Sergeant Samuel Joseph Clayton of Portadown, Co. Armagh died on 2nd May 1944 when his Short Stirling bomber came down on a night-time raid over Chambly, France.
Sergeant
1545659
Sergeant Samuel Joseph Clayton (1545659) served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He was the son of William Clayton and Elizabeth Clayton of 2 Eden Avenue, Portadown, Co. Armagh.
Before joining the Royal Air Force, Samuel had served alongside Ernest Bramwell Blair in the Air Training Corps at No. 1829 Squadron Headquarters, Portadown Technical College.
Sergeant Clayton died on 2nd May 1944 while serving in R.A.F. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron. He was a wireless operator / air gunner on Short Stirling III EF259 HA-G when it took off from R.A.F. Woolfox Lodge, Rutland, England on a sortie to destroy railway lines and storage depots at Chambly, France. The plane came down near Auneuil, France killing four crew members. The remaining four survived and evaded capture.
Sergeant Clayton’s grave is in Row A, Grave 11 of Poix-de-Picardie Churchyard, France. His name is on the Portadown War Memorial, Portadown, Co. Armagh.