Neil R. Blunden

Pilot Officer Neil Ralph Blunden who was at Canterbury Agricultural College 1934-5 and 1938, was killed on Air Operations. He had been engaged on operational flying since August 1941. He had one remarkable experience when his aeroplane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Hamburg. His wireless operator, a Canadian, was injured and the rear gunner was badly wounded, but they fought the resulting fire and extinguished it while Pilot Officer Blunden kept the machine under control. Then the wireless operator repaired his damaged machine. Telling the story, Pilot Officer Blunden stated: '' We were attacked by a fighter, and anti-aircraft fire was concentrated on us. We were hit all over the place and the tail gunner told me on the telephone that he was wounded. The wireless operator and the second pilot were going to the help of the gunner when an incendiary shell exploded inside the aircraft. Small fires sprang up, but the wireless operator put them out one by one with his feet and hands. We did not know it at the time, but he had been hit in the thigh." Source: Canterbury Agricultural College Magazine, November 1942, p63.