107015 2nd Lieutenant James Eric Blackwood
On 10th February 1914 105015 Second Lieutenant James Eric ‘Jock’ Blackwood was born at Rothesay
on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.
Jock was commissioned in The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke
of Albany's).
Between September 28th and October 5th
1943 he was on parachute course No. 69 at Ramat David in Palestine.
After passing his parachute course he was assigned as officer commander No. 6 Platoon, B Company.
On Monday September 18th 1944 Jock and his men left Welby Lane Camp for Saltby Aerodrome
At 09:00 hours they emplaned
and took off for Holland at 11:30 hours.
When Jock got his green light at 14:10 hours, he gave the stick a final
‘Hi-de-Hi’ and was heard to make yelp as he jumped. Jock later recalled:
“My sten gun, magazine carrier with seven magazines, respirator and haversack were in a lash bundle attached to my harness by a cord. My grip was not secure and the jerk as the parachute opened wrenched the whole issue from my arms, tore loose the cord and I watched it crash to earth. This was serious; not only the loss of my weapon, but the loss of my 48-hour ration, emergency ration, toilet kit and clean underclothing in the haversack. I marked where it fell and made a soft landing. I struggled out of my harness, noticing that my parachute contained a modicum of bullet holes. A German machine gun was blasting away some thirty yards from me from the edge of the wood”.
However, Jock’s primary concern
was to recover his gear, so he plunged off in the direction of its fall. It was no use. By ninety minutes the
battalion, less casualties, was rendezvoused in a convenient wood and about forty prisoners –mainly SS men- had
been taken.
At dusk the battalion moved off to cover the eight miles into Arnhem.
Jock wrote the 11th Battalion's war diary during the Battle of Arnhem. The writing of a unit's war
diary during a
battle was typically the responsibility of the Adjutant, in this case Captain ‘Beagle’
Birchenough, or a
designated junior officer within that unit, usually operating under the authority of the Commanding Officer.
It would therefore be reasonable to assume as
Jock Blackwood wrote the war diary of the 11th Parachute Battalion during the battle that it had
already been determined in advance that Jock, as a junior officer, was assigned to write the war diary if, given
the circumstances, it was not possible for the adjutant to do so.
After fighting fierce battles in
Arnhem and Oosterbeek for nine days and nights, and having lost many of his friends, he eventually found himself
in a position where he was the only remaining officer of B Company. It was a very responsible task, and one he
acquitted himself of tremendously well.
Ultimately, Jock was
awarded the Military Cross, and the citation states
the following:
“During the operations at Arnhem, Lieutenant Blackwood, by his courage, leadership and devotion to duty, held together the men in his sector against the most enormous odds. Time and again with a handful of men he beat off attacks. He never troubled about his own safety. He was never to be found in a trench at a time when the fire was heavy. He was always going round his positions steadying and cheering his men. For five days and nights without rest he held his sector, and whether he was beating off attacks by day or leading patrols by night, he always showed himself to be a leader of the highest order”.
On the night of September 25 to 26 1944,
Jock succeeded in crossing the Rhine and returning to Allied territory.
Jock died on March
8th 1976 in North Tyneside East, Northumberland at the age of
62.