Blake, William Vincent
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | William Vincent |
Surname | Blake |
Gender | M |
Age | 21 |
Decorations | DFC |
Date of Death | 23-04-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of William Albert Blake, and of Helen Parr Blake, of Dundas, Ontario, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | LW285 |
Markings | NA-Z |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 245. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 132 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | J/14132 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 428 (Ghost) |
Trade | Pilot |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to fomer St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with inscribed slate tablets |
Memorial Text | Dedicated to all who served on 428 (RCAF) Sqn at Middleton St. George during WWII, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice |
Miscellaneous Information
According to a written account by navigator Neil Bell, who died in 2009. "Every member of the crew had a premonition that something was going to go wrong." They had been out the night before for a "very successful trip" and "this was to be our twentieth operation." But they were afraid their luck was running out. "Suddenly, out of nowhere, we were attacked and riddled from stem to stern by cannon fire. Our mid-gunner was wounded in the leg and arm, but our rear gunner got in a long burst of fire at the enemy aircraft as the latter broke off his attack. This probably prevented him from making another attack, though it left us badly crippled ... and Bill had great difficulty in controlling it at all." |
In an October 1944 letter to Blake's mother, Bell wrote, "The Swedish radio location people plotted the plane and reported that it went out to sea, turned toward land, then evidently went out of control and dived into the water. Whether Bill got out and ... drowned or whether he went down with the plane, we don't know..... But I'm sure you will be proud to know that he played the game to the end, that he gave his life to save his crew. It was a natural thing for him to do, as much the manner in which we always knew he would act." |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 23-04-1944 |
End Date | 24-04-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Middleton St. George |
Day/Night Raid | Night (2% moon) |
Operation | Mining over the Baltic. 114 aircraft to lay mines in five separate areas of the Baltic. 5 losses |
Reason for Loss | Shot down by a night-fighter (Ju 88) from 13000'. The pilot set course for Sweden, such was the severity of the damage. Later became uncontrollable at 9000' and was abandoned by all but the pilot, who bravely stayed at the controls to give his fellow crew time to make good their escape from the stricken aircraft. |