Joseph Henry Blencowe [4150]
1883-1956
Father Nm: Joseph Henry Blencowe [3718] c 27.6.1858 Gawcott (Buckingham J.Q.) died 1943 North Bucks : Oldest known ancestor – William Blencowe, C1788, Buckingham.
Mother Nm: Annie Smith [6259] 1858.
Marriage Dt: 11 Jul 1906, Barnes Louisa Buckingham Vol. 3a Page 1951.
Kin comments:
Brother John emigrated and served with the Australian Army and Brother Frank served with Oxford and Bucks LI. and the Machine Gun corps
WW2: Nephew Eric John, Stoker, Royal Navy, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and died on the 6th of February 1944 near the Maldives. Nephew Ronald Frank served from 1940 as a Stoker with the Royal Navy.
Spouse Comments: Louisa Barnes 1889 Tingewick.
Children: Joseph William 1906-1975.
(Research): GR[B] Buckingham Sept 1883 GR[M], Buckingham Sept 1906 1891 Census* GR[D] N, Bucks vol 6a p 400 Dec 1956.
Birth 1883 Gawcott, Bucks.
1891 Census Guildford House, Gawcott, Buckinghamshire
- Jas Blencowe 32
- Annie Blencowe 33
- Fred Blencowe 10
- Joseph Blencowe 7
- Mary Blencowe 6
- William Blencowe 4
- Frank Blencowe 2
1901 Census High St. Gawcott, Buckinghamshire
- Joseph Blencowe 43
- Ann Blencowe 44
- Joseph Blencowe 17 farm labourer
- William Blencowe 14
- Frank Blencowe 12
- John Blencowe 6
1911 Census Main St Gawcott
- Joseph H Blencowe Sen 52
- Ann Blencowe 53
- J H Blencowe Junr 27 Masons Labourer
- William Blencowe 22
- Frank Blencowe 20
- John Blencowe 17
Oxford and Bucks LI | Royal Army Veterinary Corps |
WW1
Blencowe Joseph Henry, 1883, Gawcott, Private, 3014, SE/2984, SE/29842, Ox. & Bucks Light Infantry, 24th VMS, Royal Army Veterinary Corps.
Like his brother Frank, Joseph has a listing in the National Roll of The Great War and this helps to understand his service in two periods 1914-15 and later in 1917-1919.
1914
- 9th Nov. Joseph volunteered at Aylesbury to serve with Oxford and Bucks LI
1915
- 31st Mar. Discharged due to sickness after 133 days of service.
1917
In June 1917 he re-enlisted into the RAVC under the Derby Scheme and was drafted to Mesopotamia, where he was engaged in attending to sick and wounded horses at Baghdad, Kut, Amara, Basra and the River Tigris.
The information provided in the National role suggests that Joseph was with the 24th Mobile Veterinary section of the 13th Division. The 13th Div. was the only British division to serve in Mesopotamia, the main force being of Indian Army Divisions with some British Army units from Royal Artillery and British Infantry. The 13th Div. battles from June 1917 onwards indicate the locations that the 24th VMS would have been approximate during the following years.
- 18-20th Oct. Second Action of Jabal Hamrin
- 3rd -6th Dec. Third Action of Jabal Hamrin
1918
- 28th May 1918, Divisional HQ had moved to Dawalib and it remained there until the end of the war. In this inhospitable place, men endured summer temperatures as high as 111 degrees F in the shade. Many working parties were supplied for work on maintaining roads.
By 31st December 1918, all areas north of Kirkuk had been evacuated. On 11th January 1919, the Division – by now only some 12,000 strong – began to move south to Amara, and disbandment of the Division proceeded there during February 1919.
13th (Western) Division, the only wholly British Division to have served in Mesopotamia, ceased to exist on 17th March 1919. During the war, it had suffered 12,656 killed, wounded and missing, and 57,667 went sick (most of whom returned to duty, and this figure will include men who reported on more than one occasion).
1919
- Jul. Discharged unfit to serve due to having contracted Malaria in Mesopotamia.
Note on Regimental Numbers.
SE denotes SE – Army Veterinary Corps 9th Section.
From Great war Forum “SE” prefix to his number stands for Special Enlistment, believed to denote those who were enlisted into the AVC for the duration of the war. It is also thought that they were enlisted specifically to look after and manage horses (perhaps having come from an agricultural or equine-handling background) and although their formal rank was Private I have the papers of one who has the informal(?) rank of “Horse Handler.”
Sources
- National Roll of the Great War.
- Long Long Trail- The Army Veterinary Corps.
Medals
Awarded British, Victory Medals and Silver War Badge.
Silver War Badge Number: 474962 Unit: Infantry (Warwick).
Correspondence attests to Joseph’s battle to get recognised as worthy of the SWB, eventually, a letter from the Vicar of Gawcott gets the right result.
It seems that RAVC would not give SWB award as they had no records of his service with the Territorials (Oxford and Bucks) in 1915.
After the War
1939 Census
Main St Gawcott
Josph Henry General Labourer
Louisa Blencowe
Death 1956 age 73
North Bucks, Volume: 6a Page 400.
GALLERY
Note: there are 12 records that exist for this man that is not shown in the Gallery for copyright reasons.
Update from Clints Database
Bucks Roll of Honour 1914-16 O&BLI
Bucks Absent Voters List 1918 Hearn Street
Buckingham Advertiser & North Bucks Free Press 25/12/15 Blencowe JH Jun’r Bucks Btn – Buckingham Borough roll of honour
National Archives, Medal Index Cards recorded as 2 men:- SE/29842 AVC & 3014 O&BLI
Memorials/notes etc. Holy Trinity, Gawcott, roll of honour.(Jo invalided