Clarence George Blencowe  [6631]

Died of wounds 1st September 1918

1879-1918

Fathers Name: John Abraham Blencowe 1847 Longford Tasmania – Oldest Known Ancestor: Thomas Blencoe died abt 1755 Kings Sutton. * DNA link Thomas Blencowe 1475 Marston St Lawrence.

Mothers Name: Annie Christina Brown.1878 Victoria

Marriage Dt:1904, Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950, Name: Clarence Geo Blencowe. Spouse Name: Elizth Ellen Cusworth, Marriage Place: Victoria Registration Year: 1904, Registration number: 24

Kin Comments:

WW1: Brother Lewis Victor 5th Bn., killed in action, Gallipoli, 25 April 1915.

WW2: Son Francis Leslie and brothers Francis William Blencowe  Sidney Blencowe and John Clarence Howard served in WW2

Spouse Comments: Elizabeth Ellen Custworh

Children: Ernest George 1904, Herbert John 1905, Kenneth 1900, Clarence O’tina 1908, Keith Cusworth 1910.Francis Leslie  1914.

(Research):MW

1882 Birth approximated no record

1903 Electoral Rolls Kooyong, Kew, Victoria

C1905 1 year Victorian Rangers

C 1906 10 years service with Victorian Garrison Artillery both probably part-time reserve roles.

1909 Electoral Rolls Orrong, Balaclava, Victoria

1914 Electoral Rolls Orrong, Balaclava, Victoria

Occupation 1916: Gardener

Online War Photo Album	Signals Patch and 23rd Battalion Shoulder Patch

WW1

Clarence George Blencowe, 1879, Victoria, Sergeant, 6764A,23^rd Bn. Aust.Infantry.

1916

• Mar. Enlisted in the AIF at Prahran in March 1916.
• Jun. Discharged from the AIF in June 1916 because of his appointment as a Company Sergeant Major in the Instructional Staff.
• 27^th Jun. Attested as a permanent member of the Instructional Staff. Clarence spent 8 months with Instructional Staff from enlistment in June 1916 to joining 2nd Bn AIF in Feb 1917. 

• 

1917

• 16 Feb. Join the 2nd Bn AIF as a Permanent Sergeant
• Formed Victoria February 1915. Departed Melbourne on the ship Euripides 8 May 1915.
• 21^st Nov. Clarence was with the 20^th Reinforcements which departed Melbourne on the SS Nestor.
• 15^th Dec. Disembarked Suez.

1918

• 5^th Jan. Entrained to Battalion at Gabbary. Embarkation from Egypt on HMT Abbasia to Italy
• 13^th Jan. Landed Taranto Italy then onto Southampton 23 Jan 1918
• 23^rd Jan. 6^th Training Bn. Southampton. Note: Enlisted with rank Sergeant previously Staff Sgt. Major Instructional Staff Allotted letter A to Serial numbers as duplicated.
• 7^th Apr. Proceeded to France.
• 8^th Apr. Posted to No. 2 Coy AIBD
• 11^th May. Taken on strength at Mericourt. This day the battalion was under Gas bombardment. Clarence a Signals Sergeant presumably took over a signals unit in one of the Coys of the 23^rdd Bn.
• 15^th May Buire Sur Ancre. Bn. relieved 24^th Bn. AIF in the front line in front of Dernancourt.
• 19^th May.The capture of Ville Sur Ancre. A raiding party crossed the river and captured Machine Gun posts in  Ville Sur Ancre eventually expelling the enemy and taking the village.
• 20^th May. Bn relieved and moved back (towards Amiens) via Heilly to Bonnay area. Casualties for May 49 including 7 killed.
• 1st -8^th Jun. Buire Sur Ancre. Front line Casualties 3 OR’s.
• 19^th Jun. Raid carried out but was unsuccessful. 3 OR’s killed 1 Officer and 17 OR’s wounded.
• 28^th Jun. Bn. moved to Blangny Tronville near Amiens.
• 1^st Jul. In trenches near Tronville Woods. Battle order issued on 2/3^rd Jul.
• 4^th Jul. The Battle of Hamel. The Bde in the line NE of Villers Brettoneux. The attack made good use of Tanks to clear out obstacles ahead of the Infantry. Successful attack; German guns and 80-90 POWs were taken. Casualties 1 Officer 9 OR’s 4 Officers wounded and 61 OR’s wounded.
• 7^th Jul. Bn relieved of forward position by 18^th Bn. AIF. returned to Blagny Tronville.
• 19^th Jul. Bn relieved the 26^th Bn AIF in the line SE Villers Brettoneux
  22^nd Jul. Severe gas shelling resulted in the Bn suffering 90 casualties
  24^th Jul. The raid by the enemy on Craft Trench resulted in 3 wounded.
  26^th Jul. Heavy rain makes trenches in a very bad state. One man shot accidentally as he laid out a tape for engineers. indicates a state of jitters in the trenches at the time
• 27^th Jul. American troops from 129^th Infantry attached to the battalion. relieved on 31st.
• 2nd Aug. Front line E. Villers Brettoneux near support.
• 7^th Aug. Bn Preparing for an attack. Enemy shelled ‘C” Coy Signalling office killing  3 men. The enemy also shelled and destroyed 15 supply tanks.
• 8^th Aug.Battle of Amiens -Hundred days war. An Impressive force went off early on this morning taking the enemy by storm, 23^rd Bn. rounding up captured POW’s as they went. By evening the force had halted between Warfusse and Marcelcave.
  • 9^th Aug. 8:30 am the Bn was ordered to move forward passing Marcelcave, Lamotte and Weincourt before halting for rest W. of Guillaucourt for the day.
  • 10-11^th Aug. Moved forward in support past Vauvillers and onto Herleville an advance of 9km and overall of 18km since the attack started.
  • 12-13^th Aug. Herleville front line. Raid on the 13th resulted in the capture of  3 heavy and 17 light machine guns. 1 man killed 2 wounded in this raid.
  • 15^th Aug Herleville. A counter-attack by the enemy repulsed.
  • 16^th Aug. Herleville. Bn posts pushed forward to Madame Wood.
  • 17^th Aug. Herleville. Heavy trench fighting as  Bn. Coy’s moved through trenches to Saurien Trench and eventually attacked The Maze.  Casualties 5 OR’s killed 10 wounded.
  • 18^th Aug. Hereleville. Continued trench fighting mopping up the Maze (a tangle of trenches) took some time and then the Bn. continued to fight for more enemy ground.
  • 19^th Aug. The Bn. relieved to the rear at Daours.
  • 20-24^th Aug. Rest and re-organise at Daours
  • 25th Aug. Bn. bussed to Proyart about 18km.
  • 26-27^th Aug. Moved to Cappy via Foilly. 6km.
  • 28-30^th Aug. Herbecourt. Bn. moved to Herbecourt. 6km.
• 31^st Aug.-1^st Sept. Fatally Wounded Mont St Quentin. The 23^rd Bn. was attempting to relieve as part of 6^th Bde. the 5^th AIF Bde. which had captured the village of Mt St Quentin and Feuillaucourt when Clarence was fatally wounded, by a shell.
  • 31^st Aug. The battle commenced at 5.00am (05:00) with the Australians crossing the Somme after an Artillery Barrage and attacked Mont St. Quentin from the North West. The Australians had to advance uphill over open ground to dislodge the Germans. The Australians attacked the Brasso Redoubt and then headed towards the Gottlieb Trench. The attack by the Australians by its sheer ferocity of yelling and shouting and a bayonet charge by the 20^th Bn. demoralised the Germans who thought that they were being attacked by a superior force allowed for the capture of the Gottlieb Trench causing a large number of the Germans to flee down the slopes. By 7.00 am (07:00h) a period of two hours from the commencement of the attack by the Australians they had occupied the village of Mont St. Quentin. Unfortunately due to their small numbers, they were unable to hold the high ground against a counter-attack by the reserve element of the 2nd German Guards Division and they were forced to withdraw from the summit to positions just below it. ¹
  • 1st Sept. The 6^th Brigade was ordered to pass through the exhausted 5th Brigade and renew the assault at 6 am with the objective of establishing a line east of Feuillaucourt and Mont St Quentin. The 23^rd and 24^th Battalions moved off to attack with the 21^st Battalion in support. The two leading battalions suffered casualties from machine-gun fire in the village and heavy artillery shelling and were held up on the slopes. It is very likely this is the point at which Clarence was hit by a shell and is lying badly wounded as the 23^rd decimated did not form the main force (The 21^st and 24^th Battalions ) that at 1:30 pm attacked the village itself and by 3:30 pm through to the east of the Village. Having cleared the village and passed through the wood. German snipers and machine-gunners were reported as running away.² Casualties were very heavy and Clarence paid the ultimate price for the capture of Mont St Quentin and what has been described as was one of Australia’s finest fighting achievements.
  • 1^st Sept. Taken to 6^th Australian Field Ambulance at Cappy for treatment of shell wounds to shoulder. Admitted to 53rd Casualty Clearing Station at Vecquemont. Died of wounds on the 1^st.

Note Lt. Frederick William Blencowe (from Victoria but not a blood relative) of the 24^th Bn. took part in this action. The 23^rd Battalion lost 21 men in this battle and over 90 wounded.

Sources

1. The Battle for Mont Saint-Quentin and Peronne by Matt Walsh.
2. Mont Saint-Quentin, Centre for the Battlefield Archaeology University of Glasgow.
3. 23^rd Bn AIF war diary.
4. Complete Service Records.

Buried at Daours Communal Cemetery Extension: Grave IV.F.27

Medals

Awarded the 1914-15 Star, British and Victory medals

In about 1921-22 Elizabeth Blencowe would have received a Scroll and Plaque from the King and more importantly an Australian War widows pension of 4 Pounds 15s per fortnight for a family with 5 children (note 4 maximum pensioned), compared with her British equivalent War Widow she was less well compensated, the British widow with 5 children getting 6 Pounds 2s 6d per fortnight.

Memorial

 

 

Clarence is buried at Daours Communal Cemetery Extension , Daours, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France. Plot: IV. F. 27.

Gallery