News of Former Members - Frank Claydon
Title
News of Former Members - Frank Claydon
Description
The article gives a brief resume of Frank's life. He worked as a councillor for Barnet but joined up despite his commitment to pacifism.
Creator
Language
Type
Format
One printed sheet
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Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
NClaydonFE220824-01
Transcription
NEWS OF FORMER MEMBERS.
Flying Officer Frank E. Claydon, R.A.F.V.R., the youngest and one of the most popular of Barnet Councillors, previously reported missing from air operations over Germany, is now officially presumed killed.
During his engagement to Violet, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Masters, of Friern Barnet, he became a member of the New Southgate Adult School, and after their marriage and removal to Totteridge he quickly made headway in municipal affairs.
At the beginning of the war he held, very sincerely, strong pacific opinions, but when the logic of events led him to take another line he scorned the possibility of a safe job and, despite his age, then nearly 33, volunteered and qualified for air crew duties. How he hated war! How he hated the necessity for taking part in it! There was just one thing he hated more – the thought of Nazism interfering with the building up of that better world for which he was striving in a very practical way, with the able and active assistance of his devoted wife, who also, before marriage, took a keen and lively part in our Young People's affairs.
In addition to his widow he leaves behind two daughters, Patricia Anne, four and a half years of age, Frances Jane, born four months after her father's death.
Another son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Masters, Flight-Lieut. F. T. Knight, aged 26, has recently been awarded the M.B.E. for distinguished services. Having joined the R.A.F. in peace time, he took part in the first raid on Kiel and in April 1940, saved the lives of himself and entire crew by "landing" his burning plane in a lake in Denmark. After three and a half years as a prisoner in Germany he was repatriated suffering from T.B. (arriving home the evening before his little son Peter’s third birthday) and is now undergoing treatment in the Sanatorium at Midhurst.
Flying Officer Frank E. Claydon, R.A.F.V.R., the youngest and one of the most popular of Barnet Councillors, previously reported missing from air operations over Germany, is now officially presumed killed.
During his engagement to Violet, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Masters, of Friern Barnet, he became a member of the New Southgate Adult School, and after their marriage and removal to Totteridge he quickly made headway in municipal affairs.
At the beginning of the war he held, very sincerely, strong pacific opinions, but when the logic of events led him to take another line he scorned the possibility of a safe job and, despite his age, then nearly 33, volunteered and qualified for air crew duties. How he hated war! How he hated the necessity for taking part in it! There was just one thing he hated more – the thought of Nazism interfering with the building up of that better world for which he was striving in a very practical way, with the able and active assistance of his devoted wife, who also, before marriage, took a keen and lively part in our Young People's affairs.
In addition to his widow he leaves behind two daughters, Patricia Anne, four and a half years of age, Frances Jane, born four months after her father's death.
Another son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Masters, Flight-Lieut. F. T. Knight, aged 26, has recently been awarded the M.B.E. for distinguished services. Having joined the R.A.F. in peace time, he took part in the first raid on Kiel and in April 1940, saved the lives of himself and entire crew by "landing" his burning plane in a lake in Denmark. After three and a half years as a prisoner in Germany he was repatriated suffering from T.B. (arriving home the evening before his little son Peter’s third birthday) and is now undergoing treatment in the Sanatorium at Midhurst.
Collection
Citation
Barnet Council, “News of Former Members - Frank Claydon,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed February 19, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/43448.