LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Raymond Jack BLACKIE
Service No: 403309
Born: Melbourne VIC, 19 March 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 2 Operational Training Unit Detachment RAAF Station Williamtown NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 2 Operational Training Unit Spitfire aircraft EE676), near Williamtown, 2 April 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Newcastle (Sandgate) War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Jack and Mabel Florence Blackie, of Bondi
Roll of Honour: Bondi NSW
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: The Capt. Clarence Smith Jeffries (V.C.) and Pte. William Matthew Currey (V.C.) Memorial Wall, Sandgate NSW
At 1132 hours on 2 April 1943, Spitfire EE676 flown by Sergeant Blackie crashed three miles south west of the Williamtown aerodrome. EE676 had collided in mid-air with Spitfire BS232 during a line up chase training flight. EE676 spun into the ground and Sergeant Blackie was killed while the pilot of BS232 was uninjured and landed safely. A Court of Inquiry into the accident found that: “the accident was caused by carelessness and an error of judgement. At the time of the accident the Pilots were reforming to the Line Astern chase.”
Sergeant Raymond Jack Blackie (403309) (Pilot Spitfire EE676)
Sergeant Dudley Albert Grinlington (408842) (Pilot Spitfire BS232) Uninjured, Discharged from the RAAF: 7 June 1945
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/144; a9845, 80
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line