Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, was an Australian soldier, lawyer, politician, and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for valour in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time. A lawyer and part-time soldier prior to the outbreak of World War I, Blackburn enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914, and was assigned to the 10th Battalion. His unit landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on April 25, 1915, and he and another scout were credited with advancing the furthest inland on the day of the landing. Blackburn was later commissioned and, along with his battalion, spent the rest of the Gallipoli campaign fighting Ottoman forces.
Captain A. S. Blackburn c. 1919
The first day objective of the 10th Battalion on "Gun Ridge" for the landing at Anzac Cove. The green dotted line shows the actual extent of the lodgement at the end of the first day.
A No.5 Mk I Mills bomb of the type used liberally during the Pozières fighting
Blackburn (second from left) and McCann (right) after receiving their awards at Buckingham Palace
10th Battalion (Australia)
The 10th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served as part of the all-volunteer Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Among the first units raised in Australia during the war, the battalion was recruited from South Australia in August 1914 and formed part of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. After basic training, the battalion embarked for Egypt where further training was undertaken until the battalion was committed to the Gallipoli campaign. During the landing at Anzac Cove, it came ashore as part of the initial covering force. Members of the 10th Battalion penetrated the furthest inland of any Australian troops during the initial fighting, before the Allied advance inland was checked. After this, the battalion helped defend the beachhead against a heavy counter-attack in May, before joining the failed August Offensive. Casualties were heavy throughout the campaign and in November 1915, the surviving members were withdrawn from the peninsula. In early 1916, the battalion was reorganised in Egypt at which time it provided a cadre staff to the newly formed 50th Battalion. It was transferred to the Western Front in March 1916, and for the next two-and-a-half years took part in trench warfare in France and Belgium until the Armistice in 1918. The last detachment of men from the 10th Battalion returned to Australia in September 1919.
Lines of the 9th and 10th Battalions at Mena Camp, Egypt, December 1914, looking towards the pyramids. The soldier in the foreground is playing with a kangaroo, the regimental mascot
Troops from the 10th Battalion at Gallipoli, August 1915
Roy Inwood, who received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the fighting around Polygon Wood
Band members from the 10th/48th Battalion on parade in Darwin, September 1944.