John Henry Blencowe  [4263]

Died 1925 of War related conditions

1888-1925

Father Nm: William Blencowe [3749] born 5 Jul 1860, Hinton in the Hedges Northamptonshire died  Feb 1940, Brackley. Oldest known ancestor – Henry Blincow abt 1764 Radstone Brackley.

Mother Nm: Dessie Paxton [8107] born 1861 Claydon, Oxon and died 1926 Brackley

Marriage Dt:

K comments: One of four brothers that served the others being Herbert  Royal Engineers, Alfred 83^rd Battery, Royal Field Artillery and  James 7th East Kent Regiment.

Spouse comments:

Children:

(Research): GR[B] Brackley June 1888 Whitfield ParishRegister.

Born 1888

1888 Whitfield

1901 CENSUS WHITFIELD

1. William Blencowe 40 Ag labourer
2. Desse Blencowe 39
3. Herbert Blencowe 15 Plough Boy
4. John H Blencowe 12
5. Alfred Blencowe 8
6. Beatrice E Blencowe 7
7. James Blencowe 3

1911 CENSUS WHITFIELD BRACKLEY NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

1. Blencowe Dessie Wife F 1863 Steeple Claydon 48
2. Blencowe William Head Hedge Cutter On Farm M 1862 Whitfield, 49
3. Blencowe James Son M 1898 Whitfield, 13
4. Blencowe Alfred Son Farm Labourer M 1893 Whitfield, 18
5. Blencowe John Son Waggoner On Farm M 1888 Whitfield 23

	Royal Field Artillery

WW1

Blencowe John Henry, 1888, Gunner, 105943, 315th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.

1915

Note: the evidence for John’s military unit ie 315^th Bde. is obtained from the Silver War Badge record, this indicates he was discharged from that unit. The 315^th Bde. was a second-line Territorial unit and so John presumably joined the Territorials in 1915.⁴ As to whether it was the 315^th Bde. we cannot be sure but there is evidence this may have been the case. Better records exist for Albert Endean 105946, RFA (close to John’s serial number) he was wounded in 1917 but was discharged in 1919 (as John was)
The assumption is made then that John joined the 315^th Bde. in France in 1916 and was with them in the 63^rd (Royal Naval) Division which had been originally the 2/I Northumbrian Brigade. In February 1917 the 315^th left the 63^rd to become an Army Brigade.

• 11^th Aug. Enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery 2^nd/1^st Northumbrian Brigade in the 63^rd Division. John was married in Oct. On 30^th November 1915. Brigade HQ moved to Retford in Nottinghamshire. 188^th Brigade went to York; 189^th Brigade to Retford and 190^th to Doncaster. The artillery moved to Retford, York and Doncaster, with the heavy battery RGA going to Hedon. It then remained at these locations.

  

• 9^th Nov. Landed in France.

1916

• May. In late May 1916, the artillery left for service in France, going at first to Heytesbury.
• 2^nd  Jul. Sailed to join 63^rd (Royal Naval) Division.
• 13-18^th Nov. The Battle of the Ancre.The British force attacked in fog and snow on 13^th November from the very same front lines from which the attack had failed so badly on 1^st July. Beaumont-Hamel was finally captured but Serre once again proved an objective too far. Considerable casualties were sustained before the battle was called off.

1917

• 11^th Feb. The 315^th Brigade RFA was moved from the Royal Navy Division and upsized with the addition of the 308^th and 260^th Brigades RFA. The detail changes were C (H) became D (H) / CCCXV [315] and right section C (H) / CCC VII [308] (from 61st Division), joined and made up D (H) to 6 howitzers.; and A/CCLX [260] (from 51st Division) joined Brigade and became C / CCCXV [315]; Brigade then became an Army Field Artillery Brigade.¹

Note: The 315^th Bde. RFA was now an Army Brigade and thus moved as needed from location to location not necessarily with a division. To track their movement and involvement in combat we can use any records of them and the death casualties recorded at CWGC.

• 23^rdApr. Oppy Wood. The 315^th Brigade was involved in this battle. On 23 April 1917, in a phase of operations during the Battle of Arras, British forces made an advance of between 1 and 2 miles which included ground at Gavrelle. It was decided to carry out the next stage of this advance but as a preliminary to it there would need to be operations on both flanks of the sector to be attacked. Oppy lay in the northern flank and both it and the village of Arles were to be captured by the British First Army. This attack went in on 28^th April but proved to be a failure.¹ Casualties for the 315^th Brigade in this period 10 killed.^2,3
• 7^th-11^th Jun. Battle of Messines Ridge.Casualties for the 315^th Brigade in this period 21 killed.^2,3 The battle for the Messines Ridge was an attempt by the Allies to capture land to the southeast of Ypres to gain control of the higher land in the Ypres Salient. Following the detonation of 19 massive mines under the German lines, the Artillery and Infantry would have taken full advantage of the disarray in the German lines. The line was advanced to capture Wytschaete and Oostaverne.

1918

Wounded at some point in the war as the award of an SWB indicates this, but discharge is after Armistice, indicating a wound later in the war maybe.

• 21^st-25^th Mar. Operation Michael. German Offensive. Located near Arras the 315th Brigade seems was overwhelmed in this attack and sustained heavy casualties, 13 killed.^2,3
• 4^th-5^th Apr.The Battle of the Avre. After withdrawal, it seems the 315^th Bde again came under attack near Villers-Bretonneux, in what constituted the final German attack towards Amiens in World War I. It was the point at which the Germans got the closest to Amiens. It was fought between attacking German troops and defending Australian and British troops. The 315^th had casualties and 7 were killed.^2,3
• 30^th-31^st Aug. Second Battle of Arras. On 26^th August, the British First Army widened the attack by another twelve kilometres, sometimes called the Second Battle of Arras. The 315^th Bde. suffered casualties on both 30^th and 31^st, 6 being killed (Note: most buried at Achiet le Grand suggesting they were just south of Arras).^2,3
• 20^th-21^st Sept. The Battle of Menin Road. Part of the push towards Gouzeaucourt the 315^th Bde. in heavy battle and casualties again high losing 9 men on ^{the 20th} Sept.^2,3
• 2-3^rd Oct. From casualties we can see that the 315^th Bde. were in the region of Vis en Arties about halfway between Arras and Cambrai. Casualties 3 men were killed.^2,3

Note: Most 315^th Bde. deaths recorded after 3^rd Oct and up to the end of the year in CWGC have burials far from the field of combat suggesting these listed are the main combat locations and at one of these John received wounds, most likely not serious enough to allow to be treated and returned to a reserve unit suggesting the later part of 1918.

1919

• 16th Jan. Honourable discharge from the 315^th Bde. unfit to serve due to wounds.

Sources

1. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918.
2. Geoff’s Database
3. Commonwealth War Graves Commission
4. Silver War Badge Records.

Medals

Awarded 1914-15 Star, British, Victory medals and the Silver War Badge. John was entitled to wear one wound stripe at least on his dress uniform. Silver War Badge Record.

Name: John Henry Blencowe Discharge Unit: 315 Bde. R.F.A., Regiment Number: 105943 Rank: Gr.Badge Number: B101350 Unit: Royal Field Artillery (Charlton; Woolwich), Piece: 2974 List Number: RA 2701-3000, Record Group: WO Record Class: 329.

After the War

1921 Census

At home with family likely unemployed.invalided from war

William	Blencowe	Head	Male	1860	60	Hinton, Gloucestershire, England	–	Farm Labourer
Bessie	Blencowe	Wife	Female	1861	59	Claydon, Oxfordshire, England	–	–
Herbert	Blencowe	Son	Male	1886	35	Whitfield, Northamptonshire, England	–	Plate Layer G E R Coy
John Henry	Blencowe	Son	Male	1888	33	Whitfield, Northamptonshire, England	–	–

Death 1925 Age 36 year

In 1925 John died age 37 and this may well have been from war wounds.

Headington, Oxfordshire, Volume: 3a, Page: 994.

BURIAL

GALLERY

Note: there are 4 records that exist for this man that is not shown in the Gallery for copyright reasons.