Clarence Gardner -1915 to 2012.

Discussion in 'Australian' started by bexley84, Sep 25, 2012.

  1. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    One of my friends sent me this obituary from yesterday's The Age in Melbourne.

    CLARENCE CHARLES GARDNER, DFC & BAR
    PILOT, BUSINESSMAN
    19-7-1915 - 20-7-2012

    CLARRIE Gardner, a highly decorated RAAF bomber pilot during World War II, kept a special memento in a cupboard drawer for 67 years to remind him of a particularly close shave.
    The memento was a jagged piece of dark metal - shrapnel that had pierced the cockpit window of his Avro Lancaster bomber and grazed his cheek during a night bombing raid over Germany.
    Gardner flew 48 missions with 460 Squadron - 14 of them combat sorties in the Battle of Berlin in 1943-44, and his extraordinary contribution was recognised with the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. He ended the war as a squadron leader.

    The extremely hazardous nature of those wartime sorties is illustrated by one mission he flew, as a flight lieutenant, in a night attack on Berlin on September 3, 1943. Taking evasive action while under attack by a German night fighter, his Lancaster collided with another Lancaster and although still a long way from the target, and with his aircraft severely damaged, he and his crew displayed great determination and continued on their planned flight path, completed their bombing run over Berlin, and only then returned to base at Binbrook in England. They had lived up to the squadron motto, ''strike and return''.
    Among his flights deep into enemy airspace was the Nuremberg raid of March 30, 1944, when Bomber Command suffered the greatest loss of any raid with 96 bombers shot down by German fighters and ground fire, resulting in the death or capture of 697 Allied airmen. (About 10,000 young Australians flew with Bomber Command, of whom 3486 were killed, making the aerial bombing campaign over Europe Australia's most costly in World War II.)
    It was a source of quiet satisfaction and relief to Gardner, who has died on the Gold Coast, aged 97, that he lost none of the Australian crew on his aircraft or any other aircraft he piloted during his involvement in the bombing campaign.
    Born and bred at Streaky Bay, on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, he was one of five sons and two daughters to John and Ella Gardner and was inspired to fly when he was 10 years old when an Italian pilot landed his seaplane at Streaky Bay on his way from Perth to Adelaide.
    ''I could see the plane hanging high in the sky and hear its motor,'' he told his family. ''It was magic, and from that moment, I wanted to fly.''
    A gifted student - in 1929 he was dux of his school at Streaky Bay - and a talented swimmer, footballer, tennis player and cricketer, Gardner's formal education ended when the Depression and drought crippled the family's finances. He went to work sweeping out the general store in his home town.
    He was later employed by wool brokers and stock and station agents Goldsbrough Mort, and soon became the youngest relieving manager of branches in remote areas.
    In 1938, he applied to become a pilot with the RAAF but was rejected because of his limited education. However, with World War II still raging in 1941, he was accepted by the air force and enlisted in Adelaide.
    Before leaving for his flying training at Richmond in New South Wales, and Point Cook in Victoria, Gardner married Bunty Sims.
    After his training and ready for active duty, he sailed via South Africa to England, where he completed a heavy bomber conversion course, was stationed at Binbrook in Lincolnshire and assigned to 460 Squadron, which is credited with flying more sorties and dropping more bombs on enemy targets than any other unit - as well as suffering the greatest losses; in three years it lost 181 aircraft and 1018 men, of whom 589 were Australians.
    By March 1944, he had completed his first tour with 30 night bombing raids over occupied Europe and Germany, and signed on for a second tour of 18 operations as commander of ''A'' flight with the squadron.
    Gardner derived much pleasure from his last few war-time flights, which, in fact, were mercy missions. He and his crew took part in Operation Manna-Chowhound, dropping bundles of food over Holland for the Dutch people who were starving after years of German occupation and a severe winter in 1944-45. He also picked up Allied prisoners of war in Belgium and ferried them to Britain. Many were Australians, including soldiers captured in Libya and Greece as early as 1941.
    Two of his brothers also served in World War II, one in the army, the other in the RAAF. Four of their uncles had served in World War I; two were killed.
    After the war, Gardner returned to Goldsbrough Mort and managed the company's outlets in the South Australian country towns of Wallaroo, Kadina, Burra, and Millicent. In 1946, he and Bunty had a daughter, Suzanne.
    In 1956, still with Goldsbrough Mort (taken over by Elders), he and his family moved to Geelong, where he was appointed area manager, including the Western District.
    Gardner joined the Geelong Club in 1965 as part of his deep involvement in his community, later joining the committee and becoming vice-president in 1976, and later the president from 1978 to 1980.
    Still later, he was a respected trustee and was made a life member in recognition of his service.
    Bunty's health declined in 1988 and he was her constant companion and carer until her death in 2003.
    The Barwon Heads Golf Club was for many years a home away from home and full of welcoming faces.
    In recent years, Gardner divided his time between living on the Gold Coast with his daughter, Suzy, and living alone at Geelong.
    He never lost his passion for flying and often would take trips in light aircraft with old mates Tony Street (former foreign affairs minister), Boz Parsons, a fellow Bomber Command pilot, and Jim Winchester.
    He was remembered recently at Geelong Golf Club with a memorial attended by friends from many walks of life.
    He is survived by his daughter, Suzy, two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and his brother, Frank.


    Brought his crew through battle hell
     
  2. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Nice obit, thanks Bexley.
    :poppy: RIP S/Ldr. Clarence Gardner :poppy:
     
  3. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    :poppy: Clarence Gardner DFC & Bar. RIP :poppy:

    Paul
     

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