On 21st May 1917 this RNAS Home Defence Flight aeroplane was caught by a strong gust of wind which caused it to overturn at Redcar aerodeome. The pilot was not injured and appears to have been an instructor with the RNAS Flying school at the time.
Pilot - F/Lt Alfred Montague Blake RNAS.
Alfred "Dasher" Blake was born on 30th November 1889 and had initially learnt to fly at the South Coast Flying School in 1912. He enlisted for RNAS service on 25th June 1915 and on 9th August 1915 he was awarded his Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate (Cert.No.1554) following training at the Grahame-White School of Flying at Hendon. He served with No.2 Wing at Malta but returned to England have contracted malaria. By the end of November 1916 he was assessed as being fit for light duties though not for flying duties. He was due to report to RNAS Redcar on 4th December 1916 but was still unfit. In January and February 1917 he was admitted to Haslar Hospital and when discharged as fit on 5th February 1917 he then appears to have transferred to RNAS Redcar having been assessed as fit for flying duties. He served as an instructor at RNAS Redcar which must have been with the RNAS Flying School though was also recognised by his commanding officer as a first class engineer. He served at Redcar until March 1918 rising to Flight Commander at No.2 School of Special Flying in 1918. He transferred to the newly formed RAF in April 1918 and was awarded the Air Force Cross on 1st January 1919 while in the rank of Captain. Post-WW1 he was granted a short service commission in the RAF on 16th September 1919 to the rank of F/Lt. In July 1921 he flew in the RAF's Aerial Pageant at Hendon. Searching Flight Magazine archives a number of his postings are known. In December 1922 he was posted from No.5 Flying Training School (Inland Area) to 70 Squadron (Iraq Command) then later to No.4 Flying Training School in Egypt in December 1923 and in February 1924 to Egyptian Group HQ. He was posted back to England in January 1926 and then to Northolt in March 1926. In late 1926 / early 1927 he joined Robert Blackburn's company and soon became Chief Test Pilot; a position he held for the next decade and all Blackburn types produced between 1927 and 1937 at Brough were tested by Blake. He died suddenly at his home in Hull on 16th October 1937.
B.E.2e A1833 was built by the Vulcan Motor Engineering Company for the RFC but was later transferred from the RFC, minus it's engine, and was transported to RNAS Redcar by road on 31st March 1917. Once tested it joined the RNAS Home Defence Flight. It repaired following damage sustained at Redcar on 21st May 1917 and was returned to service at RNAS Redcar. It was transferred to RNAS Cranwell on 14th July 1917. Here it was damaged again in a flying accident three days later on 17th July 1917. There is no record of any repair though it may have been, following a survey carried out on 3rd January 1918 it was subsequently written off as "wrecked" on 17th January 1918.