Letters from Arthur Seaforth Blackburn to his family, 1941 - Part 25

Lt Col A S Blackburn 
SX 6962  2/3 M G Bn 
AIF abroad 
15 - 12 - 41. 
  
My darling little Wody, 
It seems ages and ages since I  
settled down to write to you although I  
am glad to say that I have had nice letters 
from you. I love writing to you.  There is  
always so much that I want to say to you.  
I don't think I have written to you since  
Dick left. I can imagine what a blank  
it must have left with you all.   
He really is a wonderfully cheerful &  
bright person.  You must have been  
working so hard my dear for your  
exams.  I too can remember the stage  
when all I could think of was that  
Hannibal had crossed the Alps etc.  I  
am glad to see that in the middle  
of all that work you have still  
had time to play some tennis.  If you  
succeeded in winning the Dallwity cup  
in spite of all the terrific work which  
you have been doing, you are  
an even more marvellous person than  
I know you to be - and that is saying a lot  

3/ 
high and many are often very highly educated.  There  
again however I find I am not being entirely accurate.   
The country is divided into two portions, Syria and Lebanon.   
The Syrians are very different to the Lebanese & yet it is  
very difficult to define the difference.  The Lebanese as  
a body are much better educated than the Syrians and  
much cleaner & closer to our standard of living.  Most  
of the Lebanese seem to be born linguists - many of  
them being able to speak 5 or 6 languages quite fluently.   
According to their own standard they are as a body  
quite honest.  Of course there are lots of very bad  
exceptions & the bigger towns are full of thieves.  I  
don't think they really take much interest in who  
rules them as long as they are allowed to live their  
own lives in their own way.  Of course there are  
very many exceptions to that also.  Many of them  
are violently political & there is a very big  
party who are pledged to complete independence  
& ready to do violence to achieve same.  However  
speaking in general they are people not at all  
unlike ourselves.  They have their schools all  
over the place - girls schools, mixed public schools,  
& boys schools.  Their manner of living approximates  
to ours, the women & girls dress like ours although  
the men dress differently - the main difference  
being in an absolutely indescribable pair of  
trousers which they wear which look not  
unlike a shirt down about as far as the knees  
& then develop into trousers down each leg.   
I am afraid that hasn't given you much  
picture of them but may serve to answer  
a few of your questions.  I will be looking  
forward immensely to your school magazine  
& your photos & your story & Margies etc.  Whatever  
you do don't you dare to forget to send  
it to me! 
I have just got back from a visit down 

4/ 
to Palestine to see Dick.  He is looking absolutely  
splendid and if we have any luck he will  
be able to come up here & spend Christmas  
with me.  If he does I will try to take a few  
days off & run him around the country a  
bit.  He told me all the latest family gossip  
& news, including the fact that you were  
leaving school at the end of this year.  I must  
say that this was a complete surprise to you  
but I suppose you have gone all over it with  
Mummy and anyhow whatever she decides is very  
definitely right.  I did know that you were  
going to sit for Leaving Honors this year,  I thought  
you were going to do the work & then do it again  
next year & then take the exam.  Anyhow I wish you  
all the luck in the world although it is a bit  
difficult - or rather silly - to wish you luck now  
when the whole of the exams are over.  I am  
absolutely sure that you did brilliantly in English  
as it was on my birthday.  We are all naturally  
terribly worried about the position in regard  
to Japan.  I feel sure that you people will  
not have much to worry about at least  
as long as Singapore is holding out  
and I don't think the Japanese can  
capture that, however hard they try.  I  
loved the snaps which Mummy sent me the  
other day.  It made me more utterly  
home-sick than ever to see you all & George  
& Sydney. Dear old George looked as appealing  
as ever.  You will all have to look after  
him very hard now that Bob is away  
from home on his jobs. Well Wody 

5/ 
dear there is very little fresh news to tell you.   
The mountain tops are absolutely covered in snow  
now.  The snow reaches fully half way down  
and as a general rule it is impossible to see the  
summit,  it is nearly always covered in clouds.   
Even when the clouds actually lift from the  
top, the background is cloud & the tops of  
the mountains absolutely white with snow, merge  
into the clouds so that it is difficult to  
pick one from the other.  I have not been  
up there since my first visit but if  
Dick comes up at Christmas I think we  
must certainly pay a visit up there.  I am  
afraid I am too old to learn ski-ing now  
but I may put in to attend the three weeks  
ski-ing school. 
I don't know when this letter will reach  
you my dear as Air Mail is bound to be  
interrupted but I will keep on posting letters  
just the same. Whatever you do my dears  
keep your courage up.  I know it is going  
to be terribly worrying but the only thing to do  
is the same as the English people are - just  
carry on - and whatever you do my little  
dears, look after Mummy.  Stop her from  
worrying too much if you can & keep on  
giving her all the hugs & kisses from  
me which you possibly can. 
With all my love 
Your affectionate father 
Arthur S Blackburn 

Lt Col A S Blackburn 
SX6962 2/3 M G Bn 
AIF Abroad 
19-12-41 
  
My darling little Margie 
It seems absolutely ages since 
I wrote to you, although I suppose it is only at the 
most three weeks ago.  Still it seems to be a long time 
since I got a letter from you so perhaps that makes  
up for it!  I hope by now you have won the  
tennis tournament.  Won't it be a thrill to hear that  
you have succeeded in doing that. Still even if 
you don't, I know that you will play well & 
take your beating - if you are beaten - very well. 
I was terribly sorry to hear that you have had 
hay fever, darling.  I do hope it doesn't cling on 
too long.  It is a horrible thing isn't it?  I am  
still thrilled to bits about your poem which 
you sent to me.  I have it stuck up in my 
room & lots of officers who have seen it have 
said how good it is.  What an anxious time you 
had that morning when you had to play the  
tune in Assembly - the hymn I mean.  Fancy Mr Hutton 
being late on that morning of all mornings.  Still I hear 
you played it very well indeed.  I suppose you are 

2/ 
very thrilled with Noel Rose's kitten.  I bet it is not as nice as 
Siddy! Margie darling you mustn't get worried over writing to 
me so much now that you have got Dick to write to too. I 
know it is very very hard to write to us both like that 
and I think the best thing will be to write first to one 
of us and then to the other.  It will be too much for 
you to do otherwise.  You mustn''t dream of trying to 
write a page to each of us at the same time.  I was 
so thrilled to hear that you had got honours in 
your musical perception exam.  It am very very proud  
of you darling.  What a thrill you must have had in 
going to the pictures twice on two successive nights.  My 
word, what goings on!  I had quite an interesting 
experience a few days ago.  I had to go out up to the 
top of a very big hill - almost a mountain near 
here .  As I knew I would be away for some time I 
arranged to take my lunch with me.  Right up on the  
very top of the mountain was a flat plateau & on 
the edge of this was a native village - a poor 
miserable thing of about 15 or 20 houses, all built of 
stones collected in the neighbourhood and piled together. 
The whole place was absolutely wind-swept & bleak. 
The flat ground was ploughed up & it was from 
this that the inhabitants of the village earned their 
living.  There was not a tree of any sort in sight 

3/ 
the only growth except a little wheat just starting to grow 
being a few stunted grape vines.  I stopped the car for lunch 
about 300 - 400 yds away from the village & as I was  
sitting in the car having lunch I watched the village.  There 
were a few children playing around the place, all girls 
except one little boy - all the boys go out to work in the 
fields in these farming villages just as soon as they are old 
enough to do so. Before long all the little girls had gathered 
on the outskirts of the village & were watching us.  Then I saw 
the little boy walking backwards & forwards amongst them.  It 
was evident from his actions he was trying to get them to go come with him 
over nearer the car.  After a time one of the girls plucked 
up enough courage to join him & the two of them started 
coming slowly towards the car.  Gradually more & more 
followed until about 7 or 8 girls, led by this little boy 
& the first girl came very slowly towards the car.  They 
came to within about 20 yds & then stopped.  I had been 
watching them & I wish I could describe to you the 
lordly air with which this little boy & girl had led 
the others on.  I then got out of the car & this badly 
shook the courage.  One or two of them turned & ran 
but the boy, although looking pretty scared, held his 
ground & then stepped forward & in front of the girls 
as if to protect them.  I still had a small sandwich left 
so I held this out to them.  It took several minutes before 
they could summon up enough courage for this, but 

4/ 
finally the boy , with two girls behind him came slowly forward 
& took the sandwich.  He looked utterly lovely he was so 
shy & yet w with it so brave.  I then suddenly remembered  
a packet of biscuits I had in the car & got that & offered 
it to them.  The boy took that & opened it up & carefully 
counted out the biscuits & divided them up amongst his 
followers - taking as was his right as leader the biggest share 
himself & giving his girl friend who had followed him the 
next biggest & so on down to a little - a very little -  
share to those who had at first run away.  The look 
of joy & rapture as they started to eat was perfectly wonderful. 
After a few minutes the boy suddenly turned away & ran 
back to the village as fast as he could go.  I wondered 
what was in the wind, but in a few minutes he re-appeared 
& came back to the car holding out an orange to me with 
a rapturous smile and a murmured "Baksheesh!" (gift). So I 
realised that that orange was probably a treasured possession 
as there was no sign of orange trees up there or for miles 
from the village & they were obviously wretchedly poor 
but it would have been heartless to refuse it.  It was 
a gift offered in perfect friendship & equality and so 
I took it & then the lad caught hold of my hand 
and solemnly kissed it & held it against his forehead 
and then made each of his girl friends cam come  
up to me & do the same.  It was really very, very 

5/ 
to moving and I felt  tremendously proud of it all.  They were 
all dressed in the most wretched , ragged clothes, but 
were all absolutely clean, and fresh, and healthy looking. 
That is one of the things which does impress me in this 
country, the health & vigor of the children out in the 
agricultural villages as compared with the puny looking 
kids in the towns.  Another thing which has struck me 
very much is that those children play the same sort 
of games as we do , or as children in Australia do. 
Hop -Scotch, with a "court" marked out (so far as I 
remember it) is a very popular game & the boys play marbles 
all over the place.   The girls are very fond apparently 
of dolls but also very few of them seem to have any 
dolls which would attract you people in Australia. 
I seem to have taken up all my space in talking 
to you about these children.  There is not much news 
to tell you .  The weather has been very nice during 
the last few days but it gets very cold at night. 
I am keeping very fit but missing you all terribly.  I know 
you will all enjoy the holidays & look after Mummy. 
You have certainly deserved good holidays, my 
dears , after the hard work you have been  
doing all the year.  Goodbye Margie darling.  Give 
Wody & Mummy lots of love & kisses from me. 
Your loving father 
Arthur S Blackburn 
Arthur S Blackburn