James Blackburn, (8 March 1916 – 1993) was a

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 ...

officer who completed a record five tours of operations 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 ...

Early life

Blackburn was born on 8 March 1916, in

Acton, London Acton () is a town and area in west London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross. At the 2011 census, its four wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 62,480, a ...

, the son of Sir Arthur Dickinson Blackburn, and was educated at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

, and

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

. While at Oxford he joined the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fifteen Univers ...

, and was commissioned in to the

Royal Air Force Reserve The Regular Reserve is the component of the military reserve of the British Armed Forces whose members have formerly served in the " Regular" (full-time professional) forces. (Other components of the Reserve are the Volunteer Reserves and the Sp ...

of Officers in 1936.

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Second World War

During the

, Blackburn served first as a Blenheim pilot with No. 57 Squadron and then with No. 70 Squadron as a

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

, later to be promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

and then

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 ...

. Blackburn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in November 1941, followed by a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to the award in September 1942. Blackburn was posted to North Africa in May 1942 to take command of No. 104 Squadron and remained in command of the squadron until August 1942. On 12 September 1942, Blackburn was travelling aboard the when it was torpedoed 130 miles north-northeast of

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

, by the German submarine U-156. The events that followed became known as the

Laconia incident The ''Laconia'' incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved i ...

. Blackburn survived the sinking of the Laconia and was taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

, later to be imprisoned in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

controlled

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. In November 1942, Blackburn along with three other officers escaped and made their way to the American held lines in Morocco. In October 1943, Blackburn was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) while in command of No. 148 Squadron. From July 1944 to January 1945, Blackburn commanded No. 159 Squadron. In December 1944, Blackburn was awarded a Bar to his DSO, working for

Force 136 Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Or ...

, in recognition of his exemplary leadership during bombing and mine-laying missions. Blackburn was also awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, in recognition of the pioneering work that No. 159 Squadron carried out, extending the operational range of the

Consolidated Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

aircraft. Following his presentation with the medal, Blackburn held a party to celebrate at Firpos restaurant in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. Blackburn commanded No. 570 Squadron from 15 December 1945 until 8 January 1946, and then No. 196 Squadron until 16 March 1946.

Awards and honours

* 4 November 1941, Flight Lieutenant James Blackburn (70067), Reserve of Air Force Officers, No.70 Squadron, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross: * 18 September 1942, Acting Wing Commander James Blackburn DFC (70067), Reserve of Air Force Officers, No.70 Squadron, awarded Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross: * 1 October 1943, Wing Commander James Blackburn DFC (70067), Reserve of Air Force Officers, No.148 Squadron, awarded the Distinguished Service Order: * 8 December 1944, Wing Commander James Blackburn DSO, DFC (70067), R.A.F.O., No.159 Squadron, awarded Bar to Distinguished Service Order:

Notes

References

* * * * Smiley, David. ''Irregular Regular''. Norwich, UK: Michael Russell, 1994. .
Translated in French by Thierry Le Breton, ''Au coeur de l'action clandestine des commandos au MI6''. Sceaux, France: L’Esprit du Livre Editions, 2008. . With numerous photographs.

External links

* http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RAF_officers_B01.html * http://www.acseac.co.uk/forum/index.php?a=topic&t=70 * http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030023610 {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, James 1916 births 1993 deaths Royal Air Force wing commanders Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire People from Acton, London Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)