A few days later, on 19 August, Blake led his wing in support of the Dieppe Raid. Taking off from RAF Thorney Island, they encountered a group of Focke Wulf Fw 190s. Blake destroyed one Fw 190 but was damaged himself. His canopy shattered from a cannon shell impact, and shards of perspex entered his eyes. He ditched his Spitfire in the English Channel, not far from the French coast, and took to his emergency dinghy. Despite the injuries to his eyes, he paddled towards England, helped by an outgoing tide. He spent nearly a day in the dinghy until he was retrieved by a German rescue launch and made a prisoner of war (POW). He was the highest-ranking officer of the RAF to be captured as a result of the Dieppe Raid and by this stage of the war, was credited with the destruction of at least ten enemy aircraft.