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Captain Alistair Ingham Clark
Late The Life Guards
by Alex Ingham Clark
formerly The Life Guards
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 Alastair Ingham Clark was born on 19th November 1924 at his grandmother’s house in Wimbledon. Following his education at St Cyprian’s School near Eastbourne and Harrow School, Alastair volunteered in 1943 and was due to join his father’s Scottish infantry regiment until a chance conversation in the Caledonian Club provided an opening to join The Life Guards. He therefore proceeded to attend Brigade Squad under Sgt Jack Patten, and was commissioned shortly after.
The role of the Household Cavalry no doubt significantly increased his chances of surviving the war, having served in the 1st Household Cavalry Regiment as part of the 8th Army in its campaign in Italy and subsequently in North West Europe following D-Day. He rarely spoke of his wartime experiences but did recall the time his Daimler Armoured Car hit a road mine in France; not a pleasant experience for him and perhaps more importantly his crew.
After the war he remained as a regular officer serving in Palestine, Windsor and London, becoming Assistant Adjutant and then being posted to the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry as Adjutant in August 1949. Whilst serving at Knightsbridge in 1948, he was a mounted steward for the equestrian events at the London Olympic Games, for which he had very fond memories. Having a love of ceremony, he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Mounted Regiment, especially a posting to the French Cavalry in Paris; never a bad place for a young man to get up to no good. He always jested that his time at the old Knightsbridge Barracks only confirmed his long held view that horses are dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle, whereas the motor bikes he loved to race were just downright dangerous.
In 1954, he resigned his commission, in part because the family firm that specialised in varnishes and paint needed his services, and also, it is suspected, that Staff College may have been an insurmountable challenge. He always liked to say he was self-educated and that Harrow just provided some facilities.
In any case, his enthusiasm for soldiering was unabated, joining the HAC soon after leaving the Regiment, a unit he had come in contact with during the Olympics, serving in the Corps of Drums for well over 30 years.
Outside the military, he left the family firm in 1966 to run the Ancient and Accepted Rite in Freemasonry, which provided him with another outlet for his ceremonial passion. This was further exercised in the Ceremonial Staff of the Order of St John where he was the Sword Bearer for many years.
Alastair Ingham Clark died on 24th February, 2014, aged 89, a week after he had suffered a major stroke. He is survived by his wife Prue, who is now in a home suffering from dementia, and three sons Jamie, Alex and Tom, all of whom joined the services, with Alex following him into The Life Guards. |
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