Gilman Dorr Blake, Jr. was born on February 22, 1923, in New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York. He was the son of Gilman Dorr Blake and Antoinette Johnson Blake. His father was the Vice-President of the Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 70, Broadway, New York, and his parents lived at 1111 Park Avenue, New York, in 1942. Gilman, Jr. was married to Wynanda Bulkley Clifford.

After completing his sophomore year at Yale, where he had already won his Varsity letter in hockey, Blake enlisted in the Air Corps.

Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on May 23, 1944, Gilman was assigned to a Bomber School. Then, after three months' final training at Boise, Idaho, he and his friend J. C. Hoagland went overseas in December 1944, both copilots in the same squadron.

On January 14, Hoagland and Blake managed to get a pass to go and see Richard Blake, whose infantry outfit was then in England, and the three of them went to London for an evening.

Less than a week later, in a flying accident, Gilman Blake was killed in the line of duty. During a routine practice flight over England, his plane was badly damaged in a storm. He bailed out, and his parachute failed to open.

1Lt Blake is now buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, library.sps.edu