Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Charles Hubert Boulby Blount, (26 October 1893 – 23 October 1940) was a British soldier, airman and first-class cricketer.

Family

Blount was born in Kamptee (now

Kamthi Kamptee is a suburb of Nagpur city and a municipal council in Nagpur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is part of the Nagpur metropolitan region development authority. It is the administrative center for Kamptee taluka. It is bel ...

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

, India. His father, Major Charles Hubert Blount (1855–1900), served with the 20th Battery,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, and died of

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

Wynberg, Cape Town Wynberg () is a southern suburb of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated between Plumstead, Cape Town, Plumstead and Kenilworth, Cape Town, Kenilworth, and is a main transport hub for the Southern Suburbs, Cape Town, ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, during the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. Blount was the first son of his father's second marriage, to Mary Elizabeth Bell. He had half-siblings from his father's first marriage to Eleanor Maud Philips, including Blount's half-brother, Captain Greville Blount, RHA (1883–1914), who died in France during the first year of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, who is a great-grandfather of singer

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After l ...

. Blount's younger brother, John Hillier Blount, attended Sandhurst and was granted temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant in the

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

in April 1918. He joined the nascent

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, but died in an aircraft crash near

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

in July 1918. Blount's son, Christopher Charles Blount, was born 1925. He became a Squadron Leader in the RAF. He married Susan Victoria Cobbold, the second daughter of

Cameron Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold Cameron Fromanteel "Kim" Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold (14 September 1904 – 1 November 1987) was a British banker. He served as Governor of the Bank of England from 1949 to 1961 and as Lord Chamberlain from 1963 to 1971. Early life Born in Lond ...

, in 1957, and was later awarded the MVO. Blount's great-great nephew is singer

(né James Hillier Blount).

Cricket

Blount attended

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. He played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in the 1910, 1911 and 1912

Eton v Harrow The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual match between public school rivals Eton College and Harrow School. It is one of the longest-running annual sporting fixtures in the world and is the last annual school cricket match still to be pla ...

matches, losing each time. The 1910 Eton v Harrow cricket match became known as

Fowler's match Fowler's match is the name given to the two-day Eton v Harrow cricket match held at Lord's on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. The match is named after the captain of Eton College, Robert St Leger Fowler, whose outstanding all round batting an ...

, after the captain of

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Robert St Leger Fowler Captain Robert St Leger Fowler MC (7 April 1891 – 13 June 1925) was an Irish first-class cricketer, often regarded as the best Irish cricketer not to have represented Ireland itself. Fowler was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm o ...

, whose outstanding all-round

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

performance allowed Eton to win the match by 9 runs despite being asked to

follow on In the game of cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team ...

early on the second day, 165 runs in arrears after the teams' first innings. The teams included one schoolboy who would become a field-marshal (

Harold Alexander Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor Ge ...

), another an air vice-marshal (Blount), and a third an attorney-general (

Walter Monckton Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, (17 January 1891 – 9 January 1965) was a British lawyer and politician. Early years Monckton was born in the village of Plaxtol in north Kent. He was the eldest child of paper m ...

), together with various sons of nobility. Blount was wicket-keeper in the 1911 Eton v Harrow match, and captain in 1912, he scored 137 runs in the second innings of the 1912 match, but could not prevent Eton winning by 6 wickets. He also played six matches for

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

in 1910 to 1912, for

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

against Harrow in 1921, and for

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Willi ...

against Harrow in 1937. He played 10 first-class cricket matches between 1920 and 1930, four for the

Combined Services cricket team The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

and six for the

Royal Air Force cricket team The Royal Air Force cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Royal Air Force. The team played 11 first-class matches: nine between 1922 and 1932, mostly against other branches of the Services, and another two in 1945 and 1946. Thei ...

, scoring 575 runs at an average of 33.82, including his maiden century in his last first-class match against the Army in 1930, and took 12 wicket at an average of 25.25. His name is recorded on the roll of honour at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

Army and Air Force career

Blount attended

RMC Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry ...

immediately after leaving school, and became a Second Lieutenant in the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment in September 1913. He was promoted to Lieutenant in October 1914, and then Captain in March 1916. He was taught to fly a

Maurice Farman Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer. Biography Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard and ...

biplane in 1916 and became a Flying Officer in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

on 14 November 1916 for organising his squadron and his own flying. He took command of a

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

of No. 34 Squadron, flying the

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

on the Western Front, in November 1916, became the squadron's acting commander in May 1917, and was confirmed as its commanding officer the following month, flying the

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed and produced at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was also built under contract by Austin Motors, Daimler, Standar ...

. He was promoted to Temporary Major in June 1917, and became a Temporary Major in the RAF on 1 April 1918. He was also awarded the Italian

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

. He was appointed as commander of the Artillery and Infantry Co-operation School in May 1918, and was promoted to Acting Lieutenant Colonel on 1 May 1919. He resigned his commission in the Royal West Surrey Regiment in August 1919 after obtaining a permanent commission as a Squadron Leader in the RAF (with seniority backdated to 1 April 1918). He commanded No. 4 Squadron at

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

, flying the

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

, from March 1920 to 1925. His squadron took part in the

Chanak Crisis The Chanak Crisis ( tr, Çanakkale Krizi), also called the Chanak Affair and the Chanak Incident, was a war scare in September 1922 between the United Kingdom and the Government of the Grand National Assembly in Turkey. ''Chanak'' refers to Ça ...

in 1922, flying off HMS ''Argus''. He was appointed OBE on 3 June 1924, and attended the

RAF Staff College The RAF Staff College may refer to: *RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970) *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park (active: 1941 to 1948) *RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air ...

in 1925. He was promoted Wing Commander in 1925, and took command of No. 7 Squadron at

RAF Bircham Newton Royal Air Force Bircham Newton or more simply RAF Bircham Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of Docking, Norfolk and north east of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. History The site was first used during the First Wo ...

in April 1926, flying the

Vickers Vimy The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft developed and manufactured by Vickers Limited. Developed during the latter stages of the First World War to equip the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the Vimy was designed by Reginald Kirshaw "Rex" ...

and

Vickers Virginia The Vickers Virginia was a biplane heavy bomber of the British Royal Air Force, developed from the Vickers Vimy. Design and development Work on the Virginia was started in 1920, as a replacement for the Vimy. Two prototypes were ordered on 13 ...

. He joined the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence in 1927, and commanded No. 70 Squadron from 1930 to 1932, flying the

Vickers Victoria The Vickers Type 56 Victoria was a British biplane Cargo aircraft, freighter and troop transport aircraft used by the Royal Air Force. The Victoria flew for the first time in 1922 and was selected for production over the Armstrong Whitworth Awan ...

RAF Hinaidi Royal Air Force Hinaidi or more commonly known as RAF Hinaidi (or Hinaidi Cantonment), is a former Royal Air Force station near Baghdad in the Kingdom of Iraq. It was operational from 1922 until 1937, when operations were transferred to RAF ...

in Iraq. He was promoted Group Captain in 1932, and commanded the Engineering Staff at HQ Iraq Command from April 1932, before being appointed Commandant of the

School of Army Co-operation The School of Land/Air Warfare was a Royal Air Force school based at Old Sarum in Wiltshire. Its purpose was to encourage greater co-operation between officers in the air and those on the ground. History The School was originally established at ...

RAF Old Sarum Old Sarum Airfield is a grass strip airfield north-north-east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The adjacent areas are a mix of vacant land, residential and industrial sites. Residential areas are to the south and east, occupying the old air ...

in April 1933. He became senior air staff officer (SASO), No. 2 (Bombing) Group in August 1936, and was promoted to air commodore in 1937, becoming temporary AOC, No. 2 (Bombing) Group and then succeeding

Stanley Goble Air Vice Marshal Stanley James (Jimmy) Goble, CBE, DSO, DSC (21 August 1891 – 24 July 1948) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served three terms as Chief of the Air Staff, alternating with Wing Comma ...

as air officer commanding (AOC), No. 2 (Bombing) Group in December 1937. He became AOC, No. 4 (Bomber) Group in May 1938. In July 1939, he was promoted to air vice marshal and became AOC, No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group. In September 1939, soon after the beginning of 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 ...

, Blount became AOC of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force, part of British Air Forces France. This was an RAF Command set up under the command of Air Marshal

Arthur Barratt Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Sheridan Barratt, (25 February 1891 – 4 November 1966) was an officer in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He acquired the n ...

to provide unified control of all RAF units based in France. The Air Component of the BEF provided RAF reconnaissance and fighter cover. In May 1940, after the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, Blount returned to England and resumed his post as AOC, No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group. He was appointed CB on 11 July 1940.

Death

Blount was killed in an air accident in October 1940, when a scheduled flight from

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

to Belfast – where he was due to meet GOC, Northern Ireland – crashed near the airfield shortly after taking off, three days before his 47th birthday. He was buried in the south-west corner of the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin's Church,

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

. He is commemorated on the Felixstowe War Memorial, where the death of his younger brother, John Hillier Blount in an accidental air crash in 1918 is also commemorated.CWGC entry
/ref>

References

External links

* ttp://www.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/229833.html ''Wisden'' obituary, 1941br>Profile
from CricketArchive

from

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Old Sarum – Officers in CommandJohn Hillier Blount, family history
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blount, Charles Hubert Boulby 1893 births 1940 deaths English cricketers People educated at Harrow School Combined Services cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Suffolk cricketers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Queen's Royal Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel of British India British people in colonial India