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RETURN OF BLACKBURN’S BINOCULARS.ADELAIDE.—One of the strangest coincidences of the war wa«! revealed at the week-end by Brigadier A. S. Blackburn. VC. when he told the story of the recovery of his binoculars after he had been a prisoner of the Japs for more than three and a half years.W hen the 2 %}r«l Machine lt;iun Battalion was in camp at OakNank racecourse. shortly after its formation. Brigadier, then I .ieutenant-t olonel Black burn appealed to the South Australian public for binoculars for his officers.There was a ready re*pon«e. and the pair lh«i wm% allocated to Kim he had engraved Lieutenant Colonel Blackburn.Brigadier Blackburn took hia machine i;un battalion to the Middle East. and latrr i* became part of the Black Force In Java From the time of leaving OakPeace Training In African DesertsI,( *.\ I M)\. N’nrllideserts may replace \ldershotand the Salislturv I’lain h»r thebank. Brigadier Blackburn carried hia gift binoculars with him. but at th# capitulation in Java In March. 1941. h* was forced to hand them over to the JapaneseBefore doing so he rendered them unserviceable b smashing the lenses with J a hammer.Laat woek the binoculars were d-hv- | ernd to him through the post. uciom-Cinied by a note from Major J. K ynch. who was Brigadier Blackburn’s adjutant in the 'machine-gun battalion at Oak bank and in the Middle East, wrote ! that the brigade bad recovered the bino , rulers when they were sorting captured Japanese equipment in Ainbon It appears that after the binoculars were taken from Brigadier Blackburn in Ju\a they were reconditioned and issued to a JnDnnee# officerIt is strange that my binoculars should be recovered under the direction of Major Lsnch. who had been with me when I made the appeal for binoculars at Oakbank. ' Brigadier Blackburn said
Newspaper Details
Darwin Army News
Darwin, Northern Territory, AU
Wed, Nov 28, 1945
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 28 May 2024
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