25 Facts About Graham Bladon

Graham Bladon went on to hold various commands up to and throughout the Second World War, and served as the first Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force from 1951 until 1958.

Graham Bladon joined the Royal Naval Air Service in late 1917, soon after his 18th birthday, as a temporary probationary flight officer, and began his training at RNAS Cranwell.

Graham Bladon was appointed a temporary flight sub-lieutenant on 29 January 1918, and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No 6700 on 3 March 1918.

On 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Army's Royal Flying Corps merged to form the Royal Air Force, and Graham Bladon joined the new service with the rank of lieutenant.

Graham Bladon stayed with the RAF after the end of the war.

Graham Bladon was transferred to the RAF's unemployed list on 22 November 1919, but on 12 December was awarded a short service commission with the rank of flying officer.

In early 1920 Graham Bladon was sent to Mesopotamia to serve in No 30 Squadron, subsequently receiving mentions in despatches from Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Haldane, the commander the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, in September 1920 and October 1921.

On 1 November 1923 Graham Bladon returned to England, and on 1 April 1924 was posted to No 420 Flight of the Fleet Air Arm.

On 26 January 1927 Graham Bladon was appointed Officer-in-Charge of No 421 Flight, serving in the Mediterranean.

Graham Bladon commanded No 443B Flight, until the Flight was reunited, then returned to No 421 Flight.

Graham Bladon was posted to RAF Base at Singapore on 22 September 1933.

On 9 April 1937 Graham Bladon was appointed Officer Commanding of No 42 Squadron, flying Vickers Vildebeest Mk.

Graham Bladon was promoted to wing commander on 1 November 1938, and on 29 December was posted to the Air Staff at the Deputy Directorate of Operations.

Graham Bladon served as a staff officer during the Second World War, being posted to the Directorate of War Training and Tactics on 3 January 1940, then to the Directorate of Operational Training in July.

Graham Bladon was promoted to the temporary rank of group captain on 1 March 1941, and was posted to the headquarters of Flying Training Command on 15 April 1942.

In 1946 Graham Bladon was appointed Commander of the RAF Base at Singapore, and later served as Staff Officer at the Air Headquarters Malaya.

On 1 September 1948 Graham Bladon was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer of No 62 Group in Reserve Command.

The Royal Ceylon Air Force was officially founded in 1949, but work on its creation did not begin until Graham Bladon was appointed Air Adviser to the Government of Ceylon on 16 May 1950.

Graham Bladon was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1951 New Year Honours.

Graham Bladon became the first Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force on 2 March 1951, setting up his headquarters initially at the Galle Face Hotel.

Graham Bladon was promoted to the acting rank of air commodore on 1 October 1956.

Graham Bladon relinquished command of the RCyAF on 8 October 1958.

Graham Bladon retired from the RAF, retaining the rank of air commodore, on 22 February 1959.

Graham Bladon died in the Forbes Fraser Hospital, Bath, Somerset, on 11 October 1967.

Graham Bladon married Muriel Clibbens in Hampstead in 1937, and they had one son.