DFC to Flt Lt - Can you help?

[stuartkilminster]

Hi my name is Stuart, and i am an ex infantry soldier with passionate interest in medals (i.e i court mount medals and frame etc the way it should be done). When a charming oldish chap asked me to re ribbon a DFC which is unusual but happens to be named. A quick story behind it is that it belongs to his father and only came to light when his mother died. He believes his father died after the WW2 where he believes he was a test pilot and died in the USA. His mother re married, and her second husband brought him up as his son. The medal was issued on June 29th 1944 - F/lt H. Blow. he knows very little else about it, the medal is still in the original box but is a bit shabby. the questions what i would like to ask is 1) what he did to receive the medal. 2) what he was doing at the time he received the medal. 3) Shed a a light on when he died. i.e. was he a test pilot? or did he die on the operation he won the DFC on. Any dates and times and operations would be more than welcome. There is a bit more to the story and i could always put up an attachment of the medal if any one would like to look at it.

[AlanW]

Hi
One candidate which looks very promising, is F/O Harold Blow of 9sqdn, DFC award shown as of 27/06/44, London Gazette. If this is your man, i will have a look through the 9sqdn ORB (Operations Record Book) for details.
Alan

[stuartkilminster]

Hi
One candidate which looks very promising, is F/O Harold Blow of 9sqdn, DFC award shown as of 27/06/44, London Gazette

Hi thank you very much for your unbelievable quick response. Unfortunately the initial only says 'H' but i believe his name was Harold but i would have to ring him to claryfy this sometime today. Can i please get back to you on this. Please bear with me with this forum as i am very new to this, i am 57 and not born in the computer age??? not sure if i am doing it right. Thanks.

[AlanW]

Stuart,
If you want to contact me by email, just left click on my username. I've now started looking through the ORB, just in case it's the right man.
Alan.

[dennis_burke]

The Armed Forces Memorial lists a

Fl Lt Harold Blow DFC 158577
Station RAF Finningley
Born 01 June 1923
Died 22 May 1954
Cemetery Name City Road Cemetery, Sheffield

Now that mans death is registered in Scunthorpe district, Lincolnshire, England, not America.

He is the same officer who got the DFC in 1944:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/36589/supplements/3089

Air Ministry, soth June, 1944.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve
the following awards: —
Distinguished Flying Cross.
Flying Officers.
Harold BLOW (158577), R.A.F.V.R., 9 Sqn.

There is no citiation printed so it might be for noteworthy duty over the period of time rather than one single brave action.

[stuartkilminster]

Hi Dennis, thank you for your response i am very grateful. So the test pilot theory has flown out of the window, or was he still operational at the time of his death, 1954 was not long after the war. would i be able to find out when he enlisted? and what squadrons he flew in and what type of aircraft etc etc. thank you once again, kind regards stuart

[dennis_burke]

yes, he is listed on the Armed Forces memorial as I said above, hence he was still a serving officer.

You can see the entry by searching at their website:
http://www.veterans-uk.info/afm/

If the chap you are in touch is his son then if his mother has passed away he ought to be eligible to obtain his fathers service records from teh RAF.

For 30 pounds you can pay for an extract from his service record giving his units and enlistment date and some other small information. Check out their rules at this link:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/Personnel/ServiceRecords/MakingARequestForInformationHeldOnThePersonnelReco rdsOfDeceasedServicePersonnel.htm

hmmm, thats a practical lenght of a web address.

[dennis_burke]

Someone will confirm but I see Meteor WH278 of 616 Squadron crashed on this date in 1954. This might be the cause of death.

[HughAHalliday]

The original recommendation for the award - most likely at Kew in AIR 2/9015 - should yield a sortie list and a brief summary of his achievements.

[AlanW]

Stuart,
Can't find his posting into 9sqdn, but his first op with them was on 3rd Nov 43, to Dusseldorf. His last op with them was 11th April 44 to Aachen. 29 ops altogether (might have missed the 30th somewhere) before being posted to 11 OTU on 23rd April 44.
I think Dennis is on the right track with Meteor WH278, as this crashed at Sandtoft, not far from his death registration place of Scunthorpe.