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Flying Officer Oldrich Dennis Blaha, DFM was an English airman of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died during the Second World War.

He was born in 1922, the son of Czech-born Oldrich and Phoebe Lucy Blaha (née Nash).[1] Blaha joined the Handley Page Hampden-equipped 49 Squadron in February 1942. He survived a Lancaster crash on 7 September, which killed Australian Sergeant William Gregory-Coleman, and left the unit in March 1943.

Aged 21, Blaha, serving as an air gunner with 44 Squadron, died on 2 January 1944, when his Avro Lancaster (serial W4831) crashed near Lynow while engaged on an operation against Berlin. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in February 1943.

The eight crew are buried in Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery.

Notes[]

  1. The London Gazette (34653), p 5536, 11 August 1939. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

References[]

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