A Green Plaque has been unveiled in honour of a Second World War pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain and who was killed in action at the age of 26 following an aerial dogfight with the Luftwaffe.
The heroism of Sergeant Herbert Black RAFVR – known as Bert – has been recognised with a Leicestershire County Council Green Plaque in Ibstock, where he lived with his family for most of his short life.
The plaque was unveiled on Thursday 13 October at the Waggon & Horses pub in Curzon Street, Ibstock. The unveiling was attended by members of Sgt Black’s family, as well as representatives from the Royal British Legion, Ibstock Historical Society, Dixie Grammar School and Ibstock High School.
Two buglers from Ibstock Scouts played The Last Post as the plaque was unveiled, and the Royal British Legion Ibstock branch standard was lowered as a mark of respect.
Sgt Black was born in Measham in 1914 and moved to Ibstock as a child. He attended Dixie Grammar School in Market Bosworth and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve just after his 23rd birthday in 1937. On 1 September 1939, the day that Germany invaded Poland, he was called up to serve full-time in the RAF as a front-line pilot.
His distinguished RAF career saw him fly numerous missions in France. In June 1940, Sgt Black returned home to marry his childhood sweetheart Gwendoline Annie Cuthbert at St Denys’s Church in Ibstock, before transferring to Fighter Command and serving throughout the Battle of Britain.
On 29 October 1940, Sgt Black and his fellow pilots attacked a Luftwaffe force at 22,000ft over Deal in Kent. The German fighters suffered heavy losses. Sgt Black managed to bail out of his burning Hurricane as it fell 20,000 feet. He suffered severe leg injuries and facial burns and died in Ashford Hospital with his wife by his bedside 11 days later, aged 26.
He was buried in the churchyard at St Denys’s Church, where he was married just five months earlier. Sgt Black is thought to be the only Battle of Britain pilot to be buried in Leicestershire.
Sergeant Bert Black was a man of exceptional courage and selfless dedication. I hope this Green Plaque will remind the people of Ibstock and Leicestershire of the hero who once lived among them.
Person:Dr Kevin Feltham, Chairman of Leicestershire County Council
More information on the Green Plaque scheme can be found on our Green Plaques web page.