Clive Severn was born in Nottingham on 12 February 1919, the son of Mr Herbert and Mrs Gertrude Eva Severn. The 1939 census has them living in Bonnington Crescent, Nottingham. The family must have moved shortly after the census as reports in the Nottingham Evening Post in 1942 reporting him missing and subsequently killed in action all stated his address as 54 Rosecroft Drive, Nottingham.

He went to Claremont school and worked at Messrs Francis T Wright Ltd, Bagthorpe. He played in the Daybrook United championship team in 1939. He joined the Northamptonshire Regiment, and presumably volunteered from there for No 11 Commando, which took him to the Middle East.

Severn was almost certainly one of the 60 members of 1 Special Boat Section, formed from 51 Commando under Major Mike Kealy.  51 Commando began to be disbanded in about July 1941.  Men were posted in dribs and drabs to the Special Boat Section, whose usefulness had been proved by Lt Cdr Wilmott in showing that a landing in force on Rhodes was impractical. This mission was launched from HMS TRIUMPH in March 1941 and was probably the first Folboat landing from a submarine in the Mediterranean.

On 7 October 1941 Clive embarked in HMS TORBAY, and on 10 October rowed a Captain Haselden and a local guide ashore at Cape Ras el Hamama in Libya.  Haselden’s mission was to scope out the much larger Commando landing (FLIPPER) that was to take place a few weeks later.  Severn’s boat could only take one passenger, so Haselden stripped and was towed ashore behind the folboat.  Severn was probably involved in the actual landing of Lt Col Laycock’s force two weeks later, and with their recovery a couple of weeks after that.

Clive was listed as missing in HMS TRIUMPH, but it is not clear why he was aboard.  He was an experienced and fit Folboteer, and was probably embarked to help with the heavy rowing task of landing 5,000 kgs of stores and bringing off dozens of escapers at the end of the patrol.  Folboteers were also embarked to operate Bren Guns on the bridge during gun actions against caiques, and during boarding operations.  Brens jammed frequently, and sailors were not well trained in keeping them operating.

Clive Severn had three brothers, Len, Tom and George and is commemorated on the Brookwood 1939 – 1945 Memorial, Panel 12, Column 3.