Arthur (Blackie) Blackburn

Early life

Arthur Seaforth Blackburn was born in Walkerville, South Australia, in November 1892. He was the youngest of 7 children. His English-born father, Thomas, met and married his mother, Margaret Browne, in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in 1886. Arthur went to Pulteney Grammar School and the Collegiate School of St Peter.

After school, Arthur enrolled at the University of Adelaide. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and was accepted as a legal practitioner. He started working as a clerk for a law firm in Adelaide in 1913.

AWM J03069

World War I service

In 1914, Arthur enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to serve in the war overseas. He joined the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion as a private.

Arthur took part in the landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. On that first day, with Lance Corporal Phillip Robin, Arthur was thought to have made it further inland than anyone else during the campaign. This story was supported by Australia's official war historian, Charles Bean.

The Gallipoli Campaign ended for Arthur when his unit withdrew in November 1915. The 10th Battalion spent the next few months defending the Suez Canal in Egypt before shipping to the Western Front.

On the first day of the Battle of Pozières in France, 23 July 1916, Arthur undertook the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His investiture by King George V at Buckingham Palace took place in September 1916. Arthur was the first South Australian to receive a Victoria Cross.

Citation for Victoria Cross

For most conspicuous bravery. He was directed with fifty men to drive the enemy from a strong point. By dogged determination he eventually captured their trench after personally leading four separate parties of bombers against it, many of whom became casualties. In face of fierce opposition he captured 250 yards of trench. Then, after crawling forward with a Serjeant [Sic] to reconnoitre, he returned, attacked and seized another 120 yards of trench, establishing communication with the battalion on his left.

[Supplement to The London Gazette of 8 September 1916. 9 September 1916, Numb. 29740, p. 8870]

Soon after the Battle for Mouquet Farm, Arthur became ill. He was evacuated to England but could not recover fully. So, he was invalided back to Australia in October 1916. He arrived in Melbourne on 1 December 1916.

SLSA SRG 435/5/429

Between the wars

After returning to Australia, Arthur married Rosa Ada Kelly. Soon after the wedding, the AIF discharged Arthur as medically unfit for service.

Under the Defence Act of 1909, Arthur retained the rank of Lieutenant with the Citizens Military Forces (CMF). As was common at the time, Arthur's name went on to the Reserve of Officers list. Under the Defence Act, the Army could call a listed officer to serve during wartime if they had not been discharged for disciplinary reasons.

Arthur returned to practising law before a brief stint in state politics. In 1918, he was elected as the member for Sturt in the House of Assembly in South Australia. He decided not to run again in the 1921 state election so he only served one term in parliament.

Arthur was a founding member of the state branch of the Returned Sailor, Soldiers and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA, now RSL Australia). He served as the elected state president from 1917 to 1921.

In 1925, Arthur was re-appointed to the armed services as a lieutenant of the 43rd Infantry Battalion. The 43rd was a part-time unit of the CMF. Arthur moved through various units of the CMF in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1939, before the start of World War II, Arthur was appointed commander of the 18th Light Horse (Machine Gun) Regiment.

From 1933, Arthur served as the city coroner for Adelaide for more than 10 years. He asked for a leave of absence from the role to serve in World War II.

World War II service

After serving in the CMF for nearly 15 years, Arthur stopped practising law in 1940. He returned to full-time military service in the Second AIF.

Arthur took command of the newly formed 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, which fought in Syria. He was present as senior officer for the Battle of Damascus in June 1941, including the surrender of the Vichy French garrison.

After the Syrian Campaign ended, Arthur sailed with his unit to Java aboard the troopship SS Orcades.

In Java, Arthur was promoted to Brigadier and given command of 'Blackforce', a 3,000-person force made up of various units including the 2/3rd Battalion. Blackforce took on the task of helping the Netherlands forces stationed in Java defend against a rapid Japanese attack.

Japanese forces landed in Java 2 weeks after the fall of Singapore, with the first Japanese troops coming ashore on 1 March 1942.

The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command could not defend Java. So, the island soon fell to the Japanese. Blackforce was forced to surrender on 12 March after less than 2 weeks of fighting after the Netherlands commander on the island formally capitulated. Arthur was reluctant to surrender to the Japanese.

You are to take the first opportunity of telling your men that this surrender was not my choice or that of Gen. Sitwell. We were all placed under the command of the Commander in Chief NEI and he has ordered us to surrender. In view of medical reports on the dangers of living in the mountains and the impossibility of obtaining food in the mountains and the fact that no reasonable prospect of escape in ships from the South Coast exists, there was considered by Gen. Sitwell to be no alternative except to obey the order.

[Transcript of the surrender document]

About 100 men from Blackforce had been killed or wounded in battle, and many of the wounded who became prisoners of war (POWs) died in captivity. More than 200 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) members had also been captured, including 160 men of No 1 Squadron.

Nearby, HMAS Perth was sunk after battles in the Java Sea and Sunda Strait. Over 300 men from Perth also became POWs in Java, suffering the same ordeal of captivity as their Army and Air Force comrades.

Once captured, Arthur spent time in various Japanese POW camps. He was given command of the 2,600 POWs at Bicycle Camp in Batavia in April 1942. Here, he earned the admiration of the officers and men for his ability to stand up to their Japanese captors.

During this time, Arthur wrote a personal diary. It was a form of protest because it was against the explicit orders of his captors.

For some time while I was in the Cycle camp, Batavia, I kept the Ledger intact as a book and after making the entries each day hid it in various places from the prying eyes of the Japanese sentries and guards. It was hidden under boards, under the floor, slipped between the straw of my mattress, at times in the roof of my hut - as long as it was somewhere different as often as possible.

[The Prisoner of War Diary of Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, V.C., Preface, p 5.]

After leaving Bicycle Camp, Arthur spent some time at the infamous Changi prison in Singapore. It was here that he met Ernest 'Weary' Dunlop, who was now in charge of a detachment of troops, including others of the 2/3rd Battalion. During their brief acquaintance, Weary shared with Arthur the names of men whom he deemed worthy of promotion or awards after the war.

Arthur then spent a brief time at a POW camp in Japan before being moved to Karenko camp in Formosa (Taiwan).

At Karenko, Arthur was treated far worse than at Changi when he challenged the Japanese guards. They beat Arthur for refusing to sign an oath promising not to escape. Arthur spent several days in solitary confinement before joining the main camp. By this time, Arthur had lost about a quarter of his body weight.

Arthur spent his final months as a POW at Chen Cha Tung Camp and Hoten Camp, both in Manchuria (China). Conditions at these camps were better. Hoten Camp even had hot showers and baths. Three months after arriving at Hoten, the Soviet Army arrived and liberated the camp, in August 1945.

Arthur was on a plane back to Australia within days of liberation.

Brig. A. S. Blackburn VC has been freed from a Japanese prison camp and is safe and well. Yesterday morning an officer of the Eastern Extension Cable Company rang Mrs Blackburn at her home in Salisbury terrace Collinswood and told her the following cable had just been received: “Safe and well Expect home soon Love for all.—Arthur Blackburn.” The cable was sent from Kunming, also known as Yunnanfu, in Yunnan province.

[Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), Thursday 30 August 1945, p 1.]

Life after service

Arthur returned to Australia late in 1945 spending some time in Melbourne reporting at Army Headquarters. The sight of his malnourished body shocked family members and former comrades who came to greet him. Arthur's bodyweight had dropped to around 40 kg during his internment.

The Army briefly activated Arthur from the Reserve of Officers List in 1946 for the 2nd Australian War Crimes Unit. He gave evidence in Tokyo, Japan, as a witness to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.

In 1946, Arthur was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE, Military) for his service as commander of Blackforce in Java. He first heard about the award when contacted at home by a News reporter.

A. S. Blackburn, V.C., has been awarded the C.B.E. (Commander Order of the British Empire) for gallant and distinguished services in Java. The War Office citation accompanying the announcement of the award, said the Blackforce, which Brig. Blackburn commanded. was very hastily organised and equipped. “It included English, both R.A.F. and Army, and Australian units and personnel. Some who had left Singapore under very dubious circumstances were of very doubtful quality. Thanks to Brig. Blackburn's excellent leadership and personal example, the little force fought splendidly, and discipline and morale remained high throughout.”

[News (Adelaide, SA), 31 May, p 1.]

From 1947 to 1950, Arthur returned as state president of the RSSAILA. He was appointed a commissioner of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in 1947. The court was charged with settling industrial disputes that extended beyond state boundaries. He remained a court commissioner until 1955.

Arthur then took up a position with the Australian National Airlines Commission and gained a seat on the board of Trans Australia Airlines (TAA). In January 1955, for service to these and other community and government bodies, he became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).

Arthur died suddenly in 1960, aged 67, survived by his wife and 4 children. He was buried with full military honours in the AIF section of Adelaide's West Terrace Cemetery.

Commemorating Arthur Blackburn

Many roads are named after him in his home city of Adelaide and around the country. The Department of Veterans' Affairs building in Adelaide was formerly known as 'Blackburn House' in his honour.

His name is on many memorials and honour boards in Adelaide and around the country, including:

• Adelaide 150 Jubilee Commemorative Pavement Plaques
• Keith Paye VC Memorial Park
• Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial.

You can visit Arthur's official commemoration in the South Australian Garden of Remembrance on Wall 2 Row R.

Arthur's Victoria Cross and other medals are on loan to the Australian War Memorial, displayed in the Hall of Valour.