Minden Vaughan Blake DSO, DFC (13 February 1913 – 30 November 1981) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

Born in Eketāhuna, New Zealand, Blake earned bachelor's and master's degrees in science from Canterbury University College.

[5] Commencing his tertiary education in early 1932, Blake entered Canterbury University College and gained a Bachelor of Science degree three years later.

His father financially supported his studies by purchasing a chicken farm and Blake developed technology for grading eggs.

In March 1939, Blake received a further promotion, to flight lieutenant, and a few months later, the squadron moved to North Weald where it began converting to Hawker Hurricane fighters.

[10] On 8 September 1939, a few days after the outbreak of the Second World War, Blake suffered minor injuries in an aircraft accident.

In doing so, the wing of his aircraft clipped the chimney of a building that Blake failed to see due to the fading light.

[7][12] Within days of his arrival, Blake achieved his first aerial victory, when he shot down a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber to the north of Trevose Head on 21 August.

11 Group in defending the Luftwaffe's campaign against the city and on 11 September, Blake destroyed a Ju 88 over Brooklands in Surrey.

238 Squadron was scrambled and sent eastwards to help protect London from a large Luftwaffe attack, involving nearly 120 bombers accompanied by over 400 fighters.

Having suffered a number of losses while based at its previous station, Middle Wallop, the move to Cornwall was for a period of duty at a lowered operational tempo, with fewer sorties.

After the ship arrived in Plymouth, the commander of Javelin, Captain Louis Mountbatten, personally thanked Blake for the squadron's efforts.

The published citation read: Squadron Leader Blake has displayed fine qualities of leadership and has personally destroyed five enemy aircraft.

[16] On 11 March, Blake shared in the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter to the southwest of the Isle of Portland.

[18] Blake shot down a Ju 88 south of the Isle of Portland on 8 May, and this was followed by the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter near Swanage four days later.

Blake managed to destroy two of these but his Spitfire was damaged by enemy fire in the course of the encounter and he was forced to ditch in the English Channel.

[1] One of the last major engagements of the year for Blake was in October, when he led the Portreath Wing to St. Omer as part of the escort for Blenheims bombing the town.

The RAF was experiencing a high casualty rate by this time, so there was a reduction in offensive missions over the winter months.

This combined a conventional deflector gunsight with aspects of a bombsight, and Blake conducted several tests with the device.

[10] In August 1942, his award of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) was announced, the published citation reading: During the past 10 months, this officer has completed numerous sorties, including several attacks on enemy shipping.

He has destroyed at least 9 hostile aircraft.A few days later, on 19 August, Blake led the Portreath Wing in support of the Dieppe Raid.

He spent nearly a day in the dinghy until he was retrieved by a German rescue launch and made a prisoner of war (POW).

The owner of the farm, concerned for the safety of his family if the Germans were to discover Blake at his property, turned him over to the authorities.

[10] Blake spent most of the remainder of the war at Stalag Luft III, a POW camp located near Sagan, in Germany.

In return, Blake taught Trent basic gymnastic techniques, going as far to construct a set of parallel bars.

[10] He remained keen on golf; when his fellow former POW Leonard Trent, also assigned to Transport Command at the time, visited its headquarters he noted the presence of a practice pad in Blake's office.

[10][34] In his return to civilian life, Blake began working as a manager in a factory that produced car wax.

[37] In 1979, Blake was a co-author, along with H. J. Weaver, of Suicide by Socialism; published by Springwood Books, this was an assessment of the decline of Britain's economic status in the post-war period and how it could be remedied.

[1][40] There is a memorial to him at a building at Purley Hospital, where he crashed his Hurricane in the early days of the Second World War.