Basil Blackett (aviator)
| Basil John Blackett | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 June 1886 Potters Bar, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 22 April 1927 (aged 40) Pinner, Middlesex |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom Australia |
| Service/branch |
|
| Years of service | 1900–1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit |
|
| Battles/wars |
World War I • Annexation of German New Guinea • Gallipoli Campaign • Western Front |
| Awards | Croix de guerre (Belgium) |
Lieutenant Basil John Blackett (23 June 1886 – 22 April 1927) was a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories as an observer and rear gunner while serving in the Australian Imperial Force, seconded to the Royal Flying Corps. In late 1918 he resigned his Australian commission to join the Royal Air Force.
Blackett was born in Potters Bar, Middlesex, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. Between 1900 and 1905, while at school, he served in the 2nd Bucks (Eton College) Volunteer Rifle Corps, attached to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, rising from private to colour sergeant. He joined the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps in 1907, and was transferred to the Ceylon Mounted Rifles in 1909, serving as private and trooper.
On the outbreak of World War I Blackett was 28 years old and working in Australia as a racehorse trainer and jockey. On 11 August 1914 he volunteered to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force as a private.
On 19 August 1914 Blackett embarked aboard HMAS Berrima at Sydney, as a member of F Company, 1st (Tropical) Battalion,Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF), bound for German New Guinea. Following the Australian occupation Blackett was employed on special duty at the Government Stores, Rabaul, from 1 October 1914, having been promoted to lance corporal on 29 September, and then to corporal on 29 October. On 20 November he was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation). However, Blackett contracted dysentery, and on 13 April he was sent back to Sydney to recuperate.
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