BLACKWOOD, Ludovic Graham
| Service Number: | 3608 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 May 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 56th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia, 1898 |
| Home Town: | Mona Vale, Pittwater, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Technical High School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Draughtsman |
| Died: | 1987, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Mona Vale - Bayview School WWI Roll of Honour, Mona Vale War Memorial, Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll Of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 15 May 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3608, 56th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Oct 1917: | Involvement Private, 3608, 56th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Embarked Private, 3608, 56th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 18 Jul 1919: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, Awarded, and promulgated, 'London Gazette' No. 31488, 11 July 1919; 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 124, 30 October 1919. |
Help us honour Ludovic Graham Blackwood's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Sydney Technical High School
In the suburb of Mona Vale, NSW (1), Ludovic Graham Blackwood was born around January or February 1898(2). He was the only son of John Blackwood (3).
Growing up, Blackwood was an intelligent and bright student, he attended Sydney Technical High School during his junior years . In Sydney tech, he excelled in art and tech which would help him as after he finished schooling, he became a draftsman. However, once WWI started, Blackwood answered the call to war and would enlist at the age of 19 (7) on 30th April 1917. After a few months training at the Sydney Show Ground, he embarked 31st October 1917, leaving Australia and his father, ranked a Private (8) joining the 56th Infantry Battalion (9).
Blackwood was taken on strength in France on 17th April 1918. Blackwood would take part fighting in battles such as the Battle of Amiens, Battle of Chuignes, Second battle of the Somme(13). He bravely fought and pushed along with the allied troops until reaching and joining the Battle of St. Quentin Canal in September. The goal Blackwood and his fellow soldiers had in the battle was to cross and capture St Quentin Canal as it would wound its way to the battle of Northern France which would inflict massive damage on the Germans (14). He fought courageously, resisting the German army for just over a month until the battle’s end on November 11th, 1918, when the Armistice was declared.
After the Armistice, Blackwood was discharged as a soldier and would return to Australia on the 18th of July 1919 (15) at the age of 20. He returned to his father and would continue to work as a draftsman after the war. Three months after returning he was documented in the Commonwealth Gazette and London Gazette (16) as a name deserving of special mention for conspicuous services.
Ludovic Graham Blackwood died in 1987 (18), 70 years after enlisting in World War One.
References
1: Virtual War Memorial Australia
2: Australian Imperial Force Attestation Paper of Persons enlisted for Service Abroad (Stated that he was 19 years and 3 months at the time of his enlistment date which can be inferred to him being born in either January or February 1898)
3: Virtual War Memorial Australia
4: Ibid
5: Sydney Morning Herald (1842-1954)
6: Virtual War Memorial Australia
7: Australian Imperial Force Attestation Paper of Persons enlisted for Service Abroad
8: Virtual War Memorial Australia
9: Ibid
10: National Archives of Australia First World War: Recruitment
11: Kevin Stevenson research Google drive (BLACKWOOD5.jpg)
12: Australian War Memorial: 56th Infantry Battalion
13: Australian Government Department of Veterans affairs
14: The Story of the Battle of St. Quentin Canal
Bibliography
Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive
● https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=24381 ( AIF Project)
● National Archives of Australia
● Virtual War memorial https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/298486
● https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51496 (56th Infantry Battalion battles)
●https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/the-story-of-the-battle-of-st-quentin-canal/#:~:text=Quentin%20Canal%20was%20a%20pivotal,time%20of%20the%20Great%20War. (Battle
of St. Quentin Canal)
●https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/ludovic-graham-blackwood-24-q5zx00
●https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Days_Offensive#:~:text=The%20Hundred%20Day
s%20Offensive%20(8,from%20the%20German%20spring%20offensive.
●https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/the-hundred-days-offensive-world-war-one-s-advanc e-to-victory/#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Amiens%20opened,were%20captured%20
while%20eating%20breakfast.
●https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/student-research-portal/learning-resource
-themes/war/world-war-i/first-world-war-recruitment
●https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/enlistment/ww1#:~:text=During%20the%2
0period%204%20August,1918%2C%20there%20were%2059%2C357%20deaths.&text=
On%20average%2C%2038%20members%20of,the%20highest%20of%20the%20war.
●https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/wester
n-front/hundred-days