Code named PQ18, the mission, on 2 September 1942, included 17 warships, for its journey to Iceland and then Russia. Mr Clarke, from Tain in Ross-shire, was a young sailor serving on the Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Farndale. PQ18 was made up of 39 cargo vessels carrying 4,400 vehicles, 835 tanks, 566 aircraft and more than 11,000 tons of high explosive.