Operation: Photographic sweep

Date: 02nd June 1942 (Tuesday)

Unit: No. 140 Squadron 34 Wing. Army Co-Operation Command. (motto: 'Foresight')

Type: Spitfire PR IV

Serial: X4502

Code: ZW-?

Base: RAF Mount Farm, Oxfordshire

Location: As described

Pilot: P/O. Francis John Blackwood OBE. 46821 RAF Age 28. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 11:20 hrs. and lost without trace, its pilot being commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

Later it was reported that an intercepted German r/t message claimed a British fighter shot down into the sea off the Casquets lighthouse at the time of this sortie.

Burial and other details:

P/O. Francis John Blackwood. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 68. Also remembered on the Guernsey Airport Memorial. Born on the 16th April 1914 in Ashburton, Canterbury. Educated at the Brooklyn School, Wellington. Worked as a driver for Thompson Lewis and Company in Wellinggtn. Member of the New Plymouth and Wellington Aero club. Obtained his 'A; licence on the 01st July 1937, flew 13 hours. Embarked for Hertford and worked passage to UK 1937. Enlisted as an Armourer on the 17th January 1938 and gained rapid promotion in this trade, rising to the rank of Corporal on the 01st August 1939 and to Sergeant on the 01st July 1940. Remusted as Airman Plot under training on the 24th April 1941. Pilot badge awarded on the 11th October 1941 and commissioned. Joined No. 41 Operational Training Unit, Old Sarum, Wiltshire for completion of his training on Spitfire on the 29th October 1941. Joined 140 squadron on the 04th January 1942.

Son of Francis Peter (died 13th November 1952) and Frances Mildred Blackwood (nee Riseley - died in 1971, age 74), of Stratford. Husband of Brenda Blackwood (née Ladbrook), father of one daughter, of Pedmore, Worcestershire.New Zealand.

OBE Citation:
547794 Sergeant Francis John Blackwood.

'This airman has displayed courage of a high order in ten successive enemy raids and has energetically assisted in raising the morale of the station by his example'.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, New Zealand Cenotaph, Guernsey Airport Memorial, Weekly News of New Zealand, Air Museum of New Zealand, Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland, National Archive Kew AIR-27-966-18.

Other pages that may interest you:

Pages regarding 1942 losses

Pages detailing RNZAF losses

Other sources as quoted below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2026 Last Modified: 07 October 2023, 11:04