Arthur Blackburn

Early life

Arthur Seaforth Blackburn was born on 25 November 1892 at Woodville, Colony of South Australia. He was the youngest child of Thomas Blackburn, an Anglican canon and entomologist, and his second wife, Margaret Harriette Stewart, née Browne. Arthur was initially educated at Pulteney Grammar School. His mother died in 1904 at the age of 40. He studied at St Peter's College, Adelaide from 1906-1909 followed by studies at the University of Adelaide, where he completed a Bachelor of Laws in 1913, after being articled to C. B. Hardy. During Blackburn's term as his articled clerk, on one occasion Hardy was assaulted by two men on the street, and despite his slight build, Blackburn intervened and chased them away. In 1911, compulsory military training had been introduced, and Arthur had joined the South Australian Scottish Regiment of the Citizen Military Forces (CMF). He was called to the bar on 13 December 1913. His half-brother, Charles Blackburn, became a prominent Sydney doctor, served in the Australian Army Medical Corps in World War I, and later became a long-serving Chancellor of the University of Sydney. Their father died in 1912. At the outbreak of World War I, Arthur was practising as a solicitor in Adelaide with the firm of Nesbit and Nesbit, and was still serving in the CMF.

World War I

Gallipoli

On 19 August 1914, aged 21, Blackburn enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and was assigned to the 10th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. The 10th Battalion underwent initial training at Morphettville in Adelaide, South Australia, before embarking on SS Ascanius at nearby Outer Harbor on 20 October. Sailing via Fremantle and Colombo in Ceylon, the ship arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, on 6 December. The troops went into camp near Cairo. They trained there until 28 February 1915, when they moved to Alexandria. They embarked on SS Ionian on 1 March and a few days later arrived at the port of Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos in the northeastern Aegean Sea, where they remained aboard for the next seven weeks.

The 3rd Brigade was chosen as the covering force for the landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on 25 April, which marked the commencement of the Gallipoli campaign. The brigade embarked on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the destroyer HMS Foxhound, and after transferring to strings of rowing-boats initially towed by steam pinnaces, the battalion began rowing ashore at about 04:30. Blackburn was one of the battalion scouts, and among the first ashore.

Australia's World War I official war historian, Charles Bean, noted there was strong evidence that Blackburn, along with Lance Corporal Philip Robin, probably made it further inland on the day of the landing than any other Australian soldiers whose movements are known, some 1,800–2,000 yards (1,600–1,800 m). The 3rd Brigade covering force fell well short of its ultimate objective, the crest of a feature later known as "Scrubby Knoll", part of "Third (or Gun) Ridge", but Blackburn and Robin, who were sent ahead as scouts, got beyond it. Robin was killed in action three days after the landing. Later in life, Blackburn was modest and retiring about his and Robin's achievement, stating that it was "an absolute mystery" how they had survived, given the range at which they were being shot at and the men who were shot around them.

Blackburn participated in heavy fighting at the landing; by 30 April, the 10th Battalion had suffered 466 killed and wounded. He was soon promoted to lance corporal, and was placed in charge of the unit post office for one month shortly after his promotion. He was involved in subsequent trench warfare defending the beachhead, including the Turkish counter-attack of 19 May. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 4 August, and appointed as a platoon commander in A Company. Blackburn served at the front for the rest of the campaign, until the 10th Battalion was withdrawn to Lemnos in November, and subsequently back to Egypt. The battalion suffered over 700 casualties during the campaign, including 207 dead. The unit underwent re-organisation in Egypt, and on 20 February 1916, Blackburn was promoted to lieutenant. In early March, he was hospitalised for two weeks with neurasthenia. The battalion sailed for France in late March, arriving in early April. By this time, Blackburn was posted to a platoon in D Company.

Western Front

Blackburn went on leave in France from 29 April to 7 May. The 10th Battalion entered the fighting on the Western Front in June, initially in the quiet Armentières sector of the front line. While in this area, Blackburn was selected as a member of a special raiding party led by Captain Bill McCann. In the early hours of 23 July, the 10th Battalion was committed to its first significant action on the Western Front during the Battle of Pozières, part of the Battle of the Somme. Initially, A Company under McCann were sent forward to assist the 9th Battalion, which was involved in a bomb (hand grenade) fight over the O. G. 1 trench system. Held up by heavy machine gun fire and bombs, McCann, who had been wounded in the head, reported to the commanding officer (CO) of the 9th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel James Robertson, that more help was needed. About 05:30, a detachment of 50 men based on 16 Platoon, D Company, 10th Battalion, was then sent forward under Blackburn to drive the Germans out of a section of trench. Blackburn, finding that A Company had suffered heavy casualties, immediately led his men in rushing a barricade across the trench. Breaking it down, and using bombs, they pushed the Germans back. Beyond this point, preceding artillery bombardments had almost obliterated the trench, and forward movement was exposed to heavy machine gun fire.

Blackburn, along with a group of four men, crawled forward to establish the source of the German machine gun fire, but all four of the men were killed, so he returned to his detachment. He went back to Robertson, who arranged support from trench mortars. Under the cover of this fire, Blackburn again went forward with some of his men, but another four were killed by machine gun fire. Another report to Robertson resulted in artillery support, and Blackburn was able to push forward another 30 yards (27 m) before being held up again, this time by German bombers. Under cover from friendly bombers, Blackburn and a sergeant crawled forward to reconnoitre, establishing that the Germans were holding a trench that ran at right angles to the one they were in. Blackburn then led his troops in the clearing of this trench, which was about 120 yards (110 m) long. During this fighting, four more men were killed, including the sergeant, but Blackburn and the remaining men were able to secure the trench and consolidate. Having captured the trench, Blackburn made another attempt to capture the strong point that was the source of the machine gun fire, but lost another five men. He, therefore, decided to hold the trench, which he did until 14:00, when he was relieved. By this time, forty of the seventy men that had been under his command during the day had been killed or wounded. Sometime that night, Blackburn took over command of D Company, but was relieved the following morning.

Between the wars

Blackburn returned to legal practice in early 1917, becoming a principal lawyer for the firm of Fenn and Hardy. In May 1917, Blackburn was elected as one of five vice-presidents of the Returned Soldiers' Association (RSA) in South Australia, which was led by the first commanding officer of the 10th Battalion, Weir. On 12 September, Blackburn was elected state president of the RSA. He was involved in the 1917 Australian conscription referendum campaign, advocating in favour of conscription. As RSA president, he was involved in advocating for returned soldiers, and navigated a contentious period in the organisation's history. He also led the fundraising for a soldiers' memorial to be built in Adelaide. In January 1918, he was re-elected unopposed as president.

Despite his push for the RSA to remain independent of politics, in early April 1918, Blackburn successfully contested the three-member South Australian House of Assembly seat of Sturt as a National Party candidate, and on 6 April he was elected first of the three with 19.2 per cent of the vote. As a parliamentarian, Blackburn's speeches were generally about issues affecting those still serving overseas, as well as returned soldiers. A notable exception was his successful motion in favour of a profit-sharing system for industrial employees. He advocated several radical ideas in his time as a parliamentarian, including removing all single men from the state public service so they would be free to enlist. He was also criticised in Parliament for not paying due attention to important legislation regarding ex-soldiers. This criticism even extended to attacks from another AIF man, Bill Denny, from the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP). According to his biographer Andrew Faulkner, his time in Parliament showed Blackburn to be a man of few words, but his words were chosen well and delivered with authority.

On 29 August 1918, he was appointed a justice of the peace, and in November, he became a Freemason with the St Peter's Collegiate Lodge. In July 1919, the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA), which had succeeded the RSA, held its annual congress in Adelaide. Among the motions that Blackburn moved was one calling on the federal government to ensure that a suitable headstone was erected over the grave of every sailor and soldier killed during the war. He also railed against delays in the deferred pay of dead soldiers being paid to their widows.

In January 1920, Blackburn was re-elected as state president of the RSSILA, although this was the first time he was opposed for the post, and he only won narrowly. By this time he had built the state branch of the organisation to 17,000 members. During that year, he hosted visits by two notables; Field Marshal William Birdwood, and the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VIII. In accordance with normal procedures, while serving in the AIF, Blackburn had been appointed an honorary lieutenant in the CMF on 20 February 1916 on the Reserve of Officers List. This appointment was made substantive on 1 October 1920, still on the Reserve of Officers List. Continuing to practise law while a member of Parliament made for a heavy workload, and Blackburn did not seek re-election in 1921. In the same year he relinquished his role as state president of RSSILA, but he continued to be a fierce advocate for returned soldiers.

World War II

Blackburn stopped practising law in 1940, and on 20 June was appointed to raise and command the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, part of the Second Australian Imperial Force raised for service overseas during World War II. He was one of only three Australian World War I VC recipients to volunteer for overseas service in World War II. Eleven of the officers selected by Blackburn for his new unit were former officers of the 18th Light Horse (Machine Gun) Regiment, including the battalion second-in-command, Major Sid Reed, who was to prove valuable in moderating Blackburn's temper at times. The unit was raised in four different states; headquarters and A Company in South Australia, B Company in Victoria, C Company in Tasmania and D Company in Western Australia. It concentrated in Adelaide on 31 October, after which Blackburn moulded the separately raised companies into one organisation. Multi-day route marches featured strongly in their training; Blackburn invariably marched at the front of his battalion. After undergoing training, the battalion entrained for Sydney where it embarked on SS Ile de France on 10 April 1941. The battalion sailed for the Middle East via Colombo, where they had ten days' leave, and disembarked in Egypt on 14 May. Upon arrival, the battalion was assigned to the 7th Division in Palestine, where it underwent further training at a camp just north of Gaza.

Syria–Lebanon campaign

In mid-June, the battalion was committed to the Syria–Lebanon campaign against the Vichy French in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Due to the involvement of Vichy French and Free French troops on opposite sides, the campaign was politically sensitive and as a result of heavy censorship not widely reported in Australia at the time; the nature of the fighting, where it was reported, was also played down as the Vichy forces outnumbered the Allies and were also better equipped. The Allied plan involved four axes of attack, with the 7th Division committed mainly to the coastal drive on Beirut in Lebanon and the central thrusts towards Damascus in Syria. Blackburn initially divided his time between divisional headquarters in Palestine and the front, while three companies of the 2/3rd, along with a battery of anti-tank guns, were the only divisional reserve.

The 2/3rd were fully committed on 15 June, when the commander of I Corps, the Australian Major General John Lavarack, committed the divisional reserve to secure a bridge across the Jordan River and thwart a major Vichy French counter-stroke that threatened to derail the campaign. This involved a blacked-out night-time drive of 28 miles (45 km) at relatively high speed over rough and treacherous roads to the bridge; Blackburn drove in advance of his force. On arrival, he was ordered to detach one of his companies north to block the road from Metulla. Blackburn then led A Company on another 19-mile (30 km) drive before returning to check on the dispositions of his remaining troops at the bridge, near which he established his headquarters. Also on the 15th, D Company was detached from the battalion to support the coastal advance, and remained so throughout the campaign.

During the day a British staff officer arrived and directed Blackburn to send a company, two anti-tank guns and two armoured cars loaded with ammunition to Quneitra, which Blackburn understood to have surrendered to the Vichy French. Blackburn baulked at this further splitting of his force, but when the order was confirmed by higher headquarters, early on 16 June he sent the scratch force of around 200 men north. The force took up positions on a ridge overlooking the town, but soon gathered intelligence that 1,500 Vichy French were holding the town, supported by numerous tanks and armoured cars. Blackburn, very concerned about his vanguard, decided to go forward to the ridge himself to check on dispositions. In the meantime, the company commander in that location tried to coax the Vichy French tanks to within range of his anti-tank guns, to no avail. Prior to Blackburn's arrival, a British battery of Ordnance QF 25-pounder field guns arrived. In a further effort to draw out the Vichy French, Blackburn personally drove his staff car forward and round in circles in an exposed position, but again the Vichy French did not take the bait. Late in the day, a battalion of British infantry arrived and, under covering fire from the machine gunners, attacked and captured the town; the 25-pounders knocked out three Vichy French armoured cars. Blackburn's advance force had made a significant contribution to stopping the Vichy French counter-stroke.

Java

On 14 January 1942, following Japan's entry into the war, the 2/3rd left Fih and travelled south into Palestine. On 1 February, the battalion, less one company and with no machine guns or vehicles, left the Middle East on SS Orcades. Also on Orcades were the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion, engineers of the 2/6th Field Company, elements of the 2/2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment and 2/1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, the 105th General Transport Company, 2/2nd Casualty Clearing Station, and sundry others. The ship, rated for 2,000 passengers, was loaded with 3,400. Blackburn, as senior officer on board, was appointed as the commander of the embarked troops, and ensured that the soldiers were kept busy with air raid and lifeboat drills, physical training and lectures. On 10 February, the ship departed Colombo, escorted by British, and later, Australian warships.

Blackburn received orders to put 2,000 of his men ashore at Oosthaven on Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies to help defend an airfield near Palembang, about 190 miles (300 km) north of the port. These men were to be known as "Boostforce". This was in accordance with a plan that involved the 6th and 7th Divisions defending Java and Sumatra respectively. Due to a lack of small arms, some of the troops were equipped with weapons from Orcades' armoury, including outdated and unfamiliar Springfield, Ross and Martini Henry rifles. Some soldiers did not have a firearm at all, and the 2/3rd not only lacked its Vickers guns, it also did not have any Bren light machine guns either. Blackburn was to lead "Boostforce", the objective of which he labelled a "suicide mission", especially given the Japanese had landed paratroops on Sumatra on 14 February. Orcades dropped anchor about 1.9 miles (3 km) offshore. Despite receiving a report that the Japanese were already at Palembang, Blackburn was ordered to disembark his force, and they were ferried ashore by a small Dutch tanker around dusk on 15 February. They were only just disembarking when orders were received to return to Orcades, as the Japanese were only 11 miles (18 km) away from Oosthaven. They were transported back to the ship in the dark, and they weighed anchor in the early hours of the following day. While they had been on their abortive mission, Singapore had fallen.

Orcades was escorted across the Sunda Strait, and about 14:00 on 16 February, it anchored in the outer harbour of Tanjung Priok, the port of Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. At noon the following day Orcades entered the port, which was gripped by considerable confusion. Australian looters and deserters from Singapore pelted Orcades with tins and other objects. Blackburn sent a party of pioneers ashore to round them up. He gave them the choice of either joining his force or being charged with desertion. Many joined, but their commitment to the force was questionable. The majority of the troops aboard Orcades remained on the ship throughout the rest of the day and all of the next. On 19 February, Blackburn received orders to disembark about 2,000 men, and after several false starts, they went ashore in the early evening.

Captivity

Until the end of March, Blackforce was held in towns, including in the Leles market square which had been surrounded by barbed wire. It was then split up, with troops dispersed to different camps. Blackburn was initially told that a significant number of his troops would be sent to Batavia, and that they would have to march the 150 miles (240 km) at a rate of 19 miles (30 km) a day, camping beside the road without shelter during the wet season. Many of the troops already had dysentery and/or malaria, and some were unaccustomed to marching long distances. Blackburn wrote a letter, signed by other Allied commanders, protesting this order. The letter said that men would die if the order was carried out, and that he would hold the Japanese responsible for their deaths. The Japanese rescinded the order and the troops travelled by train, leaving on 13 April. Many of the 2/3rd were sent to another camp.

Blackburn arrived at the so-called "Bicycle Camp" in Batavia on 14 April. Sitwell and other more senior officers were sequestered in a fenced-off part of the camp, so Blackburn became the senior officer, with an American colonel, Albert Searle, as his deputy. The camp contained about 2,600 POWs: 2,000 Australians, 200 British, 200 Americans, 100 Indians and 100 Dutch, all packed into a former Dutch barracks designed for 1,000. During his first month at the camp, Blackburn began a diary using an old ledger, which he maintained for much of his internment against the explicit orders of the Japanese. At one point he removed the covers from the ledger and hid the pages inside the lining of his raincoat. The food rations at the Bicycle Camp were poor, and because Japan was not a party to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and did not follow its stipulations, it was difficult to maintain discipline as all but Blackburn had to work regardless of rank.

Blackburn arranged activities to alleviate the boredom and consistently stood up to the Japanese. He was interrogated and was struck by a guard on at least one occasion, but was spared any torture. More junior officers were subjected to torture, beatings and other abuse. The Japanese tried to persuade Blackburn and others to participate in propaganda radio broadcasts, but Blackburn gave orders against it and refused to do so himself. In June, the Japanese ordered all prisoners to sign a form stating that they would comply with all orders and would not resist their captors. Blackburn only signed after appending "except where contrary to my oath of allegiance to His Majesty the King". When another form was produced, requiring an oath to be sworn, Blackburn refused. Privileges were withdrawn, dozens of officers and men were beaten, and Blackburn was placed in solitary confinement. In the end, when the Americans decided to sign, Blackburn agreed in the interests of unity and ordered all the troops to sign. By the end of July, Blackburn was conscious that he had lost about 2 stone (28 lb; 13 kg) in weight due to the poor rations.

Return to Australia

Blackburn's return to Australia was circuitous. He first flew to Sian then Kunming in China, where he spent 36 hours in hospital. The next flight was across the Himalayas to Calcutta in British India where he was hospitalised for another 36 hours. The next destination was Colombo, after which he flew to Perth, Australia, arriving on 13 September. On the same day he was flown to Melbourne with a short stop in Adelaide, as he was required to report to Army Headquarters and deliver official documents he had kept during his internment. His family travelled by train to Melbourne to meet him. They met at the railway station, and were shocked at his appearance. At this point, Blackburn only weighed 6 stone 4 pounds (40 kg) (88 pounds). After a week in Melbourne, the family returned to Adelaide, and Blackburn was hospitalised for two weeks.

On arrival in Adelaide, he was greeted by three other VC recipients, Phillip Davey, Roy Inwood and Thomas Caldwell. On the Sunday after his return, 62 former members of the 2/3rd who had not been offloaded in Java marched up his street and stood to attention. They too were shocked at his appearance. On 9 May 1946, he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration. On 28 May, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (CBE) for his gallant and distinguished service in Java. His citation for the CBE noted that:'Blackforce', which he commanded, was very hastily organised and equipped. It included English, both RAF and Army, and Australian units and personnel. Some, who had left Singapore under very dubious circumstances, were of doubtful quality. Thanks to Brigadier Blackburn's excellent leadership and personal example the little force fought splendidly. Discipline and morale remained high throughout.

This was followed by an additional period in hospital in June and July. Blackburn's Second AIF appointment was terminated on 18 July, at which time he relinquished his temporary rank of brigadier and was transferred to the Reserve of Officers List. He was also granted the honorary rank of brigadier. In addition to the CBE, Blackburn was also awarded the 1939–1945 Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939–1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939–1945 for his service during World War II. Both of Blackburn's sons, Richard and Robert, served in the Second AIF during World War II.

Later life

On 11 October 1946, Blackburn was again appointed to active duty from the Reserve of Officers List, and was again temporarily promoted to brigadier while he was attached to 2nd Australian War Crimes Section as a witness before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, Japan. Despite his willing involvement, he believed that the trials targeted mainly those who physically participated in crimes, rather than those that ordered them. In December, he was again elected as state president of the renamed Returned Sailors' Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA), supported by McCann, who was elected as a vice-president. He continued to advocate on behalf of veterans, and took a special interest in the surviving men of the 2/3rd. On 11 January 1947, Blackburn was transferred back to the Reserve of Officers List, retaining the honorary rank of brigadier.

Blackburn was unable to return to private legal practice due to his health, relinquished his role as city coroner in 1947, and was appointed as one of the fifteen inaugural conciliation commissioners of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, a position he held until 1955. Given his political history and involvement with the suppression of dockside workers by the "Citizen's Defence Brigade" in 1928, the South Australian convention of the Australian Labor Party expressed "grave alarm" at his appointment. He was also chairman of trustees for the Services Canteen Trust Fund from 1947 until his death. Blackburn was re-elected as president of RSSAILA in 1948. On 8 June 1949, Blackburn was appointed as the honorary colonel of the Adelaide University Regiment (AUR), and he was transferred to the Retired List in January 1950 with the honorary rank of brigadier. In September of the same year he relinquished his role as state president of RSSAILA. In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. He relinquished his honorary colonel role with AUR in January 1955. In 1955, he was appointed as a member of the Australian National Airlines Commission and a director of Trans Australia Airlines. He also served on the Television Broadcaster's Board, overseeing the introduction of that medium into South Australia, and was a trustee of the Civilian Internees Trust Fund and Prisoners of War Trust Fund. For his "exceptionally fine honorary service as chairman of several trusts, especially for the benefit of ex-servicemen and their dependants", he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1955 New Year Honours. The following year, Blackburn and his wife attended the VC centenary gathering in London, and visited the Pozières battlefield in France.