Blake Raymond Pelly, (31 May 1907 – 16 October 1990) was an Australian air force officer, politician and businessman, who represented the Liberal Party in New South Wales Parliament. Before and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Pelly served in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, rising to the rank of

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

and serving as director of Operations Royal Australian Air Force Headquarters 1945–1946. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 24 September 1941 and, on 16 June 1944, was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for distinguished service and efficiency in the south-west Pacific area. Pelly represented the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area adjacent to the south-western fringe of Sydney, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollondil ...

from 1950 to 1957. After retiring Pelly was chairman of directors of Rio Tinto (Australia) Limited, Hammersley Iron Pty Limited, Zinc Corporation Limited, Merchant Bills Corporation; chairman of directors of Unity Life Assurance Limited from 1959, Sun Alliance Insurance Limited from 1972, deputy chairman of Universities Board in 1967, and a member of Higher Education Board in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelly, Blake 1907 births 1990 deaths Australian aviators Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Australian Air Force officers 20th-century Australian politicians People from Buckley, Flintshire