Blair, John

Title

Blair, John
John Jericho Blair
J J Blair

Description

38 items. The collection concerns John Jericho Blair DFC (1919-2004). He was born in Jamaica and served in RAF from 1942-1963. He flew a tour of operations as a navigator with 102 Squadron from RAF Pocklington. The collection includes numerous photographs of him and colleagues, several photographs of Jamaica, a document detailing his life and an interview with his great nephew Mark Johnson.

The collection also contains three interviews with Caribbean veterans including John Blair recorded by Mark Johnson.

The collection has been loaned to the IBCC Digital Archive for digitisation by Mark Johnson and catalogued by Barry Hunter.

Date

2016-05-09

Publisher

IBCC Digital Archive

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Identifier

Blair, JJ

Collection Items

D Jones was born in the parish of Manchester, Jamaica. He volunteered for the RAF and went on the SS Cuba to the United States, crossing the Atlantic to Liverpool in June 1944. He went to a former Butlins holiday camp in Filey - there, as ground…

J Ebanks was from Jamaica and was a navigator in 571 Squadron at RAF Oakington. They carried out a number of operations to Berlin. He also refers to RAF Benson and time spent in Malaya. J Ebanks recounts, with humour, a number of anecdotes from his…

The interviewer states that John Blair is a former lawyer, teacher, air accident investigator, and navigator in bombers during World War Two. He discusses his experiences in the 1930s – 1950s. John also talks to his wife, Margaret, about her…

The Story of Flight Lieutenant John J Blair, DFC
A 52 page document detailing the history of John Blair's RAF service from 1942 to 1963, and his childhood in Jamaica. Introductory note says it was based on a taped interview with John Blair by his nephew in 1997.
John was born in 1919 to a poor…

Margaret Kirkham
Head and shoulders of a nurse titled 'Senior Flight Sister Margaret Kirkham on duty aboard a Hastings aircraft'.

John Blair at briefing
Three men, including John Blair, studying a map on the table in front of them, one is wearing a civilian suit and the furthest is an officer in dress uniform. Caption: 'Briefing – (John right)'.

John Blair
John Blair in flying gear and parachute harness inside a bomber, captioned 'John inside bomber'.

John Blair and his catch
John Blair standing in desert style uniform and a hat holding two large fish by the tail. Caption: 'John with real fish at Christmas Island before the nuclear tests.'

John Blair and six sports people
John Blair and six airmen and airwomen in various sportswear, one holding a trophy. Caption: 'John as part of an RAF sports team.'

John Blair and colleague
John Blair (left) with an officer’s cap and a colleague (right) who has the insignia of a flight sergeant visible on his right arm, brevet is partially covered. Caption: 'John and friend – 1945'.

John Blair and colleague
Two airmen in flying gear at the navigator’s station in a Halifax bomber. Caption: 'John (right) and a colleague inside their Halifax Bomber, 1945'.

John Blair with aircrew
Eight RAF personnel, seven in flying gear (8th is a WAAF) standing beside an aircraft, John Blair is on far left. Caption: 'The Crew before take-off, in front of their Halifax bomber, 1945.'

Photograph has been double exposed [film failed to…

13 airmen including John Blair
13 cadets arranged in two rows, John Blair is positioned second row, second from the right. Caption: 'Part of the Jamaican contingent, with John standing second from the right'.

John Blair
John Blair as a cadet seated sideways to the camera, caption at bottom reads 'John in a moment of relaxation. Note the “Jamaica” shoulder flash.'

Cadet John Blair and 14 airmen
Group of fifteen airmen, seven of whom have cadets' caps. All are in flying gear and they are grouped in three ranks beside an Avro Anson, John Blair is at the far left of the photograph, caption at bottom reads; 'John Blair (standing at left) and…

Portrait of John Blair
Head and shoulder length portrait photograph of John Blair in Flight Lieutenant’s uniform with officer’s cap, navigator’s brevet and medal strip. Caption at bottom reads: 'John Jellicoe Blair – RAF'.

John Blair
Three quarter length portrait photograph of John Blair in fatigue uniform with navigator’s brevet, and officer’s cap, standing between two huts smoking a cigarette. A bicycle is propped up beside one of the huts. Caption at bottom reads: 'John…

Portrait of John Blair
Head and shoulder length portrait photograph of John Blair in uniform with officer’s cap, navigator’s brevet and medal strip, Caption at bottom reads: 'John Jellicoe Blair – RAF'.

Portrait of John Blair
Head and shoulder length portrait photograph of John Blair in uniform with officer’s cap, navigator’s brevet and medal strip. Caption at bottom reads: 'John Jellicoe Blair – RAF'.

John and Margaret Blair's wedding
John Blair and his bride. The groom is wearing Flight Lieutenant’s uniform with navigator’s brevet. The bride is in a white dress with short veil and bouquet. Caption at bottom reads: 'John Jellicoe Blair & Margaret Eileen Kirkham – March 1,…

John Blair and Leo Balderamos
John Blair standing with Leo Balderamos on a tall building with a cityscape in the background.

Caption: 'John Blair (left) and Leo Balderamos of Belize on the Empire State Building, New York, in October 1942'.

John Blair with baby son
Three-quarter length photograph of John Blair holding his son standing outside french windows captioned: 'John w/[with] son John Julian – christening'.

Portrait of John Blair
Flight Lieutenant John Blair in uniform with Navigator's brevet, submitted with caption; 'Flt Lt John J Blair, DFC from Jamaica who served as a Halifax navigator with 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, Bomber Command between 1944 and 1945. He completed his full…

Norma and Arthur Wint's wedding day
Couple in car. Woman in a wedding dress, holding a bouquet, sitting next to Flight Lieutenant A Wint, in uniform. Submitted with caption: 'Norma and Arthur Wint at their wedding in England, 1945. Flight Lt. Wint, from Jamaica, was an RAF pilot…

24 airmen cadets
Airmen in three ranks, all but two of whom are cadets, two are labelled: 'Blair' and 'Lynch'.

Submitted with caption: 'Caribbean aircrew trainees, Canada, 1942. John Blair is standing, 2nd from left in the middle row, while Orville Lynch is at the…
View all 38 items

Collection Tree

  • Blair, John