Frank Blackmore

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

DFC (16 February 1916 – 5 June 2008) was a British

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

and traffic engineer. He led the development of the offside priority rule at

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

s – which overcame capacity and safety issues at such installations, greatly increasing their usefulness and popularity around the world – and subsequently also invented the

mini roundabout The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally (br ...

. Blackmore was born in 1916 at Fort National,

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, where his father worked as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. Along with his sisters Lorna and Violette and brother William, he later moved to

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the birth country of his mother. He studied civil engineering until moving to Britain in 1936. He started to work for

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

borough council until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. He was awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions when he made an emergency landing on the beach at

Ardnamurchan Point Ardnamurchan Point (, meaning "the headland of the hill of the great sea") is a peninsula in Highland, Scotland where the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse is situated. Location Ardnamurchan Point lies at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula in ...

. He rose to the rank of Wing Commander and remained with the RAF until 1959. In 1960 he joined the

Transport Research Laboratory TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent private company offering a transport consultancy and research service to the public and private sector. Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government ...

(TRL). During his time with the TRL he came up with several ideas to improve the flow of traffic at junctions: in particular, the offside-priority rule at roundabouts, and the mini-roundabout, which was officially adopted in 1975. Blackmore was honoured with an

in 1976. He left the TRL in 1980. After he retired he continued to work as an overseas consultant in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Blackmore died on 5 June 2008. He is survived by two daughters and a son. His first wife, Ginon Dufour, died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1942. His second marriage to Eva Johnson was dissolved in 1969.

References

External links

Boston Globe - Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmore, Frank 1916 births 2008 deaths British World War II pilots Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force wing commanders