William Clarke

Sergeant William Robinson ("Robbie") Clarke was a Jamaican airman of the Royal Air Force who served during the First World War. He is believed to have been the first black airman to qualify as a pilot with the Royal Air Force.
He was born on 4 October 1895, in Kingston, the son of Egbert James and Eugenia Sarah Clarke (née Cohen).Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War Raised on the island's south coast, Clarke possessed a keen mechanical interest in cars and other vehicles, and worked as a chauffeur.Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF's 'Tuskegee Airmen'
In 1915, he paid for his own passage to Britain with the intent of offering his skills, with an expressed desire to become a qualified pilot. A contemporary report remarked that Clarke took with him numerous letters of recommendation from professionals and 'motor experts'. He enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps as an air mechanic, but was sent to the Western Front as a driver. Nevertheless, he continued to aspire to be a pilot, and, in December 1916, was admitted for pilot training. 
After he completed his training on 26 April 1917, Clarke returned to the Western Front in May as a pilot posted to No. 4 Squadron. His squadron, based at Abeele Airfield, operated the R.E.8 reconnaissance and bomber biplane. On the morning of 28 July, Clarke and his observer, Second Lieutenant F.P Blencowe, were seeking a target to bomb after completing a reconnaissance mission when up to five German aircraft set upon them. In the ensuing engagement, Clarke suffered a gunshot wound through his spine which exited via his arm, as well as additional splinter wounds to his face and back. Despite his wounds, Clarke attempted to return to his base, but had to crash-land his badly damaged R.E.8 in the relative safety of a field. 
Clarke's wounds, which left him hospitalised until November, precluded a return to flying, but he remained with the RFC and its successor, the Royal Air Force, for the remainder of the war as a mechanic. He returned to Jamaica in 1919, his passage paid for by the British government (who also refunded his own expenses from 1915). In Jamaica, Clarke worked as a builder and became the life president of the Jamaican branch of the Royal Air Force Association. He married Inez Vandola Alexander on 16 August 1941."Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1880-1999," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVSP-BBYS : 13 April 2015), William Robinson Clarke and Inez Vandola Alexander, 16 Aug 1941, Marriage; citing Kingston, Jamaica, Registrar General's Department, Spanish Town; FHL microfilm 1,855,622.
He died on 26 April 1981, at Crossroads, St Andrew,"Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1880-1999," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVSP-R9QB : 13 April 2015), William Robinson Clarke, 26 Apr 1981, Death; citing Crossroads, Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Registrar General's Department, Spanish Town; FHL microfilm 1,768,927. and was buried in the Military Cemetery at Up Park Camp.
==Notes==
Category:1895 births
Category:1981 deaths
Category:Jamaican military personnel
Category:Royal Flying Corps
Category:Royal Air Force
Category:Buried in Jamaica
Category:Sergeants