these biographies.

'If we do preserve it, we honour them, and when we in our turn pass on, we will know that behind us lives a generation of free men and of free women to be the keepers of this great heritage of ours - Canada.'

- Ian A. McPhee, former student at GCI, 1937.

Lisgar Collegiate Institute
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada

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