Tony At 10: ONE CANADIAN HERO; BLOG #156; NOV 7, 2014

THE MESSAGE:

ONE CANADIAN HERO

George G. Blackburn...ONE OF SO MANY

George Gideon Blackburn, CM, MC was a decorated Canadian veteran of World War II, a playwright and award winning author. Born in Wales, Ontario, Blackburn worked as a newspaper reporter for the Ottawa Journal in Pembroke, Ontario.

He joined the Canadian Army in 1940, becoming a forward observation officer. He fought in the Battle of Normandy as a Colonel. Blackburn was awarded the Military Cross in 1945 for his role in defending the Twentekanal bridgehead in the Netherlands.

The liberation of the Netherlands, from September 1944 to April 1945, was instrumental in the culmination of the Second World War. The First Canadian Army played a major role in the liberation of the Dutch people who had suffered terrible hunger and hardship under the increasingly desperate German occupiers.

The First Canadian Army also played a leading role in opening Belgium and the Netherlands' Scheldt estuary. The estuary was a gateway to the port of Antwerp. Access to this port was essential to maintain supply lines to the Allied armies as they continued their push toward Germany.

Following the conclusion of the Battle of the Scheldt a new Allied offensive began in 1945. The First Canadian Army under the command of General Henry (Harry) Crerar, was a powerful force which helped liberate the northeastern and western Netherlands, until the German Army officially surrendered in early May.

More than 7,600 Canadians died in the nine-month campaign to liberate the Netherlands, a tremendous sacrifice in the cause of freedom.

In his role as a forward observation officer, Blackburn found himself, and his small contingent, cornered in a 3 story house by a German Tiger tank and a troop of German soldiers.

He ordered his comrades to the basement of the house and had his signaller radio his Artillery Regiment to open fire on his position, minus 25 yards. Mel Squissato, his 22 yr old signaller, refused to stay in the basement and joined him on the main floor. Blackburn ordered him back to the basement but Mel did not think it was right for his superior to die alone. The resulting artillery fire destroyed the German troops and forced the Tiger to retreat thus helping to save the Twente bridgehead for the allies.

A crowd meets the vehicles of 4th Field Regiment which moved north through the village of Delden on the 4th of April 1945.

Field-Marshal Montgomery wrote a letter to General Crerar:

Tac Headquarters:
21 Army Group.
8-5 45
My dear Harry
I feel that on this day I must write you a note of personal thanks for, all that you have done for me since we first served together in this war. No commander can ever have had a more loyal subordinate than I have had in you. And under your command the Canadian Army has covered itself with glory in the campaign in western Europe. I want you to know that I am deeply grateful for what you have done. If ever there is anything I can do for you, or for your magnificent Canadian Soldiers, you know that you have only to ask.

YRS always
MONTY.

NORMANDY

In the weeks after D-Day, the level of artillery action in Normandy was unprecedented. In what was a relatively small area, both sides bombarded each other relentlessly for three months, each trying to overwhelm the other by sheer fire power.

"The Guns of Normandy puts the reader in the front lines of this horrific battle. In the most graphic and authentic detail, it brings to life every aspect of a soldier’s existence, from the mortal terror of impending destruction, through the unending fatigue, to the giddy exhilaration at finding oneself still, inexplicably, alive." (

back cover of the book.)

Blackburn's account of this crucial battle opens in England, as his 4th Field Regiment receives news that something big is happening in France and that after long years of training they are finally going into action. The troop ships set out from besieged London and arrive at the D-Day beaches in the aftermath of the allied landing.

Blackburn's book presents the most harrowing and realistic account of what it is like to be the lead most man in the attack: an artillery observer calling in fire on enemy positions. The story unfolds in the present tense giving a real sense that the reader is right in the action.

The conditions under which the troops had to exist were horrific. There was near-constant terror of being hit by incoming shells; prolonged lack of sleep; boredom; weakness from dysentery; sudden and gruesome deaths of close friends and severe physical privation and mental anguish.

And in the face of all this, men were called upon to perform heroic acts of bravery and they did.

Blackburn provides genuine insight to the nature of military service for the average Canadian soldier in the Second World War – something that is all too often lacking in the accounts of armchair historians and television journalists. The result is a classic account of war at the sharp end.

“With this book, THE GUNS OF NORMANDY George Blackburn has completed his trilogy – and what a trilogy it is. History, humour, and humanity cohabit on these pages and give us a truly remarkable ride through the war years. What a blessing it is that Blackburn lived through those events to pass it down, in extraordinary context, to future generations.”

–

Tom Clark, National Editor, BBS-TV

“Blackburn’s story of the pre-invasion years of World War II…is every soldier’s story – the most compelling account yet of Canadian soldiers preparing for battle. Blackburn has the gift of taking the reader back to those times; his anecdotal, present-tense style makes history live. His three books are all the average person needs to fully understand the war and, more significantly, the men who fought it.”

Peter Worthington, columnist, Toronto Sun

A large picture of Blackburn can be found in the WWII GALLERY of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

THE QUESTIONS: