Born 14 January 1912 in St Thomas Parish, Exeter, Devon: CLAPP, HARRY (Mother’s maiden name: WOTTON) GRO Reference: 1912 M Quarter in ST. THOMAS Volume 05B Page 51.
Parents: Henry Richard Clapp (1881-1915) and Emily Wotton (1881-1913). Parents married in Heavitree, Devon in 1909. Emily was the widow of Fred Sanders and had a son, Fred Edwin Sanders.
1911 Census (prior to Harry’s birth): Henry Clapp (a plumber), Emily, their son Christopher, and Emily’s son, Fred, living in Exeter.
1913: Emily Clapp, along with an infant daughter, died in Exeter.
1915: Henry Clapp volunteered in the Devonshire Regiment and was sent to the Western Front on 25 July 1915 and was killed at the Battles of Loos just two months later. The Clapp children were then orphans.
1921 Census: Christopher and Harry Clapp were living with their paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Clapp and aunt, Eleanor Clapp, in Littleham, Devon and attending school.
About 1930: Harry Clapp enlisted in the Royal Air Force (copy of his Service Record needed for exact details).
Dec 1939: Harry married Winifred Sarah Davison in Bromley, Kent. Winifred was born in 1914 in Mitcham, Surrey (daughter of Henry Davidson and Clara Willis). Harry and Winifred had two daughters: Sheila (1942) and Janice (1945).
1 Feb 1941 U.K. British Air Force Lists,1938-1945: Harry Clapp, Warrant Officer (590253).
1 Jan 1943 Mentioned in Dispatches: Warrant Officer Harry Clapp (590253).
1946: Winifred and the two Clapp daughters sail to India to join Harry.
May 1947: Winifred Clapp and two daughters arrived back in Southampton along with dozens of other Royal Air Force families prior to Indian Independence on August 15, 1947.
1951 New Year Honours List – Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) Military Division: Warrant Officer Harry Clapp (590253).
Harry Clapp died 16 April 1992, age 80, and was interred in Minehead Cemetery, West Somerset District alongside his wife, Winifred Sarah Clapp, who had died in 1989.
Minehead Cemetery
Select Sources: ancestry.com, Find-A-Grave, Wikipedia, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Google Searches