A white rectangular stone tablet written in a simple inscription in English and incised lettering. The plaque commemorates 2Lt Gillman Dorr Blake of the 406^th Bomb Squadron. It appears that the engraving on the plaque is not quite correct, in that he was Lt. G. D. Blake, not C. D. Blake.

On 20th January 1945, 2Lt Blake’s plane crashed after being struck by lightning. A report appeared in the Hertfordshire Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser on Friday 26th January 1945, and it says that the plane came down in an electrical storm after appearing to be struck by lightning. It says, “Two airmen bailed out, one landing safely, but the other fell to his death and was not discovered until three hours later in the grounds of a well-known Saw Mill.” 

The sawmill was owned by Arthur East and his son Timber, merchants and manufacturers. Mr. East wrote to the Blake family and asked to erect a memorial on the site. Originally, it was a placard placed on the ground.

In 2013, a memorial garden was created in his memory on the site where he landed. There is a plaque by a tree in the garden. 

Source of information: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, www.ourdacorum.org.uk

Source of photos: Gooogle Maps

IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF

LT. C. D. BLAKE, U.S.A.A.F

WHO CRASHED ON THIS SPOT

20th JAN. 1945.