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JOHN ALBERT BLANKLEY

1928 - 2022

Jack Blankley was born on the 4th of October 1928 in Wanganui on the North Island of New Zealand. He was the oldest of three children, a brother who was two years younger and a younger sister born to parent William Stanely and Kathleen Scally. The kids had a rough childhood growing up through the depression era, and John was in particular feeble, known to be under size, 'snotty' and suffered from "Chalk Bones" (Osteopetroses). As a result of his weak physical state, he was often looked down upon by family members, who in particular mocked his frequent broken bones as a result of the Osteopetroses. At the age of 8, John and his siblings were put into a Baptist Orphanage, though only remained there a year before transferring to Mt Albert 'Boys Only' home. He spent two years here alone as his brother was still too young to join him. He described the time there as the most depressing in his life, and the only thing that seemed to bring him joy were the pet silkworms he kept. As a young teen he joined the Cubs and eventually the Boy Scouts where he took great pride in wearing a uniform for the first time.

In 1946 at the age of 18, Blankley moved to Australia. He would enlist into the army in 1951, and by August was undergoing training at Puckapunyal Army Camp. He Graduated here and was deemed fight for service in K-Force (Korea Force). Blankley had enlisted specifically to see service in Korea, joining on a 2-year enlistment contract. He saw the war as one of the most justified ever waged and wanted to be part of the "Global Police Force" protecting freedom in Korea. In February 1952 he was sent to southern Japan to the cities of Hiro and Kawajiri.

Here he undertook warfare training in preparation for Korea. A month-long course saw them train primarily in hill and mountain assault. After the completion of the course, it was decided that they would need to remain in Japan for a further month, and so the course would be repeated. Not wanting to repeat the same gruelling course again, he applied for a signalman course and was selected. As a result, he would end up becoming the company signal man. Blankley arrived in Korea at last on the 19th of May 1952, and his detachment of reinforcements made their way from Pusan (Busan) to Seoul where he was attached to the 3rd battalion RAR. Once with his unit he was dismayed to learn they had just been pulled from the line and were entering a month-long rest and refit period. As a result, Blankley would have to wait to see combat. This time left him feeling very uneasy and anxious as he had to wait to see if he would prove worthy in the heat of battle. By early June 3 RAR had moved back into the line. By this stage of the war, combat had boiled down into an intense stalemate more or less along the 38th parallel. Fighting consisted mostly of trench warfare, bombardments, raids and occasional assaults. This meant that the primary roll of 3 RAR was Patrolling.

As a member of the signal section within B Company, Blankley would operate one of the field radio sets during these patrols and missions, as well as carry out signal duties both in and behind the line. On the 13th of August, Blankley and the men of B company would take part in Operation Buffalo. Officially a mission to capture prisoners, it was also designed to try and silence a concealed North Korean gun emplacement on Hill 75. The assault consisted of a night attack by the whole of the company, with Blankley being assigned to the Headquarters Section. The assault was preceded by a creeping barrage at 11:45, which announced to the already alerted enemy that the assault had begun. The assault proved to be a failure and B company suffered heavy casualties with 1 KIA, 2 DOW, 22 WIA and 1 MIA whilst only inflicting 12 confirmed casualties on the Chinese manning the position. Shortly after this attack, Corporal Harry James Jacobs who was the head of the signal section was being sent back to Japan following the end of his tour (his brother had been missing presumed dead in operation Buffalo and he requested being posted to Japan in case he was found, he could be on hand) and Blankley was promoted to replace him, gaining the rank of Acting Corporal It was shortly after this time towards the end of August that B company moved to their right in the Line to make way for the 1st Battalion Kings Own Regiment Just arriving, replacing C company on Holiday Hill (a particularly hot spot for enemy artillery). At this time, it became Blankley's task to show the new British signalmen the ropes of things on the front line. Whilst on Holiday Hill, B company established a makeshift field kitchen in a position they believed out of target for enemy artillery, this proved to be a false assessment and the enemy soon realised what was happening and fired on the "hidden" field kitchen. In the resulting barrage, Blankley was struck by two pieces of shell fragment, however neither broke his skin nor miraculously were caught in his shirt without injury. Whilst in command of the signal section on Holiday Hill, Blankley was ordered to go out on a night sortie in order to fix a cut line, believed to be sabotaged by the enemy. The mission left Blankley on edge with the fear of a close quarters fight in the pitch dark, and when he was nearly shot by a Centurion tank round when re-entering friendly lines he suffered a brief nervous breakdown and hearing loss, resulting in a loss of bladder control for several weeks after.

During September, D company of 3 RAR decided to build a new defensive line in place where their existing outpost were, essentially incorporating these out post into the main defences. Each night, standing patrols were placed in the forward position on these works to provide extra cover. On the 28th of September 4 and 6 platoons of B company provided men for this patrol. Usually 8-10 men was enough, but due to the Battalion Medical officer joining the party in order to gain insight to what was causing men returning from patrol to become more shaken, the security was increased to 23 Australians, and 1 British soldier (who had joined the party to gain experience before his regiment took over from 3 RAR). The patrol went out at sun set and set up an ambush position forming a V shaped formation along the road passing through the Song Guk Valley. Two 3-man patrols were sent forward, led by Corporal Kanga Saville (Likely Bruce Saville) and Corporal Raymond Douglas Gately, with the intention of luring in enemy patrols to the ambush point. Minutes after they disappear from sight, Blankley received the code "Haunted" over the radio indicating enemy in the vicinity. At this point 16 'unfriendlies' passed along their right flank. attention was quickly taken by a larger force approaching the ambush from the front. 4 files of Chinese soldiers under bright moonlight advanced on the ambush, the party waiting for Captain John Thomas Waterton to give the command to fire. Waterton opened fire when the lead figure of the Chinese was only a few yards away, crossing the road, and the initial fire of Bren and Owen machine guns decimated the front ranks of the Chinese and halted their advance. Waterton initially reported and enemy strength of 60-70 men, but after the enemy line rapidly extended and returned fire, he increased this estimate to "company size plus". with this the battalion was put on standby as the patrol fought it out. At this time, the two decoy patrols now behind enemy lines radio in requesting instructions, Blankley took it on his own initiative to instruct the patrols to clear out and return home, stating "a certain lady will be here soon", referring to the code word for artillery support "Barbara". Shortly after Waterton ordered grenades thrown, Barbara called in and the men to withdrawal all while under intense superior fire. Soon artillery support from 3 commonwealth batteries, American batteries, centurion tanks and battalion mortars all rained in on the enemy position as well as the hill beyond (An Australian newspaper later claimed 6,000 rounds had been fired in the hour that followed the callsign Barbara). As the Australians withdrew, they came under heavy fire themselves from enemy mortars but made it back to friendly lines. In all 3 Australians had been wounded, and the British soldier MIA (Found dead at the ambush site 3 days later).

The attack by the Chinese had been a planned assault on the new D company positions and was foiled by the ambush. An estimated 150-200 Chinese had faced the 18 Australians, suffering an unknown number of casualties. Captain Waterton was awarded the Military Cross for his role in the action, and Blankley received a mention in dispatches.

Shortly after the actions a Song Gok, 3 RAR was pulled from the front line for a month of rest. After this period of R&R they were moved into defensive positions on Hill 355 (Little Gibraltar). The conditions were rough and through December the temperatures plummeted. On top of this B company was required to prepare their defensive positions from scratch, leaving them with little in the way of comfort in their new home. In early January, Blankley was selected to be lead signal man on a patrol, his first since the ambush at Song Gok. Prior to the patrol on the 6th of January, he went to a position behind the lines to test his weapon, an Owen SMG borrowed from a fellow soldier, remembering how useless his pistol alone was in the ambush. After firing his test magazine, He was clearing the weapon when the section leader Ron Bowman (Possibly Corporal Edwin Bowman 6400094, Only Bowman in 3 RAR at the same time as Blankley) stepped up. His weapon jammed and pointing it to the ground he attempted to clear it, all without waiting for Blankley to clear the range first. The weapon discharged a round that had been caught on the ejector as a result of undersized cartridge and shot Blankley through his right foot.

Following the war, he pursued a career with the ministry, joining the Baptist church in 1955. Only a year into his training, due to a shortage of trained ministers, he was posted to New Castle where he led his first congregation. His time in New Castle was difficult and many of his congregation disapproved of his young age and inexperience. After 2 years at this posting he borrowed a loan from a close friend and used the money to move to Victoria and undertake higher education. Once he had received his degree and recovered from his depression, he moved his family back to NSW where he took up a posting as the local Baptist minister at Ingleburn. Over the coming decade he preached at a few missions around Sydney, though in 1968 made the decision to re-enlist into the military as a Baptist Chaplin in the R.A.A.F, a position he would hold until 1985. After once more leaving the military, Blankley moved back to Victoria where he would spend the remainder of his life as minister in various rural and city churches.

During the early to mid-2000's, Blankley released a memoir detailing his time in Korea, the publication which contributed heavily to this account. He would pass away in January of 2022.

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