Letters from Arthur Seaforth Blackburn to his family, 1941 - Part 10

Lt Col A S Blackburn V.C 
SX6962 
2/3 M.G.Bn 
A.I.F 
Abroad 
23/6/41. 
  
My darling little Margie. 
It is your turn for the family letter 
but it is difficult for me to write & tell you much under the 
present conditions.  At present I am sitting on the side of a hill 
amidst the most amazing contrasts.  The spot where I am is 
about as arid & parched as anything can be and yet not half 
a mile away is the beginning of a very big area of dense green 
growth.  Poplar trees, fruit trees of every kind, melons, grapes & all 
kinds of seasonable fruits abound.  Almost as far as the eye  
can see stretches a large green belt, finally ending as 
sharply as it started & bounded on all sides by utterly arid  
rocky hills or sandy soil.  Small oases abound.  Around each 
of them ^(or most of them) runs a stream, often a quite swift one several yards 
wide, of cool fresh water, which seems to mysteriously spring out  
of the desert & as mysteriously disappear.  In the midst of the  
particular stretch of green which I am now looking at is 
a world famous city, where I had such an interesting experience 
a day or two ago about which I wrote Mummy.  I passed through  
it again this morning & was again amazed at it.  It  
contains some of the loveliest buildings you can imagine

2/ 
and almost also some of the most utterly squalid native quarters I  
have seen.  It is a city of every imaginable shade of population from  
wealthy Europeans in luxurious motor cars to degraded diseased 
natives grovelling in the dust & filth.  An Englishman to whom 
I was talking today told me that Mahomet is reputed to 
have described the city in the spring as "a place so lovely that 
I fear to ever set eyes upon it lest its beauty may blind me 
or cause my death".  The luxurious growth of greenery in and  
around the city & the swift stream of cold fresh water flowing 
down a pass through high arid rocky hills & then flowing 
around & through the city is amazing.  I passed a garden 
today full of pomergranite trees in full bloom & with a  
huge trellis of luscious looking grapes - scarcely ripe yet 
unfortunately. Through it ran a stream about three feet wide, 
really an irrigation channel running off the main stream & 
almost as old I should think as our civilization.  Half way 
through the garden an artificial waterfall had been 
made and alongside it a pomergranite tree had been  
trained to make a huge shady arbor.  Outside on the  
road upon which I was travelling the heat was intense &  
dust was utterly choking so that one's eyes & mouth & nostrils & 
hair was full of it.  The contrast was intense - as intense  
as utter blackness & pure white and my mind sprang to     
some lines which Mummy will remember & which as far 
as I remember refer to a wilderness being "paradise now"

3/ 
There is nothing much I can tell you, dears, in the way of news. 
I am having a very interesting although very hot & dusty time & am 
keeping absolutely fit & well.  Our food consists of bully & 
biscuits & not much else but it is surprising how one 
can enjoy even that food when hungry & out in the open. 
I do not know when I will be able to post this but 
will do so as soon as possible.  In the meantime my dear 
family I send all my love.  I have had no letters for about  
a fortnight but that is because of our frequent moves & I 
know they will catch us up soon. 
Look after Mummy, my dears, & stop her from 
worrying 
Daddy.

Lt Col A.S. Blackburn 
SX 6962 
2/3 M.G.Bn 
A.I.F 
Abroad 
28/6/41. 

My dear Bob. 
It is your turn for the family letter but I am 
afraid you will have to excuse a short note with little 
or no news.  Censorship Regulations make it impossible for 
me to tell you where we are or what I am doing.  I can  
however say that I am having an extremely interesting & 
strenuous time.  The country in which I am is one of the  
most amazing contrasts.  One travels over miles of utterly 
desolate sand & have hills without a vestige of green of 
any sort and then as one tops the next rise below one is 
a sea of the most glorious green trees, grass, vegetables etc. 
Around me as I now sit are huge walnut trees, apricots, 
apples, pears, pomergranites & grape vines.  Tomato plants, French 
beans, cucumbers, melons etc are on every side, whilst literally 
all around me are streams of pure cold spring water 
which just suddenly jut out of a hot bare hillside.  The  
main industry here seems to be stealing, growing fruit & 
vegetables & keeping dirty.  The population according to our 
lights are a rotten lot but I suppose we have no  
right to judge them too harshly by our standard. 
I was sorry to hear that many had gone to Melbourne to  
train for munitions work.  Poor old chap, you are having 
a thin time of it I know but stick it out old lad.  There 
is only another six months to go now & the war I am afraid

will last very much longer than six months.  We get practically  
no news here which is really rather remarkable.  It was not 
until days after Germany invaded Russia, that we heard anything 
about it.  I have only seen two papers in the last fortnight & 
only pick up vague scraps of news.  From the little I hear 
I should think that Germany will not take very long 
to mop up Russia - but of course I have heard no news 
whatever as to how the shew is going.  I haven't heard from 
Malcolm or seen him since the first few days of this month 
but I expect I will run across him again soon. 
Well old man there isn't much more to tell you as 
we are very strictly controlled as to what we can say. 
I am trying to write out a do running account of everything 
which is happening and someday when I am permitted to 
do so I will send it on to you.   
Tell Wody that I receive her letters fairly regularly & absolutely 
love them - she must keep on writing to me.  I will write to 
her the next chance I get & discuss her future with her. 
Give Margie a big kiss for me and tell her that I  
love to get her letters too! 
Goodbye, old man & keep smiling 
your affectionate father 
Arthur S Blackburn 
  
  
  
J K Lynch