Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

David Valentine Jardine Blake (10 November 1887 – 6 March 1965) was a senior commander of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

who served in both

world war A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I, Worl ...

Early life

David Blake was born on 10 November 1887 in

Parramatta, New South Wales Parramatta () is a suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River ...

. He was educated at Marist Brothers, Parramatta.

First World War

Blake was commissioned as a career officer in the

's Permanent Military Forces in 1911. In September 1916, as a major, he became the first commanding officer of the newly formed No. 3 Squadron

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

(then part of the army). The squadron was deployed to Belgium and France in late 1917, performing a combined

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

and offensive role. From early 1918, No. 3 Squadron flew in a sector of the Somme Valley, facing German planes commanded by the "Red Baron",

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

. When the baron was shot down and killed behind allied lines on 21 April 1918, the disposal of his remains became Blake's responsibility. Blake initially reported that a 3 Sqn

R.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed and produced at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was also built under contract by Austin Motors, Daimler, Standard ...

may have shot down Richthofen. However, following an autopsy, Blake became a strong proponent of the view that ground-based Australian machine-gunners had killed the baron. Blake remained 3 Sqn CO until October 1918. The following year, he was transferred to Australia.

Second World War

After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Blake's first significant command (as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

) was Officer Commanding,

7th Military District 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythol ...

(the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

), based in

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, from September 1941. The post gained in importance when war with Japan broke out in December. In January 1942, Blake's position was incorporated into the short-lived

American-British-Dutch-Australian Command The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consists of the forces of Austr ...

. Blake was the senior Allied officer present during the first

air raids on Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...

on 19 February 1942. In the wake of the initial Japanese raids—and fearing a surface attack—Blake decided to remove all Allied forces from central Darwin and other coastal areas. He was later criticised for this decision, as withdrawing from a major supply node was considered a cardinal error in military theory. Later that year, as a major Allied build-up in northern Australia got underway, Blake was moved to the position of General Officer Commanding, Lines of Communication, Northern Territory Area. Blake retired from the army in 1947.

References

External links

Personal file at National Archives of Australia
* ttps://www.awm.gov.au/people/P10676871/ Profile at Australian War Memorial {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, David Valentine Jardine 1887 births 1965 deaths Australian generals Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II People from New South Wales Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Military personnel from New South Wales