Frederick William Blincko MM  [4419]

1892-1959

Father Nm:Hercules Frederick Blincko [3611] b. 1841 Lambeth c 5.4.1849 Lambeth J.Q. died Jun Q 1900 Lambeth : Oldest known ancestor – Thomas Blincow, 1729(d), Oxford.

Mother Nm: Emma Bourchier b. 1855, Lambeth, Surrey d. Q2 1903, Hackney

Marriage Dt:1921, Spouse Surname: Pickworth, Wandsworth, Surrey, Volume Number: 1d Page Number: 718.

K comments: Son Ralph Frederick James [12033] served with RAF in WW2 and was mentioned in dispatches; Brother Ernest Hercules Blincko  was KIA 1902 with the 2nd Dragoons in the South African war.

Spouse Comments: May Harriet Pickworth [7661] born 23.6.1894 died 1979 Greenwich Mar q .

Children:,Ralph Frederick James 1922, Kenneth F. H.1923.

(Research):GR[B] Lambeth March 1893 JD GR[D] Dartford June 1959.

Baptism 27 Jun 1894

Lambeth St Mary Borough: Lambeth

1900 School Attendance

Name: Fred Blincko
Gender: Male
Age: 7
Birth Date: 25 Dec 1892
Admission Date: 10 Jul 1900
School: Walnut Tree Walk School
Father: H Jno Blincko
Notes: Walnut Tree Walk School (0304) opened in 1875. Remodelled in 1907

1901 Census 75 Fitzgellan St Lambeth London

1. Blincko Clara  Collar Stitcher 20 
2. Blincko Amy  11 
3. Blincko Emma  75 
4. Blincko Fred 8 
5. Blincko Kate  Vegetable Maid Restaurant 18 
6. Blincko Minnie 13 
7. Blincko Alfred  Lift Boy 16 

1911 Census 49 Gilbert Road Lambeth

1. Blincko Amy Florence  Dressmaker 21
2. Blincko Emma  58
3. Blincko Frederick William  Printing Worker 18
4. Blincko Kate Maud Waiter (Not Domestic) 28
5. Blincko Minnie Dau Inn Hotel Service 23

1915 Occupation Compositor

Nichols and Sons, Westminster – as per Army records

Army Service Corps	Royal Fusiliers

WW1

Blincko Frederick William, 1892, Lambeth Driver, Lance Corporal, Army Service Corps. T4/160170, GS/73048 Army Service Corps, 5^th, 1^st and 24^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers.

1915

• 2^nd Dec. Enlisted as T4/160170 with the 53^rd (Young Soldier) Bn. Royal Fusiliers. A training reserve unit with no Regt. affiliation and used to recruit men. It was based at Catterick. ASC T4 designation defines Horse Transport Driver. On enlisting Frederick states occupation a motor driver, from which it can be presumed was a role he wishes to perform in the Army.
• Posted to ASC 221 Coy.

1916

• 8^th Mar. ASC 221 Company sent to France and the Coy. was transferred to 31^st Division.

  

  Frederick’s role of course was not a combat one so any descriptions of combat are purely to define the movements and fortunes of his assigned Division.

• Jul 1^st. The Battle of Albert*. VIII Corps (Lieutenant-General A G Hunter-Weston). Attack on Beaumont Hamel and Serre. The 31^st Division was positioned on the left of the attack, lay along the forward slope of the dip between Serre and Colincamps facing Serre village. the soldiers of the first wave left their trenches, passed through the British wire and lay down in No Man’s Land to await the end of the bombardment. This ceased at 7.30 a.m., and in front of Serre men of the 12th York & Lancaster (Sheffield City Battalion) and the 11th East Lancashires (Accrington Pals) who were the first wave stood up and tried to cross No Man’s Land. Just to the south, the attackers were of the 15th West Yorks (Leeds Pals) and the 16^th West Yorks (1^st Bradford Pals). The Sheffield City battalion men had laid white tapes which led to gaps in the German wire the night before, but when they attacked these were gone. The attackers were mown down by machine-gun fire, and there was an almost total lack of success here, although one company of the Accrington Pals did reach Serre, but were lost. Reinforcements, men of the 13th and 14^th York & Lancasters (the 1^st and 2^nd Barnsley Pals) were sent in, but were also stopped with no success, and the attack here was then suspended, with no gains made whatsoever.
• The Battle of the Ancre*

* the battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916

1917

• 5^th Feb -6^th Apr. Influenza.

  

  Invalided home and admitted to Mater Infirmary Hospital, Belfast for 33 days then transferred to the Holywood Military Convalescent Hospital, Belfast for 28 days.

• 8^th May. Transferred to 104^th Training Reserve Bn.
• 14^th Oct.-20^th Nov. Admitted to Military Hospital Catterick with mouth ulcers.

1918

• 27^th Jan. Transferred to the 5^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers
• 7^th Mar. Embarked for France.
• 8^th Mar. Joined 24^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers, 5th Brigade in 2^nd Division.
  • 24^th Mar. German Spring Offensive. The 24^th Bn joined the 17^th Bn just South of Ligny Thilloy to try to stop the German drive. Contact had not been made with the enemy when they withdrew and marched south-west along the Bapaume-Albert road. Between Pys and Le Sars the brigade to which both battalions belonged took up positions and met the German attack with rifle and machine-gun fire. But at noon fresh attacks were delivered. Grevillers and Bihucourt fell. These villages were on the north of the position held by the two Fusilier battalions, and their division was out of touch with the divisions farther south, the 24^th Battalion were compelled to retire from the neighbourhood of Le Sars.
• 23 Jul. Promoted to Lance Corporal 24^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers.
• 9^th Sept. 24^th Royal Fusiliers less one company in Hermies. HQ & one Company at Beaumetz.
• 10^th Sept. The one company in reserve and HQ, moved up to Hermies.
• 11-12^th Sept. Wounded in Cambrai Sector.
• 11^th Sept. Battalion in close support to 52^nd Light Infantry and 2^nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry, which were attacking Havrincourt projecting angle of the enemy’s line, at dawn on the 12^th Moeuvres was attacked by 57^th Division. ” Corporal Blincko thrown by a shell explosion injured back and suffered shock. Taken into No 5 Field Ambulance.” It is in this action that Frederick was recommended and awarded his Military Medal.

• 12^th Sept. Frederick admitted to No 6 Stationary Hospital at Fillievres, France. Meanwhile A & D companies of the 24^th Royal Fusiliers supported 52^nd Light Infantry and 2^nd Highland Light Infantry. B company was in Brigade Reserve. The whole of the Battalion eventually went into action in support of 52^nd L.I &  2^nd H.L.I.and reached their objectives.
• 13^th Sept. Bn at Chaufours Wood, N/East of Morchies. The Battalion was relieved on the night of the 13^th by the 17^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and proceeded to shelters at Chaufours Wood.

1919

• 1^st Jan. Frederick was injured playing regimental football. A ball hit him in the eye and he was diagnosed with scotoma a black spot in the vision caused by retinal detachment. It’s uncertain where this takes place as a reference to 44^th Casualty Clearing Station appears in the medical report (the unit was placed at Namur Belgium at this time).
• Admitted to 2^nd Army Ophthalmic Centre (Second London General Hospital St Mark’s College, 552 King’s Road, Chelsea).

  

• 7^th Feb. Awarded the Military Medal. The London and Edinburgh Gazette, Publication date:7^th and 13^th Feb 1919
• 2^nd May. Returned to England for discharge.
• 31^st May. Transferred to a reserve unit he was discharged from 7th General Hospital 31 May 1919 to Home Address 56 Fentiman Rd Clapham.

Sources

1. Army Service Records.
2. Royal Fusiliers In The Great War, C. O’Neill.
3. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918.
4. 24^th RF war diary translation Andy Pugh.

Medals

Awarded the Military Medal, British and Victory medals.

After the War

Married in 1921 to May Harriet Pickworth.

Electoral register

1923-1927 147 Balham Hill, Wandsworth with In-laws, the wife not mentioned in 1923, but there in 1925-1927

1930 29 Carmina Rd Balham

Frederick and Harriet

1931-1932 38 The Baths Tooting

1946 57 Hartland Rd Camden

Frederick, May, and sons Kenneth and Ralph Blincko

1956 89 Walmer Terrace Newham

Frederick, May, and Kenneth

1959 Death age 67 Years

Dartford, June 1959.

GALLERY