Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREESee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:20 BST, 4 July 2026 | Updated: 19:53 BST, 4 July 2026
A Jamaican WW2 veteran who lied about his age to join the RAF aged 16 has been laid to rest with a jazz band send-off after his death at 100.Gilbert Constantine Clarke signed up to the Royal Air Force as a mechanic in 1943 after reading newspaper reports of enemy ships being sighted in the Caribbean.Mr Clarke, who was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, passed away on May 23 at the age of 100.His life was commemorated during a funeral service in east London this morning with a New Orleans-style jazz band leading the procession, before members of the RAF carried his coffin into East Ham Town Hall.Colin Mills, Chairman of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, said: 'Gilbert represented the very best of his generation – courageous, humble and devoted to his country during one of the darkest periods in our history.'It was an honour for our charity and our volunteer London cab drivers to spend time with Gilbert over the years at commemorations, social events and trips where his warmth, humour and remarkable stories touched so many people.' He added that veterans like Mr Clarke 'are at the heart of everything the Taxi Charity stands for' and that the organisation 'will be forever grateful for his service and sacrifice.'Within days of signing up to the air force at just 16 years old, Mr Clarke underwent basic training at the Kingston Palisades RAF camp in Jamaica before being shipped to Britain via the US. Jamaican WW2 veteran Gilbert Constantine Clarke passed away aged 100 on May 23 Members of the RAF carry Mr Clarke's coffin into East Ham Town Hall during his funeral on Saturday A New Orleans-style jazz band led the procession before arriving at the town hall in east LondonDuring the final two years of the war, he was stationed at both British and US air bases where he repaired and serviced Spitfire and Hurricane fighter plane radars and electronic equipment.Mr Clarke previously said he felt 'very excited' when he joined the RAF and was overjoyed when he heard planes flying towards Europe on D-Day in 1944.'Everyone was doing their bit, you know,' he said.'It was important not to do nothing because Hitler… there was word in the Caribbean saying any time he could be colonising the Caribbean and South America, and so we had to do something.'He also spoke about how he lied to join the fight against Germany and the axis powers.'I had just left school at 16 and I thought "why not?",' he said at an event organised by the Spirit of Normandy Trust in 2024.'In the newspapers and radio they said they’d sighted a few boats in the Caribbean, so I thought I’d join up.'Despite his role as a mechanic, Mr Clarke saw action while travelling by ship from Jamaica to the US. Members of the RAF moving Mr Clarke's coffin out of the hearse before carrying it inside Mr Clarke's coffin wrapped in the Union flag being carried in East Ham Town Hall today RAF personel carrying the coffin as hundreds gather in the town hall for the funeral'In the Atlantic, many, many ships joined us and every now and again, the ships were torpedoed,' he said.After moving to London, Mr Clarke described hearing planes heading toward Europe on D-Day.He recalled: 'It started with that noise you hear. It was the planes going towards Europe – massive, massive planes.'All the boys shouted "Give them hell boys!", and then we thought that should be the end of the war, hopefully.'
