Lieutenant Robert L McLaren

Robert Leonard McClaren was the son of Peter Melvin and Jessie McClaren and the husband of Violet McClaren, of Eastwood, Essex. He was commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps and volunteered for Airborne forces.

Lieutenant McClaren successfully completed glider training and was posted to F Troop, 2 Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery, and took part in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).

Lt McClaren was in Hamilcar 901, which contained a 17 pounder anti-tank gun. The glider ditched in the North Sea, and Sgt Crawford and Lt McClaren were trapped by the gun when it broke loose on impact. Both drowned. Lt McClaren died on 18 September 1944, aged 30. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial to the missing.

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