大象传媒

Introduction

This article has been submitted by Joseph Ritson, a volunteer story-gatherer for the 大象传媒 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website on behalf of the 大象传媒 Radio Cumbria CSV Action Desk. It provides additional information contained in a previous article about Squadron Leader Jack Blair DFC DFM and his fellow crewmen of 156 Squadron lost on a mission in May 1944 (Article Reference ID A5541716). The author fully understands the terms of the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website.

Squadron Leader Blair came from Egremont in my home county of Cumberland (now Cumbria). While researching another story about WW2 I came across a 1944 newspaper article reporting the death of Jack Blair and describing him as 'Egremont's most famous airman'. As explained in the previous article I have written about Jack Blair, his name is missing from the list of World War Two casualties on the Egremont War Memorial.

As I could not find anyone in West Cumbria who knew much about Jack Blair or the mission in which he lost his life, I contacted Ross McNeil, a WW2 Site Helper with the 大象传媒 "People's War" website. Ross has conducted a lot of research into aircraft and personnel losses in World War Two and has kindly provided some additional details.

Jack Blair in the RAF during WW2

According to an article in 'The Whitehaven News' dated Thursday 29 June 1944, Jack Blair volunteered to serve with the RAF at the outbreak of war in 1939. Jack Blair's original Service Number was 984600. Although I have not been able to trace a lot about the early part of his RAF service, by October 1941 Jack Blair had attained the rank of Sergeant and he was serving with 103 Squadron. It was while serving with 103 Squadron that Jack gained his Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), with details appearing in the London Gazette in October 1941.

On 27 August 1942 984600 Flight Sergeant John Edward Blair was made an Emergency Pilot Officer (Gazetted in London Gazette, Issue 35868, page 2, 15 January 1943). As he was now commissioned, Jack Blair was given a new Service Number: 136172. By November 1943, Jack Blair was an Acting Flight Lieutenant serving with 97 Squadron and had gained the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) to go with his DFM (Gazetted in London Gazette Supplement, Issue 36245, page 4, 9 November 1943).

At some stage, Jack Blair was given the rank of Squadron Leader and had transferred to 156 Squadron. According to the WW2 RAF researcher Ross McNeil, it was rare for a Gunner to achieve the rank of Squadron Leader:

" Commissioned gunners were rare and were usually only longevity on the part of the individual airman. A Squadron Leader Air Gunner is a very rare beast".

Also, according to Ross, the Gunnery Leader on an operation would usually be found in the aircraft of the Commanding Officer. Hence, by the time he took what turned out to be his final flight on 21 - 22 May 1944, Squadron Leader Blair was most likely on the C.O.'s aircraft.

One night in May 1944

Almost all of this section is based on information provided by Ross McNeil (with permission). On the night of 21 - 22 May 1944, 510 Lancaster Bombers and 22 Mosquito aircraft of 1,3,5 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Duisburg in Germany. This was the first time for a year Duisburg had been the target. A total 29 Lancaster Bombers were lost, equating to 5.5% of the force.

When the aircraft reached Duisburg they found it covered by cloud. However, using accurate Oboe sky-marking the raid destroyed 350 buildings, seriously damaged another 665 and there were 124 casualties. A lot of the damage was in the southern part of the city.

One of the aircraft lost during the mission to Duisburg was that of Squadron Leader Jack Blair DFC DFM: a Lancaster III, designation ND 559 GT-J. This aircraft took off from Upwood at 22:44 hrs. The other members of the crew were: Flight Sergeant W J Ward, Flight Sergeant R. Keating, Sergeant J. T. E. McCaffery, Flight Sergeant E. E. E. Roberts, Sergeant S. G. Smith and Flight Sergeant R. G. Watts.

According to Ross, this aircraft exploded following a night fighter attack, killing all but one of those on board. The debris fell near Molensgraaf in the Netherlands, which is 14 kilometres North East of Dordrecht. For further details about the casualties of this crew, refer to the previous article I have written (A5541716) referred to above. They are buried in Molensgraaf Protestant Churchyard.

Somehow, Flight Sergeant Ward, whose Service Number was 1576902, survived the explosion. He was thrown clear of the aircraft, landed with the aid of his parachute and although badly wounded managed to survive. The badly wounded Flight Sergeant Ward was handed over to the Germans by the Dutch and became PoW No.134 in Camp L7.

On the same night of 21 - 22 May 1944, some 70 Lancasters and 37 Halifaxes were tasked with mine-laying. In addition, there were a further 33 Mosquitoes on minor operations to Hanover and Courtrai, 9 Radio Counter Measure sorties, 28 Serrate and 7 Intruder Patrols. That made a total effort for Bomber Command for the night of 716 sorties, with 32 aircraft and 224 airmen lost. This loss represented 4.5% of the total effort.

Conclusion

I would like to thank Ross McNeil for assisting with the additional information for this article. It is due to that I learnt what a lucky chap Flight Sergeant Ward was in escaping the fate of his fellow crewmen on the mission to Duisburg.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article (October 2005) I have been unable to trace anyone in West Cumbria who knew Jack Blair or his family. During the war, Jack Blair was a well known and highly decorated war hero. Jack and his fellow comrades of Bomber Command are worthy of remembrance.

I will end this article with the motto of RAF Bomber Command:
鈥淪trike hard, strike sure鈥�.

Additional Information (posted 6 December 2005)

Since initially posting the above article, I have obtained additional information about Jack Blair and how he is honoured in Egremont. Below are all the linked stories on the "People's War" website that I have written about Jack Blair.

Related 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� articles about Squadron Leader Jack Blair:

1. 鈥淓gremont鈥檚 most famous airman鈥�: Squadron Leader Jack Blair DFC, DFM
(Article Reference: A5541716, posted 5 September 2005)

2. Egremont Royal British Legion honours the town鈥檚 鈥榤ost famous airman鈥�
(Article Reference: A7584023, posted 6 December 2005)

3. DFM and DFC Citations for Squadron Leader Jack Blair from Egremont, Cumbria
(Article Reference: A7584096, posted 6 December 20005)

4. Squadron Leader Jack Blair: his family鈥檚 story
(Article Reference: A7584212, posted 6 December 2005)

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