George Clark was born at South Shields, County Durham on 2 June 1911 into a mining family, the son of William and Hannah Clark.  Before joining the Royal Navy at HMS IMPREGNABLE on 2 June 1929, he followed his father down the pit.

Before submarines he served in the light cruisers HMS DANAE and HMS CARDIFF, the battleship HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and the sloop HMS KINGFISHER.  He started submarine training at HMS DOLPHIN on 18 January 1939 followed by service in the submarines HMS PANDORA and HMS PHOENIX.

He was married to Doris Clark of Limpsfield, Surrey and is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.