Harold Henry Blake

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Harold Henry Blake

Born1 August 1883
Great Yarmouth
Died14 October 1960
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1908–1943
RankMajor-General
UnitRoyal Army Medical Corps
Battles/wars
AwardsMentioned in dispatches x 2
Alma materFramlingham College
University of Durham

Harold Henry Blake OBE (1 August 1883 – 1960) was a British military commander and medical officer.[1]

Blake was born in Great Yarmouth, with doctors on both sides of his family, and was educated at Framlingham College. He graduated from the University of Durham and entered the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1908, going on to be a surgeon at the Cancer Hospital, Brompton. During the First World War he served in France and Belgium. Between the wars, he served in East Asia, including periods in China and Hong Kong.[2]

In 1943, Blake became the Superintendent of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he came into contact with the pioneering orthopaedic specialist Ludwig Guttmann. Under their management, the treatment of patients with spinal injuries was revolutionised.

Major-General Blake appears as a character in the BBC's 2012 production, The Best of Men, played by Nicholas Jones.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Old Framlinghamian" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  2. ^ The Generals of World War II: Biography of Major-General Harold Henry Blake
  3. ^ BBC Two - The Best of Men