Blencowe Francis P 1895

Francis Porter Blencowe   [4503]
1895-1978

Father Nm: Henry Prescott George Blencowe 1858-1921 born 1858 Bristol, Gloucestershire died in 7 May 1921  Tunisia

Mother Nm: Hannah Mary Jowitt.b. 1855 Bishop Thornton, Yorkshire, England d. 1942 Edinburgh, Scotlan

Marriage Dt:1916 to Lydia May Blake [7750] Mar Q 1916 Tynemouth

Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1916, Registration district: Tynemouth, Inferred County: Northumberland, Volume Number: 10b, Page Number: 462.

K Comments: Father was a J.P. and a Major in the Border Regiment before the war

Spouse Comments: Lydia May Blake 1897–1976
birth 8  Dec1897 • Gateshead, Durham, England
death Oct 1976 • Brighton, East Sussex, England

Children: Lydia Yvonne 1923,

Born on 12 Oct 1895

13 years before mother married Henry PG Blencowe, his biological father (Research): GR[B] Whitehaven 12 Oct 1895 Born Bideford Devon.

Malvern College 1910-13.
South Staffs
South Staffordshire Regiment Royal Flying Corps
WW1

Blencowe Francis Porter, Private, 2rd Lieutenant, 3rd Bn. and 2nd Bn. South Staffordshire Regiment, Royal Flying Corps, Attached Royal Air Force.

Synopsis

Francis was to have varied experience in the war first home-based, he then went to the Somme in 1916 with the 2nd South Staffs Regiment and took part in the battle of Delville Wood. After this, he trained to be a Flight Officer Observer and saw action in 1917 over the fields of Flanders. He was shot down on one flight and was extremely lucky to survive. This experience may have brought on Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and in 1918 was discharged unfit to serve. However, by WW2 he was fit and healthy and served again with the RAF in that war.

1915
  • Francis joined the Army with the 3rd Bn. South Staffs Regiment A depot/training unit, it remained in the UK throughout the war. Moved on mobilisation to Plymouth and in May 1915 to Sunderland. Moved again in November 1916 to Forest Hall (Newcastle) for duty with the Tyne Garrison. He attended Officers Training College.
  • 19th May. Appointed 2nd Lieutenant 3rd Bn. South Staffs, Gazetted on 18th May.
1916
  • Francis sent to France before 3 June,
  • 3 July.. Francis joins the 2nd Battalion at Cabaret Rouge in the Souchez sector.as per war diary extract

    location of Cabaret Rouge
  • 13 July. Marched from Cablain  l Abbé to Villers Bois to take over the line briefly then through July marched south over a few days to the Somme and Deville Wood.
  • 27-29 July. Battle for Delville Wood. This was Francis first major combat as the battle for Delville Wood continued and his battalion part of the relief made by his 2nd Div. of the frontline. “On 27 July, every British gun in range, fired on the wood and village from 6:10 –7:10 a.m., as infantry patrols went forward through a German counter-bombardment, to study the effect of the British fire. The patrols found “a horrible scene of chaos and destruction”. When the bombardment began, about sixty German soldiers surrendered to the 2nd Division. The 2nd S Staffs lost 72 men in this operation.
  • 15 August. Admitted to a No 34 Casualty Clearing station at Vecquemont, with Tonsillitis transported on the 16th on the No 30 Ambulance train to a port and then onwards to England .
  • 19 August. Admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital at Millbank in London with tonsillitis he was discharged on the 23 August. The records shows he was 2 months in service under this S Staffs command  and 11 months since entering the Service ie May/July 1915.

    Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital At Millbank
  • We know this from medical records that show in 1916 admitted to No 34 Casualty Clearing Station and then 2nd General Hospital at Le Havre, The No 34 CCs was at these locations in 1916  Jan 1916; Boulogne 1 Feb 1916; Heilly 2 May 1916; Daours 4 May 1916; Vecquemont 10 May 1916; Grovetown 14 Sept 1916; La Chapellette (near Peronne). It could be at any of these locations he was taken in for treatment either wounded or sick.
2nd General Hospital Le Havre was situated in the Casino Lechin
1917
  • After the August 1916 hospitalization of Francis nothing is found about his whereabouts as he isn’t mentioned in the the 2nd S Staffs war diary. It appears that Francis gazetted in mid 1917 was appointed to  flight training role possibly as early as September 1916 and may have not returned at all to the western front after his tonsilittis sickness
  • 1st Jul. Gazetted as a Special Reserve Officer South Staffs Regt.
  • 16th Jul. Seconded to No 4. Squadron Royal Flying Corps (London Gazette 2 Aug 1917)
  • 17th Jul. Graduated as a Forward Observation Officer FOO. No 4 Squadron.

    Photo of the Royal Aircraft Factory, R.E.8 flown by 4 Squadron
    Photo of the Royal Aircraft Factory, R.E.8 flown by 4 Squadron and the Aircraft That Francis was twice to crash land in.

The No 4 Squadron concentrated on the reconnaissance role, standardising on the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 in 1916. In the Battle of the Somme, 4 Squadron flew contact patrols keeping track of the position of advancing troops at low-level, in addition to more regular reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions. It was re-equipped with the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8, the Squadron remained equipped with the R.E.8 until the Armistice with Germany on 11 December 1918.

  • 11 Jul. Sortie flying A4715 an RE8 was forced to land in a  field south of Poperinghe hit a rut and overturned onto artillery observation. 2Lt WG Morgan Ok and 2Lt FP Blencowe Ok.
  • 16 Jul. To be Flying Officer (Observer) with seniority from 16th Apr.1917 and to be seconded.
  • 28th Jul. Battle of Passchendaele. While on a Photo operation for the upcoming battle the aircraft he was in the Hawker Siddeley F.E.8 No A/4691 was attacked by enemy aircraft (5EA). The pilot Sgt. W.R. Clarke was shot and seriously wounded. Francis seated behind the pilot (just 13 days after graduation) was compelled to take over the control of the Aircraft which was via a push-in joystick and access to the foot rudder controls. Francis got the machine back to the airfield but crashed the plane on landing in a field near Godewaersvelde. Francis was wounded (Shock).

wr-clarke

Note: William Robinson Clarke (shown above) was the only black West Indian pilot in the RFC at this time he had joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 as a driver and later became a pilot. He did survive this mission.

  • 14th Sept. The shock that Francis suffered was not treated immediately and it was two weeks later he was sent to Hospital unfit for service (Shock).
  • 19th Sept. Unfit for any service 3 months, to hospital for 1 month.
  • 13th Oct. Still unfit for duty given Light Duties.
  • 11th Dec. Unfit for any service, 6 months to Convalescence hospital.
1918
  • 4th Apr. Permanently unfit for any further service.
  • 4th May. Relinquished Commission.
  • 9th Aug. Discharged. An article retired from service Birmingham Daily Post 14 August 1918

Here is an account from a 4 Squadron diary; By 25 June 1917 Haig had announced his readiness for a new assault, and preparations were made with, again, no attempt at secrecy, leading the Germans to prepare also. The assault started on 31 July 1917, and although officially called the Third Battle of Ypres, it was more commonly known as the Battle of Passchendaele.
The assault was a failure from the start; the British advanced less than half a mile before being held by a determined opposition. The whole of the Front Line was pounded by shellfire, and with the heavy rainfall, this degenerated into a sea of mud. Men found that their advance was hampered as they sank up to their waist, the edge was lost and the attack faltered. The clouds were seldom above 1000 ft, but contact patrols were still flown as the RFC tried to pile on the pressure. Of forty-four patrols flown by aircraft of V Brigade on 31 July, fifteen were by 4 Sqdn. with the usual casualties being sustained;

Honourable Discharge 1920
Sources
  1. Royal Flying Corps (RAF) records for Francis from 1917-1918
  2. 4th Squadron War Diaries.
  3. RAF records.
  4. Royal Flying Corps History

Despite being effectively discharged for Shock illness Francis obviously recovered in the years between the wars and enlisted again into the RAF for WW2.

Medals

pair plus SWB
Awarded Victory, British medals plus Silver War Badge. These were sent to 50 Pembridge Villas, Bayswater London W11.

Francis was entitled to wear two wound stripes on his dress uniform. The photo shows a Pilot Officer in RFC uniform wearing one stripe on his left arm.

RFC wound Stripejpg

After the War

1926-1931 living in Kensington

London, England, Electoral Registers.

1939

Living at 21 Marchmont Rd Richmond, Surrey. Spouse Lydia and one other not named likely daughter Lydia.
Occupation: Technical Representative.

WW2

Blencowe F P, Flying Officer, 115102, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

1941-1943
  • Francis is recorded as a Flying Officer in these years. Note he was 44 at the outbreak of the war and it’s likely he was given this rank but in a non-operational role. A clue to his participation and role is that in 1944 he is recognised for his services by the Czechoslovakian government. I speculate that he was in some advisory role with the Czech pilots some of who served in an all Czech squadron, No. 312 Squadron RAF.

    312 Squadron pilots at RAF Harrowbeer in Devon in 1942 just after being decorated by Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš
1944

Silver Medal of Merit conferred by the president of Czechoslovakia

London Gazette 29 Aug 1944

Note: In April 1943, this award was instituted in two classes: bronze and silver. The medal was awarded for merit, without active engagement in action with the enemy, in connection with the liberation of the country.

Medals

francis porter tripleFrancis was entitled to the Aircrew Europe Star, the 1939-45 medal as well as the awarded Silver Medal of Merit from Czechoslovakia

Death 1978 age 82 yrs.

(Research): GR[D] Brighton vol 18 p 0397 June 1978.

Gallery


Note: there are 12 service records for this man that exist that are not shown in this gallery for copyright reasons.