PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL
IDN: 070150060
DATE: 2007.01.15
PAGE: S6 (ILLUS)
BYLINE: BUZZ BOURDON
SECTION: Obituaries
SOURCE: SPCL
EDITION: Metro
DATELINE: Ottawa ONT
WORDS: 1206
WORD COUNT: 1253
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GEORGE BLACKBURN, SOLDIER AND AUTHOR 1917-2006 His trilogy about the dangerous life of an artillery observation officer during wartime later helped sons to know their fathers
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BUZZ BOURDON Special to the Globe and Mail OTTAWA George Blackburn found out the hard way about the terrible cost of total war. Fighting during the Second World War as an officer in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Mr. Blackburn spent almost 10 months in action, most of it in the dangerous job of forward observation officer.
Landing in France on July 7, 1944, he quickly honed his trade as his unit -- 4th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery -- supported the infantry in dozens of actions and fought his way through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany.
Mr. Blackburn and his fellow FOOs worked mostly from barns and farmhouses -- anywhere they could get a clear view of the front line, often within sight of the Germans -- directing artillery fire onto enemy positions. After observing where the shots landed, the FOOs then radioed in corrections to their gunners.
He never forgot that his complex fire-control calculations, usually transmitted in great haste during the heat of battle, had to be completely accurate or else his rounds could strike friendly troops.
Fifty years later, Mr. Blackburn described that crushing responsibility in his bestselling autobiography, The Guns of Victory. "Panic threatens to blind you as you glance from map to [target] and back again, trying to establish a map reference. You must be right -- you may only get one chance! But speed is paramount! You scribble down a six-figure co-ordinate [and] yell the figures: Mike target; Mike target; Mike target! Scale five . . . fire!" The job was so hazardous that many FOOs were wounded or killed, since the Germans were always hunting them. To stay alive, Mr. Blackburn had to remain unseen. The tiniest movement could give him away and attract sniper, mortar or artillery fire. For all that, he did it day after day, month after month, as the 1st Canadian Army fought its way across northwestern Europe. Leading a charmed life, he escaped certain death on a number of occasions. Once, a German 88-millimetre shell landed at his feet and failed to explode.
Mel Squissato of Ancaster, Ont., joined Mr. Blackburn's four-man crew as a signaller in mid-January of 1945. For the next three months, their instructions to the big guns rained thousands of 25-pound shells on the Germans. "We had quite a few adventures, some very rough times. The bond between us was stronger than between brothers.
You felt that he cared [about us]. It was a complete team effort." Most of the time, Mr. Blackburn never got a close view of the effect his fire orders had on the Germans. To him, they were "little distant figures running for cover." Once, though, he did and he never forgot it.
"Staring down at the young German, you feel confused as you fight a flood of compassion that threatens to overwhelm you. You tell yourself that had he got the chance to use the [weapon] lying beside him, you might now be lying dead instead of him. But logic doesn't work, and you know you'll never be quite the same again." One day in March of 1945, the crew was bombarded by "hundreds of mortar bombs" near Cleves in Germany. "It lasted a good 90 minutes.
George got into a slit trench and the walls fell in. [We] decided to make a run for it, up to our ankles in mud. I carried the No.
19 radio and we charged up the hill. It was a wild day!" For his gallantry in helping to save an important bridgehead at the Twente Canal from a German counterattack in the Netherlands, Mr. Blackburn was awarded the Military Cross. He didn't mention the incident in his book.
George Gideon Blackburn was born in a farmhouse near Wales, Ont., which later disappeared during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. He joined the army in 1941 after originally being rejected by the Royal Canadian Navy for poor eyesight. Family legend says he memorized the eye chart and passed. "He made an incredible effort to [join]. He knew there was a job to be done," said his son, Ron Blackburn.
After the war, Mr. Blackburn carved out a successful career in many areas. Besides working for the federal department of labour -- where he rose to be director of information -- he was also an award-winning songwriter, composer and radio producer. He also won awards with his documentary scripts and as a playwright.
Mr. Blackburn found fame in 1995 when the first volume of his war trilogy, written in the second person, was published. The Guns of Normandy sold out its initial printing of 5,000 copies and was soon followed by The Guns of Victory and Where the Hell are the Guns? The trilogy struck a chord with the reading public, hundreds of whom contacted the author. Ken Naftel of Ottawa was one of them.
"Many of us never knew our fathers. They came back from the war, but wouldn't talk about it, were distant and often alcoholic. I read [the] books and said, 'now I know my father.' I called [him] to thank him. He insisted on meeting. Many of us, who saw our fathers' names in his books, came to know our fathers." Cliff Chadderton, who went ashore at Normandy on June, 6, 1944, with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, recalled meeting Mr. Blackburn decades ago in Ottawa. "They gave me an office and I sat there for two days.
George came in and we went for a coffee. That went on and we went over to Hull, [where] I lost a crutch. He took me home and Grace received us graciously. We said we'd eaten. She said, 'you have, have you? I'd put a chicken on.' She went to the oven, took it out and decorated George's head with it. What a friend he was. If you knew him at all you knew him as one of God's gentlemen." In 2001, Mr. Blackburn was offered an appointment to the Order of Canada. Declaring he was "astonished," he instead put forward someone else's name. Eventually he accepted himself, and in 2004 France awarded him with the Legion of Honour.
On Oct. 20, 2006, Mr. Blackburn visited his beloved Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery one last time. At a ceremony held at the regimental museum at CFB Shilo, Man., Mr. Blackburn viewed a refurbished wartime scout car emblazoned with his personal tactical signs, and wiped away a few tears.
Retired major Bill Lewis of Ottawa was there. "We told him he couldn't take it with him, but we presented him with a bottle of Calvados, the drink of Normandy. He was then helped into the scout car and driven to the officers' mess in style. It will be on display with a sign saying it is dedicated to Capt. Blackburn for his many important contributions to the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery." George Gideon Blackburn was born on Feb. 3, 1917, in Wales, Ont. He died of complications from cancer on Nov. 15, 2006, in Ottawa. He was 89. He leaves his daughter Andrea, sons Ron and Mark, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by Grace, his wife of 60 years.
