ADVENTURES AND INVENTIONS OF STEWART BLACKER

Stewart Blacker (Soldier, Aviator, Weapons Inventor) followed his father into the Indian Army, and the first part of this memoir, edited by his son, describes a life spent reconnoitring signals stations on the Afghan border, traversing the Chinese "roof of the world", and in August 1914 meeting a patrol of Cossacks in Turkestan and hearing rumours of an impending war in Europe. Recalled with the Indian Army to Flanders Blacker pays tribute to his comrades' bravery in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, at the end of which a delayed warrant comes through for his arrest for travelling in China without a Chinese passport. The Corps commander has other things to think about. Blacker's inventions contributed to the war effort but when he tested the placement of a Vickers gun above the propeller on an early aircraft the result was a nosedive. Posted back to India, he trained recruits for service in Iran and Palestine. The Great Game between Britain and Russia was on again, and Blacker headed an expedition through Kashmir to Turkestan and Tashkent, where the Soviets did not have the nerve to arrest them. By the end of September 1918 he and his men had reached the Chinese Pamir range. When the order came to withdraw Blacker was disappointed to be deprived of the opportunity to crush the Soviet power in Turkestan, and the subsequent Bolshevik advance caused him pain on behalf of his loyal troops. On cessation of hostilities Blacker was appointed to the War Office, and in 1933 he was involved in a daring experimental flight over Everest. His account not only gives an impression of the awe-inspiring landscape but also provides the reader with technical details about air pressure, oxygen supply and telephonic communications. On the outbreak of World War II Blacker's anti-aircraft inventions, including the PIAT, the Bombard and the Petard or Flying Dustbin are all brought into service on the Home Front. 204pp, paperback, photos.