The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' - World War I

Lt Colonel H N Clark DSO TD

Lt Col Clark's letter recommending DW for promotion
Click here to enlarge the letter, and click here to see a transcript.



DW's Duke de Richleau novel The Second Seal (1950) - dedicated to Lt Col Clark & DW's other comrades of World War I



The park bench with a plaque dedicated to Lt Col Clark in the churchyard behind St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. (photo taken in 2009)

Lt Colonel Clark was DW's mentor in World War I, and they formed a friendship which was quite unusual between a senior officer and a subaltern. This friendship lasted until Clark's death in January 1949.

Herbert Nicholls Clark was born in 1876 and educated at Malvern College from 1892 to 1894.

DW first met him in 1915. Unlike some of his peers, Clark never bullied or shouted, and took time to explain what was being done and why. At the end of the day, while the troops were sent back under their NCOs, he would gather all his officers together and go through the day's events, saying what had been done well and gently exploring what could have been done better. He would then shout 'Horses' and they would spring to their horses and race each other back to camp.

On one occasion the hated Inglis put DW under close arrest for a minor misdemeanour. Confined to his room, DW received a message from Davis to lower a string from his window at a certain time. DW did so, and found when he pulled it up a few minutes later that a box of chocolates had been tied to the end, courtesy of the excellent Colonel Clark.