A Harrogate RAF veteran was flooded with more than 850 cards for his recent 100th birthday.
A Facebook group dedicated to the RAF launched an appeal to send Stanley Clark, who lives in Harcourt Gardens Care Home, 100 cards for his milestone birthday.
However, after the post went global, he received more than eight times the anticipated amount – including one from King Charles III.
Mr Clarke, who joined the air force at just 16 as an electrical fitter in 1940, went on to become a servicing commando, RAF pilot and station commander. He served in North Africa and Europe before retiring in 1979.
The veteran woke up to birthday wishes from former service men and women from across America, Canada and Australia.
Mr Clarke said:
“I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who sent me these wonderful cards and gifts, this was totally unexpected and overwhelming but very much appreciated.”
He spent his centenary birthday enjoying afternoon tea alongside friends and family who had travelled from Australia and Canada.
Home manager at Harcourt Gardens, Adelina Pangilinan, also said:
“The cards just kept on coming, it was quite amazing.
“Nobody knew just how well the request would be received and it was absolutely wonderful to see the look on Stanley’s face when we delivered him the cards.
“It’s clear to see that Stanley, alongside all the other brave and admirable veterans are part of a very tight knit community and it’s wonderful see the support and admiration for him.”
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Tributes paid to Harrogate D-Day veteran, who has died aged 97
Tributes have been paid to a Harrogate’s D-Day veteran who has died at the age of 97.
John Rushton, who was also known as Jack among friends, passed away peacefully at Harrogate District Hospital after a visit from his family on New Year’s Day.
Mr Rushton not only fought in World War II but when he settled in Harrogate in the 1970s he carried on in public service with his work at Harrogate College and the Tewit Youth Band.
On VE Day in May 2020, he was the star of the town’s celebrations. Leaning out of his window, he watched performances and warmed the hearts of his neighbours. He told the Stray Ferret on the day:
“It’s very nice that they would do all this for me. I don’t deserve it, I just happen to be the one that has lived the longest.
“I have had a good life. It’s very good of them to have done this as if I am a hero. I am not, I am just an ordinary Yorkshireman.”
Mr Rushton was never one to command attention and always rejected the title of hero, but he was held in high regard by his peers and all that knew him.
Dave Rushton, one of John’s four sons, said:
“We are very sad but my dad has left a great legacy and history. We have had so many goodwill messages, which has been an enormous help.
“He fought the illness really hard, he fought right to the end. I want to put on record our thanks to the staff on Wensleydale Ward and at Lister House care home in Ripon.
“I think people will remember him for his character. So many people have told me how much of a character he was, even if he never thought he was a hero.
“We did manage to get in a trip back in 2019 to Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. We had hoped to go again but we certainly ended on a high.
“I already know a lot about his life but since his passing I have learned a lot more about the affection people held him in.”
A British Army spokesman said:
“We are indebted to the bravery of Mr Rushton and his comrades. Our thoughts are with Mr Rushton’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
David Houlgate, vice chair of the Knaresborough branch of the Royal British Legion, said:
“What I will say is clearly he was in a sense a true hero of this country. John defended this country and helped to free Europe from tyranny.”
The life of John ‘Jack’ Rushton
Mr Rushton was born in Doncaster on May 24, 1924, where he was brought up and educated before leaving school to become an apprentice joiner.
At the outbreak of World War II because he was too young to enlist, he joined the home guard before he volunteered for service shortly after his 18th birthday.
On the night of June 5, 1944, he set off from Portsmouth, having been sent in place of another marine who had taken ill.
The crossing was made in a flat bottomed tank landing craft, and as the weather was poor, he sheltered with a comrade underneath one of the tanks, lying on top of the ammunition.
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It was such a rough crossing, he later said he preferred being shot at in France to staying on board.
Arriving on the Normandy beach at 6am on June 6 he proceeded to deploy and arm his unit’s tanks and guns and spent much of the assault without his helmet or rifle as they impeded his tasks.
During that day, he narrowly avoided death three times including running over an anti-tank mine several times. He often says with a wry smile that only the good die young. He also says that the real heroes are the ones who didn’t return home.
Jack ready to celebrate VE Day in 2020.
Having been promoted to Sergeant, Jack was then sent out to India, travelling by ship and often sleeping on riveted steel decks. On arrival in Bombay his unit was tasked with keeping the peace during the country’s internal struggles, and later training to join the war against Japan further east.
In 1945 he was sent to Malaysia to await deployment to the battlefront, however when the atomic bombs were dropped, he was spared the ordeal of the next fight.
Although the war was now over, his unit was sent back to India to help quell a naval mutiny, and as a result, he didn’t make it home until 1946, when he was demobbed, and returned to Doncaster.
He moved jobs and towns before he settled in 1972 with a final family move to Harrogate College of Further Education.
Jack retired in 1988 and turned to his interests in the local brass bands and the Royal Naval Association. He was widowed in 2012 after almost 61 years of marriage and has four children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Harrogate veteran will be star of VE Day celebrations
A Harrogate veteran who survived the D Day landings will be the star of one of the town’s VE Day celebrations today.
John Rushton, who is also known as Jack, will be the guest of honour at Beech Road where the street will hold a socially distant party in their front gardens.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hall of the Army College will also join in the celebrations with his daughter playing The Battle O’er & Balmoral as they drive past in a vintage car at 4pm.
Jack was born in Doncaster on May 24, 1924, where he was brought up and educated before leaving school to become an apprentice joiner.
At the outbreak of World War II because he was too young to enlist, he joined the home guard before he volunteered for service shortly after his 18th birthday.
On the night of June 5, 1944, he set off from Portsmouth, having been sent in place of another marine who had been taken ill.
The crossing was made in a flat bottomed tank landing craft, and as the weather was poor, he sheltered with a comrade underneath one of the tanks, lying on top of the ammunition.
The crossing was so rough that he later said that he preferred being shot at in France to staying on board.
Jack during his military service.
Arriving on the Normandy beach at 6am on June 6 he proceeded to deploy and arm his unit’s tanks and guns and spent much of the assault without his helmet or rifle as they impeded his tasks.
During that day, he narrowly avoided death three times including running over an anti-tank mine several times. He often says with a wry smile that only the good die young. He also says that the real heroes are the ones who didn’t return home.
Having been promoted to Sergeant, Jack was then sent out to India, travelling by ship and often sleeping on riveted steel decks. On arrival in Bombay his unit was tasked with keeping the peace during the country’s internal struggles, and later training to join the war against Japan further east.
In 1945 he was sent to Malaysia to await deployment to the battlefront, however when the atomic bombs were dropped, he was spared the ordeal of the next fight.
Although the war was now over, his unit was sent back to India to help quell a naval mutiny, and as a result, he didn’t make it home until 1946, when he was demobbed, and returned to Doncaster.
He moved jobs and towns before he settled in 1972 with a final family move to Harrogate College of Further Education.
Jack retired in 1988 and turned to his interests in the local brass bands and the Royal Naval Association. He was widowed in 2012 after almost 61 years of marriage and has four children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.