Charles Blackader
Encyclopedia
Major-General Charles Guinand Blackader CB, DSO
(20 September 1869 – 2 April 1921) was a British Army
officer of the First World War. He commanded an Indian brigade on the Western Front
in 1915, and a Territorial brigade in Dublin during the Easter Rising
of 1916, before being appointed to command the 38th (Welsh) Division on the Western Front, a position he held until retiring due to ill-health in May 1918.
Originally joining the Army in 1888 as a junior officer in the Leicestershire Regiment, Blackader's first active posting was in the late 1890s, when he served on attachment to the West African Frontier Force, closely followed by service during the Boer War
, where he was decorated for his part in the defence of Ladysmith
. He remained on regimental duties for the next ten years, eventually rising to take command of the 2nd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, in 1912. On the outbreak of the First World War, he commanded his battalion on the Western Front as part of an Indian Army formation; when his superior officer was promoted in early 1915, Blackader succeeded him as commander of the brigade, and led it through the Battle of Neuve Chapelle
and the Battle of Loos
.
After the Indian Army was withdrawn from France, Blackader was posted to a second-line Territorial Force
brigade training in the United Kingdom. In 1916, it was sent to Dublin during the Easter Rising
; following the Rising, Blackader presided over a number of the resulting courts-martial, including those of several of the signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Later that year, he was ordered to France to take over command of the 38th (Welsh) Division, a New Army formation which had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Somme. He remained with the division for almost two years, helping retrain and reorganise it as an efficient fighting unit. The division would see significant successes in the Hundred Days Offensive
of late 1918, but by this point Blackader was no longer in command; he had been invalided home earlier in the year. He died shortly after the war, in 1921, aged 51.
. Unusually for a junior officer, he married later the same year, to Marian Ethel Melbourne. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1890, and to captain
in 1895. In 1897 and 1898, Blackader saw active service with the West African Frontier Force, where he was Mentioned in Despatches, and during the Boer War
, he was again twice mentioned in despatches, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
for his part in the defence of Ladysmith
.
Following the war, Blackader was attached to the 1st Volunteer Battalion as its adjutant in 1902 and was promoted to major in 1904, before returning to regular service in 1905. He applied (unsuccessfully) for the post of Chief Constable
of Leicester in 1907, and, by 1909, was serving with the 1st Battalion, as the senior major. He was given command of a battalion and promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1912.
. The division was sent to France as part of Indian Expeditionary Force A, seeing its first action in the trenches on 29 October. On 19 December a force under Blackader's command staged a successful attack on the German trenches, though the attack was overshadowed by the beginning of the German attack on Givenchy the following day, through which the Leicesters remained in reserve.
, commanding the Garhwals, was promoted to command the Lahore Division
in January 1915, and on 8 January Blackader was given the temporary rank of Brigadier-General, assuming command of the Garhwal Brigade in his stead. The Garhwals led the first wave of the Indian Corps
' attack at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle
on 10 March, Three of the attacking battalions reached their objectives, but one was delayed by strong resistance; after clearing the last German trenches, the brigade halted to let the second wave pass through. In the attack, two men were awarded the Victoria Cross
, and nine the Indian Order of Merit, and Blackader was commended by his corps commander, General Willcocks
, who wrote that "I had learned to respect him and to trust in his judgement. The manner in which he handled his brigade at Neuve Chapelle was good to see, and his report ... is written as brave and modest men write". His force had taken heavy losses, however; the trailing battalion on the flank, the 2/39th Garhwal Rifles
, lost over half its men and all its officers.
The brigade repulsed a heavy attack on the morning of 12 March, but settled into a relatively static position thereafter. On 9 May, the Garhwal Brigade was used as a second wave in the first attacks of the Battle of Aubers Ridge
, without success; they saw action again on the night of 15 May, where the leading battalions met heavy resistance and Blackader was forced to call off the attack.
After Aubers Ridge, the corps was then rested in a quiet sector until September, when it deployed for the Battle of Loos
. The initial attack was to be made by three divisions, with the Meerut Division leading the attack on the Indian front; Blackader's brigade, with two Gurkha
battalions and the 2nd Leicesters, was on its right flank. Whilst the attack successfully crossed no-man's land under cover of the barrage, the right flank of the brigade was caught up in defensive wire, and only one battalion successfully made their way into the German trenches; the brigade lost momentum and dug in.
The Indian Corps was withdrawn after Loos, and as a result this was Blackader's last major action in command of Indian troops; by the end of November, the Meerut Division had left France.
division, formed from those Territorials and new volunteers who had not volunteered for overseas service. As a result, it was generally undermanned and underequipped, with priority given to equipping its first-line counterpart, and tasked mostly with home defence duties. The 177th Brigade had been formed as the duplicate of the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade, with two second-line battalions of the Lincolnshire Regiment and two of the Leicestershire Regiment.
The 59th Division was rushed to Ireland in response to the Easter Rising
of April 1916, where Blackader's new brigade saw its first active service. Following the Rising, many of those believed by the British authorities to be responsible were tried by military courts; ninety were sentenced to death, of whom fifteen were eventually executed. Blackader, as a senior officer, chaired a number of courts-martial, including those of Éamonn Ceannt
, Thomas Clarke
, Thomas MacDonagh
, Patrick Pearse
, and Joseph Plunkett, five of the nine signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. It appears that Blackader found this task difficult; after Pearse's trial, he is reported to have commented that "I have just done one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do. I have had to condemn to death one of the finest characters I have ever come across. There must be something very wrong in the state of things that makes a man like that a rebel. I don't wonder that his pupils adored him."
was removed from command of 38th (Welsh) Division, which had failed in an attack in the early stages of the Battle of the Somme, Blackader was named as the preferred replacement by Henry Horne, the corps commander. He was overruled, however, with the command temporarily given to Herbert Watts
, an experienced divisional commander. Under Watts, the division successfully took its objective, Mametz Wood, though with severe losses; within a week, Watts was back in command of 7th Division and Blackader had taken permanent command.
The division had been raised in the New Armies in 1914 with a strong sense of Liberal
patronage, and many of its officers had been personally appointed by Lloyd George; as a result, political convenience had often taken priority over military competence when selecting officers. Under Blackader, a new officer from outside the Welsh Liberal milieu and able to sack his subordinates as he saw fit, the division's standard improved significantly. It saw service at Pilckem Ridge in the early stages of the Third Battle of Ypres, but from September 1917 onwards it was kept on relatively quiet defensive sectors. The division trained through this period, and in April 1918 was able to mount a limited brigade-size attack, which whilst it involved heavy losses was a clear success in a way that would not have been possible two years earlier.
In late May 1918, Blackader was relieved of command and replaced by Thomas Cubitt
, a younger officer. This was not apparently due to incompetence or age – Douglas Haig
had described Blackader's achievements with 38th Division as "excellent" – but due to illness; according to Gary Sheffield
, he had fallen ill after "being licked by a rabid dog". Under Cubitt's command, the 38th Division would build on its past training and fight through the Hundred Days Offensive
with great success. In November 1918, Blackader was appointed to command the Southern District in Ireland.
For his service in the war, he was appointed an aide-de-camp
to the King in 1916, and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1917. He was also made a Commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold, and awarded both the Belgian and French Croix de Guerre
.
Blackader died on 2 April 1921, at Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital, Millbank, survived by his wife and two daughters, and leaving a small estate of just under £450. There is a memorial to him in the regimental chapel in Leicester Cathedral
.
|-
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(20 September 1869 – 2 April 1921) was a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer of the First World War. He commanded an Indian brigade on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in 1915, and a Territorial brigade in Dublin during the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
of 1916, before being appointed to command the 38th (Welsh) Division on the Western Front, a position he held until retiring due to ill-health in May 1918.
Originally joining the Army in 1888 as a junior officer in the Leicestershire Regiment, Blackader's first active posting was in the late 1890s, when he served on attachment to the West African Frontier Force, closely followed by service during the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
, where he was decorated for his part in the defence of Ladysmith
Siege of Ladysmith
The Siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 30 October 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.-Background:...
. He remained on regimental duties for the next ten years, eventually rising to take command of the 2nd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, in 1912. On the outbreak of the First World War, he commanded his battalion on the Western Front as part of an Indian Army formation; when his superior officer was promoted in early 1915, Blackader succeeded him as commander of the brigade, and led it through the Battle of Neuve Chapelle
Battle of Neuve Chapelle
The Battles of Neuve Chapelle and Artois was a battle in the First World War. It was a British offensive in the Artois region and broke through at Neuve-Chapelle but they were unable to exploit the advantage.The battle began on 10 March 1915...
and the Battle of Loos
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
.
After the Indian Army was withdrawn from France, Blackader was posted to a second-line Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
brigade training in the United Kingdom. In 1916, it was sent to Dublin during the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
; following the Rising, Blackader presided over a number of the resulting courts-martial, including those of several of the signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Later that year, he was ordered to France to take over command of the 38th (Welsh) Division, a New Army formation which had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Somme. He remained with the division for almost two years, helping retrain and reorganise it as an efficient fighting unit. The division would see significant successes in the Hundred Days Offensive
Hundred Days Offensive
The Hundred Days Offensive was the final period of the First World War, during which the Allies launched a series of offensives against the Central Powers on the Western Front from 8 August to 11 November 1918, beginning with the Battle of Amiens. The offensive forced the German armies to retreat...
of late 1918, but by this point Blackader was no longer in command; he had been invalided home earlier in the year. He died shortly after the war, in 1921, aged 51.
Early career
Born on 20 September 1869, Charles Guinand Blackader joined the Leicestershire Regiment in 1888, as a second lieutenantSecond Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
. Unusually for a junior officer, he married later the same year, to Marian Ethel Melbourne. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1890, and to captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in 1895. In 1897 and 1898, Blackader saw active service with the West African Frontier Force, where he was Mentioned in Despatches, and during the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
, he was again twice mentioned in despatches, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
for his part in the defence of Ladysmith
Siege of Ladysmith
The Siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 30 October 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.-Background:...
.
Following the war, Blackader was attached to the 1st Volunteer Battalion as its adjutant in 1902 and was promoted to major in 1904, before returning to regular service in 1905. He applied (unsuccessfully) for the post of Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Leicester in 1907, and, by 1909, was serving with the 1st Battalion, as the senior major. He was given command of a battalion and promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1912.
First World War
In August 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, Blackader was in India, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the Leicesters, which was mobilised for service as part of the Garhwal Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division7th (Meerut) Division
The 7th Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army that saw active service during World War I.-Pre-Mutiny:The Meerut Division first appeared in the Indian Army List in 1829, under the command of Sir Jasper Nicolls, KCB...
. The division was sent to France as part of Indian Expeditionary Force A, seeing its first action in the trenches on 29 October. On 19 December a force under Blackader's command staged a successful attack on the German trenches, though the attack was overshadowed by the beginning of the German attack on Givenchy the following day, through which the Leicesters remained in reserve.
Garhwal Brigade
Brigadier KearyHenry Keary
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry D'Urban Keary, KCB, KCIE, DSO was a British Indian Army officer, who served in a number of colonial conflicts before commanding an Indian division during the First World War.-Early life:...
, commanding the Garhwals, was promoted to command the Lahore Division
Lahore Division
Lahore Division was an administrative division of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, until the reforms of 2000 abolished the third tier of government.-History:Lahore Division was originally an administrative division of the Punjab Province of British India...
in January 1915, and on 8 January Blackader was given the temporary rank of Brigadier-General, assuming command of the Garhwal Brigade in his stead. The Garhwals led the first wave of the Indian Corps
I Corps (British India)
for the current Indian Army formation see I Corps The I Indian Corps was an army corps of the British Indian Army in World War I. It was formed at the outbreak of war under the title Indian Corps from troops sent to the Western Front. The British Indian Army did not have a pre-war corps structure,...
' attack at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle
Battle of Neuve Chapelle
The Battles of Neuve Chapelle and Artois was a battle in the First World War. It was a British offensive in the Artois region and broke through at Neuve-Chapelle but they were unable to exploit the advantage.The battle began on 10 March 1915...
on 10 March, Three of the attacking battalions reached their objectives, but one was delayed by strong resistance; after clearing the last German trenches, the brigade halted to let the second wave pass through. In the attack, two men were awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, and nine the Indian Order of Merit, and Blackader was commended by his corps commander, General Willcocks
James Willcocks
General Sir James Willcocks GCB GCMG KCSI DSO was a British Army officer who held high command during World War I....
, who wrote that "I had learned to respect him and to trust in his judgement. The manner in which he handled his brigade at Neuve Chapelle was good to see, and his report ... is written as brave and modest men write". His force had taken heavy losses, however; the trailing battalion on the flank, the 2/39th Garhwal Rifles
39th Garhwal Rifles
The 39th Garhwal Rifles were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1887, when they were raised as the Aligarh Levy, but was disbanded after disgracing itself at the Rawalpindi Review in 1888....
, lost over half its men and all its officers.
The brigade repulsed a heavy attack on the morning of 12 March, but settled into a relatively static position thereafter. On 9 May, the Garhwal Brigade was used as a second wave in the first attacks of the Battle of Aubers Ridge
Battle of Aubers Ridge
The Battle of Aubers Ridge was a British offensive mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I.- Background :The battle was the initial British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Second Battle of Artois...
, without success; they saw action again on the night of 15 May, where the leading battalions met heavy resistance and Blackader was forced to call off the attack.
After Aubers Ridge, the corps was then rested in a quiet sector until September, when it deployed for the Battle of Loos
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
. The initial attack was to be made by three divisions, with the Meerut Division leading the attack on the Indian front; Blackader's brigade, with two Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
battalions and the 2nd Leicesters, was on its right flank. Whilst the attack successfully crossed no-man's land under cover of the barrage, the right flank of the brigade was caught up in defensive wire, and only one battalion successfully made their way into the German trenches; the brigade lost momentum and dug in.
The Indian Corps was withdrawn after Loos, and as a result this was Blackader's last major action in command of Indian troops; by the end of November, the Meerut Division had left France.
Ireland
He was transferred to command 177th Brigade of 59th (2nd North Midland) Division in January 1916. The 59th was a second-line Territorial ForceTerritorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
division, formed from those Territorials and new volunteers who had not volunteered for overseas service. As a result, it was generally undermanned and underequipped, with priority given to equipping its first-line counterpart, and tasked mostly with home defence duties. The 177th Brigade had been formed as the duplicate of the Lincoln and Leicester Brigade, with two second-line battalions of the Lincolnshire Regiment and two of the Leicestershire Regiment.
The 59th Division was rushed to Ireland in response to the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
of April 1916, where Blackader's new brigade saw its first active service. Following the Rising, many of those believed by the British authorities to be responsible were tried by military courts; ninety were sentenced to death, of whom fifteen were eventually executed. Blackader, as a senior officer, chaired a number of courts-martial, including those of Éamonn Ceannt
Éamonn Ceannt
Éamonn Ceannt , born Edward Thomas Kent, was an Irish republican, mostly known for his role in the Easter Rising of 1916.-Background:...
, Thomas Clarke
Tom Clarke (Irish republican)
Thomas James "Tom" Clarke was an Irish revolutionary leader and arguably the person most responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising. A proponent of violent revolution for most of his life, he spent 15 years in prison...
, Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...
, Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
, and Joseph Plunkett, five of the nine signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. It appears that Blackader found this task difficult; after Pearse's trial, he is reported to have commented that "I have just done one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do. I have had to condemn to death one of the finest characters I have ever come across. There must be something very wrong in the state of things that makes a man like that a rebel. I don't wonder that his pupils adored him."
38th (Welsh) Division
On 21 June, Blackader was ordered to leave the brigade and go to France; he described the news of the unexpected posting as "like a bombshell". On 9 July, when the "ignorant" Ivor PhilippsIvor Philipps
Major-General Sir Ivor Philipps KCB, DSO was an English officer in the British Indian Army and a Liberal Party politician. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1922.- Early life :...
was removed from command of 38th (Welsh) Division, which had failed in an attack in the early stages of the Battle of the Somme, Blackader was named as the preferred replacement by Henry Horne, the corps commander. He was overruled, however, with the command temporarily given to Herbert Watts
Herbert Watts
Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Edward Watts KCB KCMG was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding 7th Division during World War I.-Military career:...
, an experienced divisional commander. Under Watts, the division successfully took its objective, Mametz Wood, though with severe losses; within a week, Watts was back in command of 7th Division and Blackader had taken permanent command.
The division had been raised in the New Armies in 1914 with a strong sense of Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
patronage, and many of its officers had been personally appointed by Lloyd George; as a result, political convenience had often taken priority over military competence when selecting officers. Under Blackader, a new officer from outside the Welsh Liberal milieu and able to sack his subordinates as he saw fit, the division's standard improved significantly. It saw service at Pilckem Ridge in the early stages of the Third Battle of Ypres, but from September 1917 onwards it was kept on relatively quiet defensive sectors. The division trained through this period, and in April 1918 was able to mount a limited brigade-size attack, which whilst it involved heavy losses was a clear success in a way that would not have been possible two years earlier.
In late May 1918, Blackader was relieved of command and replaced by Thomas Cubitt
Thomas Cubitt (British Army officer)
General Sir Thomas Astley Cubitt KCB CMG DSO was a British Army officer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who commanded a division in the First World War and in retirement served as Governor of Bermuda....
, a younger officer. This was not apparently due to incompetence or age – Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig was a British soldier and senior commander during World War I.Douglas Haig may also refer to:* Club Atlético Douglas Haig, a football club from Argentina* Douglas Haig , American actor...
had described Blackader's achievements with 38th Division as "excellent" – but due to illness; according to Gary Sheffield
Gary Sheffield (historian)
Professor Gary Sheffield is an English academic at the University of Birmingham and a military historian. He has published widely, especially on the First World War, and contributes to many newspapers, journals and magazines. He frequently broadcasts on television and radio.Sheffield studied...
, he had fallen ill after "being licked by a rabid dog". Under Cubitt's command, the 38th Division would build on its past training and fight through the Hundred Days Offensive
Hundred Days Offensive
The Hundred Days Offensive was the final period of the First World War, during which the Allies launched a series of offensives against the Central Powers on the Western Front from 8 August to 11 November 1918, beginning with the Battle of Amiens. The offensive forced the German armies to retreat...
with great success. In November 1918, Blackader was appointed to command the Southern District in Ireland.
For his service in the war, he was appointed an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the King in 1916, and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1917. He was also made a Commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold, and awarded both the Belgian and French Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
.
Blackader died on 2 April 1921, at Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital, Millbank, survived by his wife and two daughters, and leaving a small estate of just under £450. There is a memorial to him in the regimental chapel in Leicester Cathedral
Leicester Cathedral
Leicester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Martin, Leicester is a Church of England cathedral in the English city of Leicester, and the seat of the Bishop of Leicester...
.
Further reading
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