Old Eastbournian
Speed king
Theodore Clarke
W e were alerted to this when the College archivist was contacted by an English woman called Lindsay Bunch who now lives on the shore of Lake Geneva. Lindsay had been researching the history of an abandoned ship building facility in Amphion on the edge of the lake, and had come across the name, Theodore Alexander Clarke. She had written a blog post on his achievements as a power boat pilot in the 1920s, and in particular on his construction of the record-breaking France- Excelsior powerboat that competed in the 1926 Harmsworth Cup in Detroit, USA. Further research had led her to a small piece about Theodore that former archives volunteer, the late Bill Bowden, had written for the 2015 Old Eastbournian , prompting her to get in touch with the College archives. Since then we have, with the help of Lindsay, been able to provide more details about his life. We are particularly fortunate as Theodore’s OE record survives. Born in France in 1889, his father was Theodore Mattock Clarke, ‘bank manager, Institut Commercial, Paris’. Little is written about his time at the College but in a letter dated 1956 he wrote ‘I was a bugler. We marched out to the station when the Prince of Wales came to Eastbourne (Edward VII)’. He was also in the choir and was present when the stained glass window commemorating the OEs who had died during the South African War was unveiled in 1905 in the Chapel. Theodore continued his further education at HEC Paris ‘of which I was president for a year’. (HEC – Paris School of Advanced Theodore Alexander Clarke (School 1902-04) led a fascinating life: ice hockey player, speed boat builder and pilot and employee of the Paramount Pictures film company based in Bordeaux.
building the France-Excelsior speed boat. They planned to race it and challenge the American record holders in the 1925 Harmsworth Cup Trophy in Detroit, USA. Unfortunately, the first vessel was destroyed by fire so work was started on France-Excelsior II . The boat was shipped to New York on the deck of the liner France , and transported to Detroit, to great excitement, ready for the 1926 Harmsworth Cup races. Clarke, who was to ‘pilot’ the boat, was even given the freedom of the city of Detroit. On the day of the race, over 150,000 people lined the banks of the Detroit River. Yachting magazine in October 1926 called it the ‘finest fleet of highspeed fliers ever gathered on one course’. Or at least it would have been if the France-Excelsior had made it to the starting line. Not only were there problems with her listing in the water because the hull had warped, but the drive shaft was also damaged. It was agreed to postpone the race until the following day, leaving all the rain-sodden spectators to trundle home again. During the night, the sportsman-like Americans offered what- ever help they could, but to compound the problems it was
A pencil sketch of the France-Excelsior speed boat
discovered that someone had forgotten to bring the spare bottles of compressed air from France needed to start the Breguet-Bugatti engines. In a valiant attempt to save face the France-Excelsior lined up the following day, T A Clarke at the helm and, after much splut- tering, the engines failed again to start. Swallowing his pride Clarke agreed to be towed across the starting line in the hope that the shafts would begin to turn. Sud- denly, there was a roar from the engines, the crowd went wild, and she was off! The local newspaper used the technical term of ‘hobby horsing’ around the course ‘in a way that must have loosened the teeth of her crew of three’. After only half a mile Clarke pulled into the pits. The Detroit Free Press of 12 September 1926 published a photo of Clarke aboard the boat with the caption: ‘ The Excelsior-France finishing its first and only lap. T A Clarke, the English pilot, was forced to retire because of motor trouble.’ He had to concede defeat and the Americans were able to successfully defend the Harmsworth Trophy, breaking the world speed record at the same time. We have few details of Theodore’s life after the 1920s. He visited the College in 1961 and, in 1975, the Old Eastbournian pub- lished his obituary: ‘Clarke, Theodore Alexander died in January 1975. He played ice hockey for France in 1908, and was a racing driver. He served through the First World War in a variety of units, ending as a Captain. He owned a motor-boat factory on Lake Geneva, and for a time worked for Paramount films in Bordeaux.’ A remarkable man who led a fascinating life. His time at Para- mount is yet to be explored – hopefully something will come to light in time for the next magazine! My grateful thanks to Lindsay for the majority of the material she supplied for this article. Her own blog can be found at https://thollon.org/letter-from-thollon. Paul Jordan
Business Studies). In 1908 he played for an ice hockey team in the French national championships, an account of which appeared in the sporting journal La Vie au Grand Air. According to his OE form, in 1912, he ‘flew’ and in the following year was a ‘pilot in balloon, Paris to Zurich’. It also listed the fact that he was ‘a member of the British Racing Drivers’ Club’ and ‘Amateur driver motor cars and motorbikes, France and USA 1910–14 & 1919–29’. It would seem that his love of speed dated from as early as 1911 when he received a £3 fine for
The French sporting journal La Vie au Grand Air featuring the 1908 French national ice hockey championships in which T A Clarke participated
exceeding the 20mph speed limit on the Brighton Road, Croydon in 1911. In his defence he said, ‘I’m not used to driving in this country; I’ve been in France’. During the First World War he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry Division, worked in intelligence and, as captain, was ADC to Sir George Barrow GCB. His wartime service included ‘liaison work with Joffe and Foch’ and he was mentioned in despatches in 1918. He married Margaret Barclay Stevens in 1923, giving his occupation as ‘engineer’ and his address as 22 Welbeck Court, London, W14. His most ambitious plan was to build a speed boat and, together with Henri Esders, bought a boatyard at Amphion and set about
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