Stuart McBrayne Black MBE (1895 - 1960)

Born 3 Mar 1895 in Springfield, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Grace Filer (Hart) Black — married 21 May 1921 in Detroit, Michigan, United States

Died 22 Apr 1960 at age 65 in London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kerry Black [send private message]

Biography

BLACK, S/L Stuart McBrayne (C3216) - Member, Order of the British Empire - Eastern Air Command Headquarters - Award effective 14 June 1945 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 1127/45 dated 6 July 1945.

WO 339/137184

AIR 76/41/18

AIR 79/683/74747

Born 3 March 1898; attended Springfield Public School and St. Thomas Collegiate Institute. Employed by McDonald and Willson Lighting Studios, Toronto; enlisted in Toronto, 9 December 1940. Administrative Branch. Award presented 10 January 1946.

Squadron Leader Black has been employed as officer in charge of the Aircraft Detection Corps from October 1942 until its disbandment in November 1944. Through this period he has worked with tireless energy and has shown outstanding organizing ability in developing the Corps from 3,733 to a peak of 20,023 voluntary and unpaid observers. His devotion to duty has been reflected in the morale and enthusiasm of the Aircraft Detection Corps which has been responsible for saving the lives of the crews of many operational and training aircraft. He has displayed exceptional devotion to duty.^[1]

He was the son of Malcolm Black and Anna Chambers. He passed away about 1960.

His obituary^[2]:

STUART M. BLACK WAS AIRMAN IN BOTH WORLD WARS

LONDON, Ont. - Stuart McBrayne Black, 65, squadron-leader with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War, and a member of the Order of the British Empire, died Friday. Born in Springfield, Ont., Mr. Black served as an RCAF pilot-officer in the First World War and was held prisoner by the Germans for several months after his plane was shot down on a mission. During the Second World War, he was officer-in-charge of aircraft recognition with RCAF Eastern command at Halifax. Since 1947 he had been employed by a London Export firm. He is survived by two sons.

SQDN.-LDR. S. M. BLACK, OBE, WAS NATIVE OF SPRINGFIELD

LONDON, Ont. - Stuart McBrayne Black, 65, of 137 Windsor Crescent, who was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1945 by the late King George V, died Friday at Westminster Hospital after a month’s illness. Mr. Black was a squadron leader with the RCAF during the Second World War and was officer-in-charge of aircraft recognition with Eastern Air Command at Halifax. He had been decorated many times and his name is inscribed on the honor role of heroes in Toronto.

During the First World War as a pilot officer of the RCAF, he was shot down behind enemy lines in 1918 and held prisoner in Germany for several months.

He was born in Springfield, second son of Malcolm M. Black and Annie R. Chambers Black. During the years between the two world wars, Sqdn-Ldr. Black was a partner and vice-president in the firm of MacDonald and Wilson Lighting Studios Ltd., 347 Yonge Street, Toronto. Following the Second World War, he became a resident of London and in 1947 joined the staff of Richard Wilcox as advertising and export manager.

Mr. Black was a member of the United Church, Canadian Club of London, St. Thomas Gun Club, Military Institute of Toronto, and the Caterpillar Club, an exclusive club for fliers who have been shot down.

Surviving are two sons, George H., of New York; Stewart M., of Chicago; one brother, Dr. Grant N., of Port Colborne; and one sister, Mrs. Canby (Kathleen) Minor, of Short Hills, N.J. A brother, Lt-Col. J.D.K. Black, died in 1945.

The body is at the Needham Memorial Chapel. Funeral service will be conducted Monday at 2 p.m. by Rev. Uriah Laite, United Church chaplain at Westminster Hospital. Burial will be in St. Thomas cemetery.   Family links: 

• Parents:

Malcham McBrayne Black (1865 - 1929)

Annie Romania Chambers Black (1869 - 1956)

• Siblings:

James Duncan Kenneth Black (1892 - 1945)

Grant Nichol Black (1899 - 1979)

Flora Kathleen Black Minor (1906 - 1973)

•  Spouse: Grace Filer Hart (1890 - 1986)*
• Children:

Stewart Marshall Black (1929 - 1994)*

Burial^[3]: St Thomas Cemetery St. Thomas Elgin County Ontario, Canada Plot: Section D-E

Stewart M. Black. ^[4]

Born 3 MAR 1895. Springfield, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada. ^[5]

Died London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. ^[6]

Note: #DWNLNOTE. ^[7]

World War II ^[8]

“Stuart McBrayne Black (C3216) - Member, Order of the British Empire - Eastern Air Command Headquarters - Award effective 14 June 1945 as per London Gazette of that date. Born 3 March 1898; attended Springfield Public School and St. Thomas Collegiate Institute. Employed by McDonald and Willson Lighting Studios, Toronto; enlisted in Toronto, 9 December 1940. Administrative Branch. Award presented 10 January 1946. Squadron Leader Black has been employed as officer in charge of the Aircraft Detection Corps from October 1942 until its disbandment in November 1944. Through this period he has worked with tireless energy and has shown outstanding organizing ability in developing the Corps from 3,733 to a peak of 20,023 voluntary and unpaid observers. His devotion to duty has been reflected in the morale and enthusiasm of the Aircraft Detection Corps which has been responsible for saving the lives of the crews of many operational and training aircraft. He has displayed exceptional devotion to duty”.

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.c-and-e-museum.org/Pinetreeline/rds/detail/adc-3.html
2. ↑ St. Thomas Times-Journal, April 22, 1960
3. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 40037280,
4. ↑ Source: #S36620 Date of Import: 7 Jun 2007
5. ↑ Source: #S36620 Date of Import: 7 Jun 2007
6. ↑ Source: #S36620 Date of Import: 7 Jun 2007
7. ↑ S36620 The Strongs and Bedells of Elg.ged Ada Strong Repository: Call Number: Media: Ancestry.com
8. ↑ "R.C.A.F. Personnel Honours & Awards, compiled for the Air Force Association of Canada, 1939-1949", by Hugh A. Halliday of Orleans, Ontario

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