Lt Colonel Herbert Nicholls Clark DSO TD was a territorial gunner who served with distinction in the Great War. He commanded 290 Brigade RFA. After the war he became Colonel of the 4th London Brigade RFA, the Lewisham Gunners. He had held a volunteer commission before the war with the 3rd Kent (Royal Arsenal) RGA(V).
He was a much respected officer and much of his personal style is reflected in one of his young subaltern’s, Dennis Wheatley’s, writings, both in dedicating his second book to Clark and in his diaries and collected letters which are held at the IWM. Wheatley recalls:
“At the end of the day, while the troops were sent back under their NCOs, he would gather all his officers together and go through the day’s events, saying what had been done well and gently exploring what could have been done better. He would then shout ‘Horses’ and they would spring to their horses and race each other back to camp.”
At Malvern he was a School Prefect and a decent house sportsman, playing for his house XIs for both football and cricket. He was the brother of fellow Founder and fellow Gunner Lt Colonel Percy George Clark.
The memorial bench shown below and was placed in the precincts of St Paul’s Cathedral by his fellow officers and men:
Sources: Dennis Wheatley Museum,
Photo Credit: family of Dennis Wheatley via Dennis Wheatley Museum.