The first-person narrative attributed to Blair describes leaving an underground headquarters on 21 February, moving through several hiding places, travelling to Apeldoorn in March, encountering an SAS forward column on 18 April and returning to Britain on 20 April 1945. A helper’s account gives 16 February for one transfer where the attributed pilot page says 21 February. The narrative’s 12:15 “a.m.” landing time is inconsistent with the recorded late-morning takeoff. These differences are retained rather than silently repaired. [2,16,36,54] Research correspondence dated 28 October 2026 confirms that the researcher had purchased MI9 evasion report WO 208/3327, report 3058, and identifies Blair’s birth date from that statement as 25 June 1921. Correspondence with The National Archives also explains that many RAF personnel records are not yet fully catalogued. Three possible AIR 84 files with nonmatching birth dates were identified as uncertain, not confirmed records of this pilot. [National Archives correspondence, 28 October 2026] A particularly important new lead concerns Blair’s family after the war. In an email of 28 October 2026, historian Willem van Norel reported finding an Elburger Courant article dated 8 May 1971 stating that Blair’s wife visited resistance helper Hendrik Boeve in 1971 and heard additional stories about her husband. The original 1971 newspaper article has not been independently transcribed for this edition. It is therefore not yet possible to identify her by name or quote the stories accurately. This finding deserves a dedicated source examination because it may link the airman’s family with the surviving Dutch helpers decades after the escape. [Van Norel email, 28 October 2026]
Chapter 7 of 10
