577th Quartermaster Railhead Company
US Army
Floyd Edward Blake
Service No.: 35410567
Ship Assignment: USS LST-507
Technician Fourth Grade Floyd Edward Blake was an American soldier from Meigs County, Ohio, who died during the Exercise Tiger disaster in Lyme Bay on 28th April 1944. Born on 17 October 1918/, he was 25 years old when he was killed aboard USS LST-507 during the German E-boat attack on Convoy T-4.
The surviving records identify Blake as a member of the United States Army’s Quartermaster Corps, serving with the 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company. He had enlisted at Meigs County, Ohio, on 4 August 1942 and subsequently trained at Camp Adair, Oregon; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Riley, Kansas. His final service in the United States was at Fort Breckenridge, Kentucky, before he was sent overseas in October 1943.
A contemporary account published in the Pomeroy Sentinel on 29th June 1944, approximately two months after his death, provides this outline of his military service and records his family connection with the Meigs County area.
An earlier Selective Service registration, completed in October 1940, provides further information about Blake before he entered the Army. His employer was recorded as a WPA project in ‘Jamesville, Ohio’. The place name appears to be a contemporary recording error; the intended location was Zanesville, Ohio. The original wording is retained here to accurately represent the surviving document, while the corrected location is noted for research purposes. The registration also gives a contemporary physical description of the 21-year-old Blake.
Blake was one of the American Army personnel aboard LST-507 when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk during Exercise Tiger on 28th April 1944.
Identification
Full name: Floyd Edward Blake
Rank: Technician Fourth Grade (Tec 4)
Service branch: United States Army
Service number: 35410567
Unit: 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company
Enlistment date: 4 August 1942
Enlistment place: Meigs County, Ohio, USA
Floyd Edward Blake enlisted in the United States Army at Meigs County, Ohio, on 4 August 1942.
He served in the Quartermaster Corps and was assigned to the 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company.
A contemporary report published by the Pomeroy Sentinel on 29th June 1944 states that Blake joined the Army on 4th August 1942 and was assigned to the Quartermaster’s Corps at Camp Adair, Oregon. The report states that he subsequently received further training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Riley, Kansas. His final service in the United States was at Fort Breckenridge, Kentucky, from where he was sent overseas in October 1943. [C]
His earlier Selective Service registration, completed on 16 October 1940, records him as a 21-year-old resident of Meigs County, Ohio. The registration gives his place of registration as Olivedale, Meigs County, Ohio, and records his residence as Reedsville, Meigs County, Ohio. [C]
Exercise Tiger
LST: USS LST-507
Circumstances: Died aboard LST-507 during the German E-boat attack on Convoy T-4 in Lyme Bay on 28th April 1944.
Floyd Edward Blake was one of the United States Army personnel travelling aboard USS LST-507 during Exercise Tiger.
In the early hours of 28th April 1944, Convoy T-4 was attacked by German E-boats while crossing Lyme Bay as part of the large-scale Allied amphibious training exercise being conducted in preparation for the Normandy landings.
*LST-507i> was struck by a torpedo and caught fire before sinking. The attack caused very heavy loss of life among the soldiers and sailors aboard. Blake was among the Army personnel who died in the disaster.
The Exercise Tiger Trust’s Roll of Honour identifies Floyd Edward Blake as a casualty aboard LST-507. The fuller identification Floyd Edward Blake is also recorded by the Torcross Exercise Tiger memorial.
His assignment to the 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company is established by the additional service information supplied for this record. The precise duties he was performing aboard LST-507 during the exercise have not been established and should not be assumed from the company designation alone.
The available evidence also does not establish the precise physical circumstances of his death. It is therefore preferable to record that he died aboard LST-507 during the attack rather than speculate whether his death resulted from the torpedo explosion, fire, drowning or subsequent exposure.
Personal Information
Date of birth: 17th October 1918
Place of birth: Belleville, Wood County, West Virginia, USA
Residence before military service: Reedsville, Meigs County, Ohio, USA
Home and family connections: Olive Township, Meigs County, Ohio, USA
Parents: Winfred C. “Win” Blake and Mamie Grim Blake
Siblings: Clarestine “June” Blake, Audrey M. Blake and Carl Denard Blake
Spouse: Cordelia Drucilla Blake (née Adams)
Children: Gloria Jean Blake
Floyd Edward Blake was born on 17th October 1918 at Belleville, Wood County, West Virginia. His 1940 Selective Service registration gives the place as “Bellville, W. Va.”, a spelling variant of Belleville. [C]
He was the son of Winfred C. “Win” Blake and Mamie Grim Blake. His siblings were sisters Clarestine “June” Blake, and Audrey M. Blake and brother Carl Denard Blake.
The family was subsequently associated with Olive Township, Meigs County, Ohio, and a 1935 residence is recorded at Olive Township, Olive, Meigs County, Ohio.
Blake was married to Cordelia Drucilla Blake, née Adams. They had a daughter, Gloria Jean Blake.
Life before the Army
Blake’s 16 October 1940 Selective Service registration provides a useful contemporary record of his life at the age of 21, more than three years before his death.
The registration records:
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 17th October 1918
- Birthplace: Bellville, West Virginia
- Residence: Reedsville, Meigs County, Ohio
- Employer: WPA project, Jamesville, Ohio
- Registration place: Olivedale, Meigs County, Ohio
- Registration date: 16 October 1940
It also records his physical characteristics as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 110 pounds, with a ruddy complexion, red hair and blue eyes. [C]
These details provide a rare contemporary description of Blake before his Army service.
The registration’s reference to a WPA project places him within the employment programmes of the Works Progress Administration, the major New Deal public works organisation operating across the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s.
Military service before Exercise Tiger
Blake enlisted in the United States Army on 4 August 1942 in Meigs County, Ohio.
According to the contemporary Pomeroy Sentineli> account of 29th June 1944, he was initially assigned to the Quartermaster’s Corps at Camp Adair, Oregon.
He subsequently received further training at:
- Camp Adair, Oregon
- Fort Benning, Georgia
- Fort Riley, Kansas
His final period of service in the United States was at Fort Breckenridge, Kentucky.
From Fort Breckenridge he was sent overseas in October 1943.
The newspaper account is particularly valuable because it was published only a short time after Blake’s death and provides a contemporary account of his military career based on information available to his family and local community. [C]
His subsequent service overseas culminated in his participation in Exercise Tiger in April 1944.
Death and Burial
Date of death: 28th April 1944
Age: 25
Place of death: Lyme Bay, England, aboard USS LST-507
Cemetery: Tuppers Plains Christian Cemetery, Tuppers Plains, Meigs County, Ohio, USA.
Floyd Edward Blake died on 28th April 1944 during the German E-boat attack on Convoy T-4 in Lyme Bay.
Honours and Memorials
Blake is commemorated on the Exercise Tiger Trust’s Roll of Honour. (Roll of Honour)
He is commemorated at the Exercise Tiger Memorial at Torcross, Devon, where his name appears among the American servicemen lost during the disaster.
Tec4 Floyd Edward Blake has an entry in the American Memorial Chapel Roll of Honour at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, United Kingdom.
Evidence
The evidence for Floyd Edward Blake is now drawn from several independent sources and includes both contemporary and later records.
The 1940 Selective Service registration provides a particularly valuable pre-war record. It confirms his date and place of birth, residence in Reedsville, Meigs County, his WPA employment and his physical description at age 21. [C]
The Pomeroy Sentinel report of 29th June 1944 is particularly important. Published only two months after Exercise Tiger, it records Blake’s enlistment on 4 August 1942, his Quartermaster Corps assignment, his training at Camp Adair, Fort Benning and Fort Riley, his final stateside service at Fort Breckenridge, and his departure overseas in October 1943. [C]
The Exercise Tiger Trust Roll of Honour identifies Blake as an Exercise Tiger casualty aboard LST-507.
The Torcross Exercise Tiger Memorial provides independent memorial evidence for his full name and association with the disaster.
The genealogical evidence provides his family background, including his parents, siblings, wife and daughter, and identifies his burial at Tuppers Plains Christian Cemetery.
Taken together, these sources provide a substantially stronger biographical record than the original Roll of Honour entry alone.
There remain some details that should continue to be treated cautiously. In particular, the precise nature of Blake’s duties aboard LST-507 has not been established, and the available sources do not provide a detailed account of the final moments of his life.
Sources for this record
1. US Selective Service Registration — 16 October 1940
The registration records Floyd Edward Blake’s date and place of birth, residence in Reedsville, Meigs County, Ohio, employer, registration location and physical description. It records his employer as a WPA project in Jamesville, Ohio. [C]
2. Pomeroy Sentinel, Pomeroy, Ohio — 29 June 1944
A contemporary local newspaper account published approximately two months after Blake’s death. It records his enlistment on 4th August 1942, his Quartermaster Corps service, training at Camp Adair, Fort Benning and Fort Riley, final stateside service at Fort Breckenridge, and departure overseas in October 1943. [C]
3. Exercise Tiger Trust — Roll of Honour
The Trust’s Roll of Honour identifies Floyd Blake as an American Army casualty of Exercise Tiger and records his vessel as LST-507. [O/H]
4. Exercise Tiger Memorial, Torcross
The memorial’s Roll of Honour records Floyd Edward Blake among the United States Army personnel lost aboard LST-507i> during Exercise Tiger on 28 April 1944. [O]
5. US Army service/enlistment records
Military documentation establishes his service number 35410567, enlistment date, place of enlistment, rank and unit.
6. Genealogical and family records
Ancestry and associated genealogical records provide evidence concerning Blake’s birth, parents, siblings, marriage, daughter, residence and burial. Where original document images are available, these should be preferred over index transcriptions.
7. Tuppers Plains Christian Cemetery
Cemetery information identifies Blake’s burial at Tuppers Plains Christian Cemetery, Tuppers Plains, Meigs County, Ohio.
Primary and contemporary evidence
- US Army enlistment registration
- wartime service records, where available
- contemporary memorial records
Institutional and later evidence
- City of Jackson cemetery records
- Exercise Tiger Trust Roll of Honour
- VFW Cape Girardeau County memorial
- St Paul’s Cathedral American Memorial Chapel Roll of Honour
Research status
Record status: Researched
Last reviewed: 1st October 2026
Research notes
The record for Floyd Edward Blake is now supported by a combination of contemporary newspaper evidence, military records, Exercise Tiger memorial records and genealogical/cemetery evidence.
The identification of his vessel as USS LST-507i> is supported by the Exercise Tiger Trust Roll of Honour and the Torcross memorial.
His service number 35410567 and 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company have now been added to the record.
The contemporary Pomeroy Sentinel report is particularly valuable because it provides a near-contemporary account of his military career. It confirms that Blake entered the Army in August 1942, trained with the Quartermaster Corps at several US military installations and went overseas in October 1943.
Further research could still establish:
- his precise duties within the 577th Quartermaster Railhead Company;
- the circumstances under which the company was travelling aboard LST-507;
- his overseas movements between October 1943 and April 1944;
- the precise circumstances of his death;
- his original burial documentation and grave details;
- any surviving correspondence, photographs or family records.
Research note — 1940 Selective Service registration
Floyd Edward Blake’s Selective Service registration, completed on 16th October 1940, records his employer as a WPA project and gives the location as “Jamesville, Ohio.”
The place name appears to be an error made when the registration was completed. There is no known community named Jamesville in Ohio, whereas Zanesville, Ohio, was a significant centre of WPA activity in the period and is the location intended by the record.
For historical accuracy, the original wording “Jamesville, Ohio” should be retained when transcribing the document. However, the Trust’s research record should identify Zanesville, Ohio as the corrected location, with the discrepancy clearly noted.
Accordingly:
- Original document: “W P A Project, Jamesville, Ohio” [C]
- Corrected location: Zanesville, Ohio [H]
- Research note: Apparent contemporary recording error on the Selective Service registration.
The correction is made to assist future researchers while preserving a faithful record of what appears on the original document.
Research note — Next-of-kin name on 1940 Selective Service registration
Floyd Edward Blake’s Selective Service registration, completed on 16th October 1940, records his next of kin as “Mr Winford Blake.”
This appears to be a contemporary error on the registration card. The family’s surviving records identify Floyd’s father as Winfred C. “Win” Blake, and the same name is consistently used in the associated family and genealogical evidence.
For historical accuracy, the original wording “Mr Winford Blake” should be retained when transcribing or describing the document. However, the Trust’s research record should identify Winfred C. “Win” Blake as the correct name of Floyd’s father.
Accordingly:
- Original document: “Mr Winford Blake” [C]
- Corrected name: Winfred C. “Win” Blake [H]
- Relationship: Father
- Research note: Apparent contemporary recording error on the Selective Service registration.
The correction is made to assist future researchers and to distinguish the error on the original registration from the established family name, while preserving a faithful record of what appears on the surviving document.
Evidence classification
[C] Contemporary record — wartime or near-contemporary military, newspaper or civil record.
[O] Official/institutional record — government, military, municipal or recognised memorial record.
[R] Recollection — later survivor or family recollection.
[H] Later historical research — subsequent reconstruction based on surviving evidence.
[?] Uncertain/disputed — information requiring further verification.
