Richard Martin Blake was born on July 16, 1923, in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama. He served in the 702nd Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a - and was a passenger on the B-24 #42-50347 during World War II.
On October 18, 1944, their airplane was flying from the repair depot in Greencastle, Ireland to Tibenham on a familiarisation flight over Britain. Onboard were 24 replacement crewmen who had been sent to the 445th Bomb Group after the unit had suffered heavy losses on the Kassel mission in September that year. During the flight, the aircraft broke up in mid-air and crashed near the village of Landican, near Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula in England. All 24 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.
2Lt Blake is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also has two cenotaphs located in Oakwood Annex Cemetery and Oak Hill Cemetery, both in Alabama.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, https://aviation-safety.net, www.americanairmuseum.com