Editing Alan Clark (section)

== Early life ==
Alan Clark was born at 55 [[Lancaster Gate]], London, the elder son of art historian [[Kenneth Clark]] (later Lord Clark), who was of Scottish parentage, and his wife Elizabeth Winifred Clark (''née'' Martin), who was Irish.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=Hq0jq3WHqGdhv2fMIGG8gQ&scan=1 |title=Index entry |access-date=3 April 2016 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828020859/https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=Hq0jq3WHqGdhv2fMIGG8gQ&scan=1 |archive-date=28 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> His sister and brother, [[Twin#Fraternal (sororal/dizygotic) twins|fraternal twins]] Colette (known as Celly) and [[Colin Clark (filmmaker)|Colin]], were born in 1932. At the age of six he began as a day boy at Egerton House, a [[preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] in [[Marylebone]], and from there at the age of nine went on as a [[boarding school|boarder]] to [[St Cyprian's School]], [[Eastbourne]]. Clark was one of the seventy boys rescued when the school building was destroyed by fire in May 1939. He was relocated with the school to [[Midhurst]].

In September 1940, with the [[Luftwaffe]] threatening south-east England, the Clarks moved their son to a safer location at [[Cheltenham College]] Junior School. From there he went to [[Eton College|Eton]] in January 1942. In February 1946 while at Eton he joined the training regiment of the [[Household Cavalry]] based at [[Combermere Barracks]], [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]]. He transferred to the regiment's [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial]] unit the same day, but was discharged in August when he had left Eton.<ref>Trewin pp. 16–61</ref> Later that year, he was called up for [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|national service]] in the [[Royal Air Force]] Education Branch, but was exempted after citing his experience in the Household Cavalry while at Eton, which his biographer [[Ion Trewin]] described as "a bit like doing [[Combined Cadet Force#History|Officer Training Corps]]", but which Clark would later again embellish as prior military service in a CV for a possible parliamentary candidacy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-07-18 |title=Alan Clark, military expert, 'dodged National Service' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/alan-clark-military-expert-dodged-national-service-2029491.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

He then went to [[Christ Church, Oxford]], where he read Modern History under [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]], obtaining a [[British undergraduate degree classification|third-class honours degree]]. As an undergraduate he was a member of the [[Bullingdon Club]], a private all-male dining club known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club selects its members not only on the grounds of wealth and willingness to participate but also by means of education.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Alleyne |first1=Rihard |title=Oxford hellraisers politely trash a pub |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1478131/Oxford-hellraisers-politely-trash-a-pub.html |website=.telegraph.co.uk |access-date=20 July 2023 |date=3 December 2004}}</ref> After Oxford he wrote articles for the motoring press before he went on to read for the [[Barristers in England and Wales#Education and training|bar]]. He was [[called to the bar]] in 1955 but did not practise law. Instead, he began privately studying military history with a view to professional writing on the topic.