WW2 HISTORY RN ferry pilot

Before the war, William Henry Cundell Blake learned to fly with the Hampshire Aeroplane Club and even built his own light aeroplane, the Blake Bluetit. But when hostilities arrived, reservist service with the Fleet Air Arm saw him building experience that eventually led to his logbooks including 56 different types. In a personal memoir, ‘Billy’ Blake — who died in 1988 — describes how this came about

A flight of four Skuas, operated by 757 Squadron, up from RNAS Worthy Down on a TAG School exercise.
ALL VIA W. H. C. BLAKE
Ex-RAF Lysanders with 755 and 757 Squadrons. The author is standing at left; on the right is a certain Sub-Lt Laurence Olivier, an enthusiastic if, by all accounts, erratic pilot on 757.

When in June 1940 I joined the Fleet Air Arm, it was not before I had been rejected for flying duties in the RAF on account of my age, but was nevertheless offered an opening as a Link Trainer instructor. A friend suggested a letter to the Admiralty, the result of which led to an appearance before a board, followed by a medical examination and flying test.

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