| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2020.22.17 |
| Collection number | PR00014 |
| Collection type | Digitised Collection |
| Record type | Item |
| Item count | 1 |
| Object type | Letter |
| Physical description | 32 Image/s captured |
| Maker |
Blackburn, Arthur Seaforth |
| Date made | 1941 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copying Provisions | Digital format and content protected by copyright. |
| Source credit to | This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government. |
Letter from Arthur Seaforth Blackburn to his family, 1941
Blackburn, Arthur Seaforth, VC, CMG, CBE (Brigadier, b.1892 - d.1960)
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Description
Letter relating to the Second World War service of SX6962 Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, British Mandate of Palestine and French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, 1941.
This letter from Blackburn to his family describes the period of the Syria-Lebanon campaign. Blackburn was unable to update his family on the conflict in his regular letters due to censorship restrictions. Instead, he composed this letter over the course of the campaign and posted it home once the censor ban had lifted. In the letter, he describes his part in the Syria-Lebanon campaign "more or less in order, as incidents occured". This included coordination with the British and Free French forces, the capture of Damascus and the surrender of the Vichy French authorities. He also describes the effects of the war on the region and the civilian population.