Roll of Honour: Phillip Black

  

Sergeant (Observer) H. P. Black

90 Sqn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

915945

Killed on active service, 22 June 1941, England. Aged 19.

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Horace (better known as Phillip) was born near Dorking in 1922, the son of Horace Simpson Black and Evelyn May Black (nee Pike) who later lived in New Haw, Surrey.

In March 1941 prior to entering the war at the end of the year, the US government passed the Land-Lease law empowering their War Department to lend or lease war material to ‘the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital for the defense of the United States’. The RAF quickly ordered twenty Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress’s . They were keen to acquire them because their defensive fire power was considered suitable for high altitude unescorted daylight bombing raids.

The USAAF did not consider the B-17C to be combat ready. During high altitude tests the guns had a tendency to freeze up but the RAF considered them to be relatively easy to fly and  replaced all but one of the machine guns with British made Brownings.

The aircraft (known as Fortress 1 by the RAF) were to be flown by 90 Sqn. based at West Raynham in Norfolk (part on No. 3 Bomber Group). Things got off to a bad start when the first Fortress crashed off the end of the runway on its delivery flight. Its undercarriage was destroyed and the plane sat on the grass for the rest of the war, slowly being dismantled for spare parts.

The first raids using the Fortress 1 were planned for July 1941 and 90 Sqn. spent June testing and training.

On 22 June 1941 Fortress AN-522 J-Johnny was prepared for a stratospheric test flight. The crew that day were Flying Officer J. ‘Mike’ Hawley (RAF pilot), Sgt. Thomas Wills (20 year old Canadian second pilot who had recently graduated from Yale), Lt. Foley ‘Jim’ Bradley (USAAF instructor), Sqn. Leader David Robson (West Raynhams chief medical officer, 32 years old), Flying Officer Tony Barwood (90 Sqn. medical officer, 26 years old), Flt. Sgt. George Garwood (22 year old wireless operator from Dagenham) and Horace Black who was just 19 years old.

For Tony Barwood this was to be his first ever training flight aboard a Fortress but just as he was about to board two specialists arrived from Farnborough and ‘pulled rank’ requesting a priority flight. Barwood stood aside as his place was taken by Flt. Lt. William Steward (medical officer at Farnborough) and Flt. Lt. J. B. Henderson (test pilot).

After the final pre flight checks the Fortress with its 100 foot wingspan lifted off from the grass runway. The operational ceiling of the B-17 was a little over 35,000 feet. The aircraft had reached 33,000 feet over Catterick in Yorkshire when it entered a cloud and disaster struck. The cloud was filled with hail ‘the size of golf balls’. The Flying Fortress immediately broke into pieces. William Steward was in the tail section as it broke away and plummeted towards the ground. At 3,000 feet he managed to pull himself free and bailed out. He parachuted to safety, the only crew member to survive.

The planes wreckage covered a radius of some ten miles around the area of Catterick Bridge.

Mike Hawley is buried at Dishforth cemetery in Yorkshire. Thomas Wills, George Garwood and David Robson are buried in Catterick Cemetery. Jim Bradley was the first American in the USAAF to be killed on active service in WW2. William Steward went on to become head of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine. Group Captain Tony Barwood who was taken off the flight at the last minute died in 2008 having dedicated his career to aircraft safety, particularly ejection seats.

Horace Black is buried in Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire (CoE row M, grave 24). He is also remembered on the Woking County Grammar School roll of honour located in Christ Church, Woking.

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Last updated 30 December 2009

Sources

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

London Gazette

Woking County School magazine

Woking News and Mail

Daily Telegraph

www.armyairforces.com