Thomas Benson Blackburn

Thomas Benson Blackburn was a New Zealander Royal Air Force pilot officer, service number 39197, whose wartime career is traced through casualty and official award records. His decorations recorded here include the DFM, gazetted on 14 May 1943. The Gazette citation points to operational service that the Air Ministry judged notable for qualities such as skill, courage, leadership or sustained determination. He died on 26 April 1943, aged 25. He is commemorated or buried at Helston Cemetery in the United Kingdom. For many RAF casualties the surviving official trail is brief, but the combination of service number, CWGC commemoration and Gazette notices preserves the essentials of his story. Those records show not only the bare fact of his death, but also that his service had been formally recognised during the war itself. His name is therefore carried here with the service details needed to distinguish him from namesakes. This profile therefore keeps to the verifiable outline: who he was, the rank and number under which he served, how his service was honoured, and where he is remembered.