Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Howard Peter "Cowboy" Blatchford, DFC (25 February 1912 – 3 May 1943) was a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

, who achieved the first

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

victory in

World War II 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 ...

. Blatchford was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta on 25 February 1912, and enlisted in the

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 ...

in February 1936. He was posted to

No. 41 Squadron RAF No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...

in early 1937. In April 1940 he was posted to

No. 212 Squadron RAF No. 212 Squadron RAF is an inactive squadron of the British Royal Air Force. First World War The squadron was first formed as No. 12 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service, a training unit of No. 1 Wing, founded at Hondschoote on 8 June 1917. H ...

, flying

photo-reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of imag ...

operations. In June he joined the Photographic Development Unit as a flight commander, later transferring to

No. 17 Squadron RAF Number 17 Squadron (sometimes written as No. XVII Squadron), currently No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was reformed on 12 April 2013 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as the Operational ...

in September, flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s. He soon joined

No. 257 Squadron RAF No. 257 Squadron RAF was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force active during the First World War, the Second World War and also the Cold War. It was finally disbanded in December 1963. History In World War I No. 257 Squadron was formed at D ...

, under the command of Squadron Leader

Robert Stanford Tuck Wing Commander Robert Roland Stanford Tuck, (1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987) was a British fighter pilot, flying ace and test pilot. Tuck joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1935 and first engaged in combat during the Battle of France, over Dunkirk ...

. In December 1940, Blatchford was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross:

Flight Lieutenant Howard Peter BLATCHFORD (37715), No. 257 Squadron. In November, 1940, this officer was the leader of a squadron which destroyed eight and damaged a further five enemy aircraft in one day. In the course of the combat he rammed and damaged a hostile fighter when his ammunition was expended, and then made two determined head-on feint attacks on enemy fighters, which drove them off. He has shown magnificent leadership and outstanding courage.

Blatchford became commanding officer of

in July 1941. He was promoted to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

in September that year, becoming

wing leader Wing leader, or wing commander (flying), denotes the tactical commander of a Commonwealth military wing on flying operations. The terms refer to a position, not a rank, although the role was usually taken by an officer ranked wing commander. The p ...

of the Digby Wing. On 23 September 1941,

John Gillespie Magee John Gillespie Magee Jr. (9 June 1922 – 11 December 1941) was a World War II Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, most noted for penning the sonnet " High Flight". He was killed in an accidental mid-air collis ...

, the author of the famous flying poem "High Flight," arrived at Digby for his first operational posting, on RCAF 412 Squadron. On 12 October 1941, Magee's squadron moved from the Digby aerodrome to the nearby

RAF Wellingore Royal Air Force Wellingore or more simply RAF Wellingore is a former Royal Air Force fighter relief landing ground located south of Navenby, Lincolnshire and south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. History The airfield was originally opened ...

, from which he was operating when he died. Blatchford finished his tour of duty in April 1942, returning to operations in February 1943 as wing leader of the Coltishall Wing. On 29 March 1943 his Spitfires propeller was hit by Flak splinters during morning sortie (ca. 08.45-10.30), FB/Cat.A, but he landed safely. On 4 April 1943 leading 167 Squadron in the area of Rotterdam, his Spitfire was severely hit by JG 1 fighter with cannon and MG fire. Sortie was covering 24 Venturas attacking Rotterdam between 18.20 a 20.00 hrs. Leading the Coltishall Wing to escort bombers attacking a power station in Amsterdam, Blatchford was shot down and killed in action on 3 May 1943 by Obfw. Hans Ehlers of II Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 1. His body was never found. He is commemorated on the

Air Forces Memorial The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, in Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey, England is a memorial dedicated to some 20,456 men and women from air forces of the British Empire who were lost in air and other operations during World Wa ...

at Runnymede. At the time of his death, Blatchford had claimed five aircraft shot down, three shared aircraft shot down, three "probables", four damaged and one shared damaged.

References

* ''Aces High''- C.Shores & C.Williams (Grub Street 1991) page 133. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatchford, Howard Peter 1912 births 1943 deaths Canadian aviators Canadian World War II flying aces Royal Air Force wing commanders Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Few Wing leaders Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Pilots who performed an aerial ramming Aviators killed by being shot down People from Edmonton Canadian military personnel from Alberta