Born at Upper Norwood, Surrey on 7th. December 1919 the son of the Rev. G.A. Barclay and Dorothy Catherine Topsy Barclay, Richard George Arthur Barclay grew up at the rectory at Great Holland, near Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, where his father was the incumbent until 1939, when he moved to Cromer, Norfolk. The family were related to the banking family. Charles Thomas (CT) Studd, maternal grandfather of Richard, had played cricket for Middlesex and England, including playing in the 1882 match won by Australia, which was the origins of The Ashes.
Richard was educated at Hawtreys preparatory school, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, Stowe School, Buckinghamshire and Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied Economics and Law. In 1938 he joined the University Air Squadron and was commissioned in the RAFVR in June 1939.
Called up in October 1939, Barclay went to 3 Initial Training Wing (ITW) at Hastings, East Sussex on 8th. November. He began his RAF flying training at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire on January 1st. 1940 and with this completed he was then posted to 1 School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum, Wiltshire on 2nd. June.
Eight days later he moved to 5 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Aston Down, Wiltshire to convert to the Hawker Hurricane and on 23rd. June he joined 249 (Gold Coast) Squadron at Leconfield in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
On 2nd. September 1940 Barclay damaged a Messerschmitt Me. 110, on the 7th. he shot down a Messerschmitt Me. 109 and damaged a Dornier Do. 17 and a Heinkel He. 111, on the 15th. he shot down a Dornier Do. 17, probably destroyed two others and damaged a fourth, on the 18th. probably destroyed a Heinkel He. 111, on the 19th. shared a Junkers Ju. 88 and on the 27th. claimed a Messerschmitt Me. 109 and a Junkers Ju. 88 destroyed. During the attack on the Junkers Ju. 88’s on that day, Barclay, in Hurricane V6622, was shot down south of London and made a forced landing at West Malling in Kent. He got a probable Messerschmitt Me. 109 on 15th.October, two probable Messerschmitt Me. 109’s on 7th. November and shared another on the 14th. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), gazetted on 26th. November 1940. The citation reads:
Flying Officer Richard George Arthur Barclay (service number 74661), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – No. 249 Squadron. This officer has shown admirable coolness and courage in combat against the enemy. His keenness and determination have enabled him to destroy at least four of their aircraft.
On 29th. November 1940 Barclay was shot down by a Messerschmitt Me. 109 and wounded in the ankle, legs and elbow. Describing the event he wrote that he had landed in an apple orchard and '...the usual crowd came running up and put me in a car. I was taken to Pembury Hospital (near Tunbridge Wells, Kent) in high spirits and very excited. Nasty hole in ankle whence came nose of cannon shell..'. He was operated on that evening and spent two months in hospital and did not return to 249 Squadron until March 1941.
He was posted to 52 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Debden, Essex as an instructor on 7th. May. Three months later he joined 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron at Hornchurch, Essex as a Flight Commander. During a sweep over St. Omer, Northern France on 20th. September 1941, Barclay was attacked by Messerschmitt Me. 109’s and his engine was damaged. He forced landed at Buyschoeure after breaking high tension electricity cables. With the help of the French Resistance he moved through Paris and Toulouse, crossed the Spanish Frontier, arriving in Barcelona via Madrid on 7th. November. He reached the British Embassy and left for Gibraltar on 7th. December. Two days later he was flown to Scotland, arriving back at Cromer Vicarage on 14th. December..
After a short attachment to HQ Fighter Command, Barclay was posted to HQ 9 Group as Tactics Officer. On 4th. April 1942 he was given command of 601 (County of London) Squadron, then about to go to the Middle East. The squadron embarked at Liverpool on 10th. April in HMT K6 (RMS Rangitata of New Zealand) and reached Port Tewfik, Egypt on 4th. June, having gone via South Africa and Aden.
Barclay did not get a chance to lead 601 Squadron. He went to command 238 Squadron at Landing Ground 92 (LG 92) at Amriya, located approximately 10 miles (16 km) south-southwest of Alexandria, from 2nd. July 1942. On the 16th. he shot down a Messerschmitt Me. 109. In the afternoon of July 17th. he destroyed a Junkers Ju. 87. In the early evening he led 238 on a patrol of the Alamein area acting as top cover for 274 Squadron. As 238 moved to attack some Junkers Ju. 87’s it was jumped by Messerschmitt Me. 109’s and Barclay flying either a Hurricane IIB or IIC was shot down and killed, possibly by Leutnant Werner Schröer of 3 Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika' (III/JG27).
Richard Barclay, aged 22, is buried in grave XI. H. 7. of the El Alamein War Cemetery. On 7th. November 1942, his godfather and first cousin Sandy (Alexandra) Barclay Russell, who was serving in the Middle East, visited El Alamein cemetery to see Richard's grave. It was almost unfindable and it was only marked as 'Unknown Airman', the original name marked in pencil had practically disappeared. The new white headstone had just been delivered and Sandy was allowed to erect it himself. He was also allowed to bring back the original wooden cross which is now in St. Peter and St. Paul church, the parish church of Cromer, Norfolk, where Richard's father was vicar from 1939 to 1946.
Richard's diaries, written during his wartime career up until his death, were published in 1974 and give a rare, descriptive and highly articulate first hand account of the life of a RAF fighter pilot in 1940–41. An expanded edition was published in 2012.
