Happy centenary birthday, Jim Blackburn

Former Chief Petty Officer Jim Blackburn BEM Ld'H turned 100 last week, and the Royal New Zealand Navy marked the occasion in style.

Ahead of his birthday, Blackburn was honoured at Devonport Naval Base, where his first stop was a visit to HMNZS Otago, a ship whose name has long been tied to his own story. Waiting for him were signal flags spelling out "JIM BLACKBURN 100", a sight he was clearly delighted to see.

The visit was followed by a function at the Senior Rates Mess, complete with a fleet acknowledgement, gifts, a birthday cake, and a congratulatory letter from Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding. The letter recognised Blackburn's remarkable milestone, his Royal Navy service in the Second World War, his later service with the RNZN, and the long-standing connection he has maintained with the Navy ever since retiring.

As long-standing president and now patron of the HMNZS Otago Association, Blackburn remains a regular guest at Navy graduations, and has had the particular pleasure of watching a great-grandson graduate and go on to serve at sea.

In a 2019 interview with the Navy's service magazine, Blackburn had no time for comparisons that put today's sailors below his own generation's standard, saying they were "just as good as we were. Just because we lived like pigs, doesn't mean they should." He returned to that theme during his centenary celebrations, suggesting today's sailors are probably better psychologically prepared for the job than he was.

"I was thrown into a war when I was 15 and they haven't been, so they're lucky," he said.

Blackburn joined the Royal Navy in 1943 as a telegraphist at just 15 years old, serving aboard HMS Duchess of Fife, a converted minesweeper, in the tense days leading up to the D-Day invasion. After the war, with times hard in England and Commonwealth navies recruiting, he made his way to New Zealand.

He served in the RNZN from 1952 to 1969, including time aboard the Dido-class cruiser HMNZS Royalist and the Rothesay-class frigate HMNZS Otago, a move he once described as going to a "five-star hotel" given the conditions he'd known aboard Royalist. Of the more recent regeneration of the Offshore Patrol Vessel HMNZS Otago, he said, "It does my heart good. It's a good ship and a great asset for the Navy."

His birthday celebrations at the Senior Rates Mess carried personal significance, given Blackburn's own hand in creating that mess, an amalgamation of the Petty Officers' and Chief Petty Officers' messes, and in becoming its first president. He spent many Fridays over the years helping cook lunches there, and still holds firmly to the belief that a ship's mess matters deeply to a sailor's life aboard.

The HMNZS Otago Association stands as another substantial legacy. Blackburn attended its inaugural meeting in 1961 and served continuously as President from 1992 until stepping down at last year's annual general meeting, when he was elected the Association's Patron. He recalls that in the 1960s the Association "ran across the bows" of Commodore Auckland and the Navy Office, who apparently viewed it with the suspicion usually reserved for a trade union.

"The association has always been strong, and it's the only one that's survived," he said. "You name it, we've had reunions for it, all over the country."

Bravo Zulu (Navy code for Well Done!), Jim, on your 100th birthday. Thank you for your continued contribution to our Navy.