Flying Officer FE Claydon
Title
Flying Officer FE Claydon
Description
A brief biography of Frank's work with Barnet council.
Creator
Date
1944-08-19
Language
Type
Format
One newspaper cutting
Publisher
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.
Contributor
Identifier
NClaydonFE220824-02
Transcription
Barnet Press
Barnet Press
19/8/1944
FLYING OFFICER F. E. CLAYDON
Airman Councillor Now Presumed Killed
Flying Officer Frank E. Claydon, R.A.F. V.R., the youngest and one of the most popular of Barnet Councillors, who was previously reported missing from air operations over Germany last January, is now officially presumed killed.
This news will be received with deep regret, not only by members of the Barnet Labour Party, of which he was formerly secretary, but by [indecipherable word] with whom he had been associated in the public life of the town – and particularly by residents of the Arkley East Ward, whose representative he was in the Council chamber.
Cr. Claydon, who lived at 55, Laurel Way, Totteridge, came to the district about eight years ago. Although he was then still in his twenties, he had already made a name for himself in the Labour movement and trade union circles through the Railway Clerks' Association – an organisation which he joined soon after leaving school and entering the service of the L.N.E. Railway.
TRADE UNION WORK
He took an active and effective part in the Association's work, particularly as organising secretary and delegate to the London Political Advisory Council, and also represented his branch at the Association's annual conference.
In 1937 he joined the head office of the Association, and was a member of its legal staff when, in 1941, at the age of thirty-two, he volunteered and qualified for air-crew duties with the Royal Air Force.
Shortly after moving from Camden Town to Totteridge he joined the Barnet Labour Party, and in 1937 became its secretary. In the following year, when Mr. E. A. Douglas Hamilton resigned his seat on the Barnet Council as member for Arkley East, Mr. Claydon was nominated by the Barnet Labour Party for the vacancy and was returned, unopposed to become, at twenty-nine, the Council's youngest member.
COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
Despite his comparative youth, however, Cr. Claydon soon made his weight felt in Council debates, and was an ardent champion of the interests of his ward. The condition of the Mays Lane highway and footpaths and the question of hygienic refuse collection were two matters of current controversy to which he devoted much attention.
At the local government elections in March, 1939, Cr. Claydon was opposed in the Arkley East Ward by Mr. Douglas Hamilton, and it was a tribute to his popularity that he won the seat with treble the number of votes cast on the previous occasion on which it had been contested by a Labour candidate.
In addition to his Council activities, Cr. Claydon was a member of the executive committees of the St. Albans Divisional Labour Party, the London district of the Workers' Educational Association, and of the Land Nationalisation Society.
A keen student of politics and economics, he was a member of the Fabian Society, and, just before he took his seat on the Council, had completed a three-year course in political economy.
HELPED HOMELESS
When Barnet was feeling the effects of the 1941 air attacks he put in much valuable work behind the scenes on behalf of those who had lost their homes – work in which his legal knowledge served him in good stead, and which considerably increased his popularity in the Arkley East Ward and the town generally.
It was shortly after this period that he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He qualified as an observer at a South African training school, and, after the ship on which he was returning had been torpedoed a thousand miles from land, he began operations with Bomber Command from this country in June last year.
RECORD HOLDER
He held the gunnery record at his training school in South Africa, and the bombing record at his station in this country, and had taken part in many raids on enemy-occupied territory, including record-breaking ones on Hamburg and Berlin. It was from a raid on Brunswick that he was reported missing in January.
Deepest sympathy will be extended to his wife, formerly Miss Violet Masters, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Masters, of Friern Barnet, whom Cr. Claydon met and married while they were colleagues on the advertising staff of the L.N.E.R., at Kings Cross. Cr. Claydon leaves, also, two daughters, one aged four and the other three months.
Continued at Foot of Next Column
Continued from Preceding Column
COUNCIL CHAIRMAN'S TRIBUTE
"The news of the passing of Flying Officer Frank Claydon, writes Cr. P. C. Marris, J.P., chairman of Barnet Council, "will be received by the Council with profound sorrow. In his comparatively short Councillorship, his keenness and outstanding ability in local government matters were very evident. He combined the vigour of youth with a wise judgment [sic] and well-founded knowledge of municipal affairs. His public work was performed with a quiet confidence, and when the time came for him to take up his R.A.F. duties he did so with zest.
"To his widow and family the Council extend their sincerest sympathy."
Barnet Press
19/8/1944
FLYING OFFICER F. E. CLAYDON
Airman Councillor Now Presumed Killed
Flying Officer Frank E. Claydon, R.A.F. V.R., the youngest and one of the most popular of Barnet Councillors, who was previously reported missing from air operations over Germany last January, is now officially presumed killed.
This news will be received with deep regret, not only by members of the Barnet Labour Party, of which he was formerly secretary, but by [indecipherable word] with whom he had been associated in the public life of the town – and particularly by residents of the Arkley East Ward, whose representative he was in the Council chamber.
Cr. Claydon, who lived at 55, Laurel Way, Totteridge, came to the district about eight years ago. Although he was then still in his twenties, he had already made a name for himself in the Labour movement and trade union circles through the Railway Clerks' Association – an organisation which he joined soon after leaving school and entering the service of the L.N.E. Railway.
TRADE UNION WORK
He took an active and effective part in the Association's work, particularly as organising secretary and delegate to the London Political Advisory Council, and also represented his branch at the Association's annual conference.
In 1937 he joined the head office of the Association, and was a member of its legal staff when, in 1941, at the age of thirty-two, he volunteered and qualified for air-crew duties with the Royal Air Force.
Shortly after moving from Camden Town to Totteridge he joined the Barnet Labour Party, and in 1937 became its secretary. In the following year, when Mr. E. A. Douglas Hamilton resigned his seat on the Barnet Council as member for Arkley East, Mr. Claydon was nominated by the Barnet Labour Party for the vacancy and was returned, unopposed to become, at twenty-nine, the Council's youngest member.
COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
Despite his comparative youth, however, Cr. Claydon soon made his weight felt in Council debates, and was an ardent champion of the interests of his ward. The condition of the Mays Lane highway and footpaths and the question of hygienic refuse collection were two matters of current controversy to which he devoted much attention.
At the local government elections in March, 1939, Cr. Claydon was opposed in the Arkley East Ward by Mr. Douglas Hamilton, and it was a tribute to his popularity that he won the seat with treble the number of votes cast on the previous occasion on which it had been contested by a Labour candidate.
In addition to his Council activities, Cr. Claydon was a member of the executive committees of the St. Albans Divisional Labour Party, the London district of the Workers' Educational Association, and of the Land Nationalisation Society.
A keen student of politics and economics, he was a member of the Fabian Society, and, just before he took his seat on the Council, had completed a three-year course in political economy.
HELPED HOMELESS
When Barnet was feeling the effects of the 1941 air attacks he put in much valuable work behind the scenes on behalf of those who had lost their homes – work in which his legal knowledge served him in good stead, and which considerably increased his popularity in the Arkley East Ward and the town generally.
It was shortly after this period that he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He qualified as an observer at a South African training school, and, after the ship on which he was returning had been torpedoed a thousand miles from land, he began operations with Bomber Command from this country in June last year.
RECORD HOLDER
He held the gunnery record at his training school in South Africa, and the bombing record at his station in this country, and had taken part in many raids on enemy-occupied territory, including record-breaking ones on Hamburg and Berlin. It was from a raid on Brunswick that he was reported missing in January.
Deepest sympathy will be extended to his wife, formerly Miss Violet Masters, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Masters, of Friern Barnet, whom Cr. Claydon met and married while they were colleagues on the advertising staff of the L.N.E.R., at Kings Cross. Cr. Claydon leaves, also, two daughters, one aged four and the other three months.
Continued at Foot of Next Column
Continued from Preceding Column
COUNCIL CHAIRMAN'S TRIBUTE
"The news of the passing of Flying Officer Frank Claydon, writes Cr. P. C. Marris, J.P., chairman of Barnet Council, "will be received by the Council with profound sorrow. In his comparatively short Councillorship, his keenness and outstanding ability in local government matters were very evident. He combined the vigour of youth with a wise judgment [sic] and well-founded knowledge of municipal affairs. His public work was performed with a quiet confidence, and when the time came for him to take up his R.A.F. duties he did so with zest.
"To his widow and family the Council extend their sincerest sympathy."
Collection
Citation
Barnet Press, “Flying Officer FE Claydon,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 18, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/43449.