Charles Hubert Boulby Blount
Charles Blount | |
---|---|
Second World War | |
Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (2) Knight of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italy) |
Family
Blount was born in Kamptee (now
Blount was the first son of his father's second marriage, to Mary Elizabeth Bell. He had half-siblings from his father's first marriage to Eleanor Maud Philips, including Blount's half-brother, Captain Greville Blount, RHA (1883–1914), who died in France during the first year of the First World War,[1] who is a great-grandfather of singer James Blunt.
Blount's younger brother, John Hillier Blount, attended Sandhurst and was granted temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in April 1918. He joined the nascent Royal Air Force, but died in an aircraft crash near Beverley in July 1918.[2]
Blount's son, Christopher Charles Blount, was born 1925. He became a Squadron Leader in the RAF. He married Susan Victoria Cobbold, the second daughter of Cameron Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold, in 1957, and was later awarded the MVO.
Blount's great-great nephew is singer James Blunt (né James Hillier Blount).
Cricket
Blount attended
Blount was wicket-keeper in the 1911 Eton v Harrow match, and captain in 1912, he scored 137 runs in the second innings of the 1912 match, but could not prevent Eton winning by 6 wickets.
He played 10 first-class cricket matches between 1920 and 1930, four for the Combined Services cricket team and six for the Royal Air Force cricket team, scoring 575 runs at an average of 33.82, including his maiden century in his last first-class match against the Army in 1930, and took 12 wicket at an average of 25.25.
His name is recorded on the
Army and Air Force career
Blount attended
He took command of a flight of No. 34 Squadron, flying the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 on the Western Front, in November 1916, became the squadron's acting commander in May 1917, and was confirmed as its commanding officer the following month, flying the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8. He was promoted to Temporary Major in June 1917, and became a Temporary Major in the RAF on 1 April 1918. He was also awarded the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor.
He was appointed as commander of the Artillery and Infantry Co-operation School in May 1918, and was promoted to Acting Lieutenant Colonel on 1 May 1919. He resigned his commission in the Royal West Surrey Regiment in August 1919 after obtaining a permanent commission as a Squadron Leader in the RAF (with seniority backdated to 1 April 1918).
He commanded
He joined the
He became senior air staff officer (SASO), No. 2 (Bombing) Group in August 1936, and was promoted to air commodore in 1937, becoming temporary AOC, No. 2 (Bombing) Group and then succeeding Stanley Goble as air officer commanding (AOC), No. 2 (Bombing) Group in December 1937. He became AOC, No. 4 (Bomber) Group in May 1938. In July 1939, he was promoted to air vice marshal and became AOC, No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group.
In September 1939, soon after the beginning of the
In May 1940, after the Battle of France, Blount returned to England and resumed his post as AOC, No. 22 (Army Co-Operation) Group. He was appointed CB on 11 July 1940.
Death
Blount was killed in an air accident in October 1940, when a scheduled flight from