Ernest Alfred Victor Blencowe  [4172]

KIA 15^thApr 1918

1884-1918

Known as Alfred or Arthur.

Father’s Name: Unknown

Note mother a widow at his birth. her husband John Blencowe [2595] c 29.5.1859 Souldern registered Bicester buried 24.9.1881 Cottisford:

Mother’s Name: Harriet Moss [3303] 1856 later to be Blencowe and then Massey.

(Research): GR[B] Bicester Dec 1884 Transcr Cottisford Parish Register.

Birth Oct-Nov-Dec 1884, Bicester, Oxfordshire

Volume: 3a, Page: 812.

1891 Census

Mother remarried to Eli Massey

1. Eli Massey 31
2. Harriett Massey 34
3. Albert H Blencowe 13
4. Rose E Blencowe 11
5. Margarite Blencowe 8
6. Ernest Blencowe 6
7. Dora Blencowe 3

1901 Census

1. Eli Massey 49
2. Harriett Massey 44
3. Albert Blencow 24 Horseman on Farm
4. Earnest Blencow 16 Sheperd
5. Dora Blencow 13
6. Perry Massey 7
7. George H Massey 4
8. Francis G Massey 2

1911 Census Juniper Hill, Oxfordshire, England

1. Eli Massey Head 49 Farm Labourer
2. Harriett Massey Wife 56
3. Ernest Alfred Victor Blincowe Son 25 Farm Labourer
4. Percy Massey Son 17 Farm Labourer
5. Harry George Massey Son 14 Male
6. Frances Gertrude Massey Daughter 12

Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derbys)	Machine Gun Corps

WW1

Blencowe Ernest Alfred Victor, 1884, Bicester, Private, 5840, 267112, 143575, 2/7th, 7^th Bn. Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, and Machine Gun Corps.

Synopsis

Recorded as Alfred in Army medal records but confusingly in some BFA database records he was also called Arthur. I have used Arthur in this document. A Hospital admittance in 1917 provides evidence that he was with the 7^th Sherwood Foresters in March 1917. This record further identifies that he had 9 months in the field at this time ie landed France about June 1916. The record tells us that he also joined the Sherwood Foresters in about March 1916.

His number 267112 was in the block assigned to the 7^th Sherwood Foresters in January 1917 renumbering of Territorials but we note that he was still using 5840 in March 1917. He is assigned another number 143575 at some time before 15 April 1918. Again before this date Arthur was detached from the 7th Sherwoods and attached to the Machine Gun Corps but no Coy or Battalion recorded at death. He appears to fighting with or alongside the 2/6th North Staffs regiment in April at the battle of Bailleul this is an assumption based on the fact that 33 men from that Regiment fell on the same day in that battle and buried at Steenwerck.

It’s noted that his military grave records for April 1918 at the CWGC state no MGC battalion but “formerly 7th Sherwood Foresters”. This is taken to mean a very recent transfer into the MGC from that battalion.

1914-1915

The 1/7^th was formed at Nottingham and the 2/7^th was formed at Nottingham in 1914, both as part of the Notts & Derby Brigade of the 46^th North Midland Division.

1916

Military Service Act was introduced in 1916, all men were deemed to have agreed to overseas service, and thus all Second Line units including the 2/7^th Bn. became available to be sent overseas.

• Mar. Arthur enlists with the Sherwood Foresters
• June. Arthur embarks for France. It is assumed that Alfred was with the 1/7^th Bn. of the 46^th Division.
• 1^st Jul. The diversionary attack at Gommecourt.
• “Gommecourt, located about eight miles north of Albert, was the site of a ‘supplementary’ operation on the 1^st of July, 1916, with two aims – to draw some German reserves from the main Somme offensive further south and also to try to eliminate a German salient here in the lines, which was centred on Gommecourt Wood. The attack was mounted by VII Corps, with the 46^th Div. attacking to the north of the salient, and the 56^th to the south. The intention was for troops from the two Divisions to meet and thus ‘pinch out’ the salient here. The advance of the 56^th Div. went quite well initially, with the enemy’s first two lines taken, but there was more resistance from the third line. However, the 46^th Div. did not fare so well. The wire in front of the German trenches had not been cut by the barrage, and although a few men of the 1/6 South Staffords and 1/6 North Staffords did get into the enemy’s front-line trenches, they and the other attackers here (battalions of the Sherwood Foresters) had little success and were driven back with significant losses. To the south, men from the 56^th Div. eventually withdrew in the evening, and the net gain that day here was effectively zero.”⁶
• Casualties for the 1/7^th Sherwood’s on this day were 171 men KIA.⁵

1917

• 24^th Mar. Arthur was admitted to No 11 Casualty Clearing Station at Varennes, suffering from strained legs. Discharged the following day.  First name(s) A
  Last name Blencowe
  Birth year 1884
  Age 33
  Admission year 1917
  Hospital No 11 Casualty Clearing Station
  Rank Private
  Service number 5840
  Battalion 7
  Corps Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment)
  Discharge year 1917
  Disharge date 25 Mar 1917
  Archive The National Archives
  Series description War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen
  Piece MH 106/464
  Register type Hospital admission and discharge registers
  Description British other ranks, Royal Naval Division and Royal Marines.
  Record year range 1917 Mar. 18-Apr. 2
  Country Great Britain
  Record set British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers’ Medical Records
• 23^rd Apr. The Second Battle of Scarpe. Neuville St. Vaast

  

  Not much detail on this action but Sherwood’s casualties were high with 11 men KIA this day.⁵

• 13^th Mar. Attack at Rettemoy Graben. This position after being bombarded for a day was attacked by the 46^th Div. The 1/7^th Sherwoods lost 6 men KIA in this attack.⁵
• Mar-July. Advance towards Lievin. After the attack of 13^th Mar. the 46^th Div. relieved the 24^th Div. in front of Lens in the Lievin sector. From the time this line was taken over the line was slowly advanced 2,000 yards and the ground captured included Cite St Edward, Cite St Theodore, Cite Jeanne d’Arc, Cite de Riaumont, the Bois de Lievin, the Bois de Riaumont and the important tactical Hill 65 culminating in the attack on Lievin on 1st July.⁷
• In this time much hard fighting took place for instance during May and June the 1/7^th Sherwoods lost 40 men KIA in this advance.⁵

1918

Note On the 31^st Jan. the 1/7^th Bn. Sherwood Foresters absorbed the 2/7^th Bn. to become the 7^th Battalion Sherwood Foresters and transferred to the 178^th Brigade of the 59^th Div.

• 11^th Feb. Bullecourt. After a long period of rest and training, the Division took over the front line at Bullecourt on the 11^th, with HQ being established at Behagnies. Much work was done to strengthen the line for defence against expected enemy attack. ²
• 7^th Mar. A consolidation of 177^th MGC, 174^th and 175^th into 59^th Bn. MGC
• 24^th -25^th Mar. The Battle of Bapaume. The next ten days were chaotic, as parties and individuals reassembled and the location of HQ meandered west, going via Bucquoy, Bouzincourt, Contay and Fienvillers to Villers-Chatel. On 1^st April, the remnants of the Division moved by train to the Poperinghe area in Flanders, leaving its artillery behind. New drafts of men arrived and on 5^th April the Division took over the front line at Passchendaele, without having had any real opportunity to assimilate these drafts let alone train them.²

“On 13 April, the Division (59th) was ordered to reinforce the Lys area that was under terrific enemy attack. 177th Brigade was split off to reinforce 19th (Western) Division north of Neuve Eglise (Nieuwkerke), while the rest moved to Westouter. A 6000-yard long line (that is, very thinly held) was taken over near Loker and here in the middle of 14 April, the units came under violent attack. The enemy broke through on the left and the British line crumbled. Bailleul fell and 176th and 178th Brigades fell back in disarray on Mont Noir (Zwarteberg). Losses had been heavy.”

So there is an open question is who Arthur was with on 15 April 1918 in the battle of Bailleul sector. Note: recorded by the CWGC MGC only

• 13^th -15^th Apr. KIA at the Battle of Bailleul.On 13^th April, the Division was ordered to reinforce the Lys area that was under terrific enemy attack. A 6000-yard long line (that is, very thinly held) was taken over near Locre and here in the middle of 14^th April, the units came under violent attack. The enemy broke through on the left and the British line crumbled. 177th Brigade was split off to reinforce 19th (Western) Division north of Neuve Eglise (Nieuwkerke), while the rest moved to Westouter. A 6000-yard long line (that is, very thinly held) was taken over near Loker and here in the middle of 14 April, the units came under violent attack. The enemy broke through on the left and the British line crumbled. Bailleul fell and 176th and 178th Brigades fell back in disarray on Mont Noir (Zwarteberg). Arthur was killed in this attack along with many men of his 178^th brigade.² Here a story of the North Staffs from that day. “The morning of April 15^th passed quietly, but at 4-30 p.m. the German attack was made on the flank, and it met with success. There was no frontal attack on the 5^th North Staffs., and they thought all was well, when suddenly, late in the afternoon, they received orders to evacuate their position within 15 minutes and retire beyond Bailleul, as they were being outflanked. In spite of an intense artillery bombardment and Machine-gun fire, this was successfully done with the loss of one officer and 50 men. The attack had commenced at 4-30 p.m., and by 6 p.m. the whole of the Division was in a position on the far side of Bailleul. The 59^th Div. after their retirement filled up a gap about two miles beyond Bailleul. The 5^th North Staffs, dug themselves in with their entrenching tools after daybreak on April 16^th, though they were exposed to machine-gun fire. The 5^th North Staffs, were attached for the time to a Brigade of another Division, and, for two days, 16^th and 17^th, were exposed to a heavy bombardment with very little cover, and helped to drive off several German attacks. On the 18^th they were relieved by a Bn. of the 51^st Div. The men fought splendidly, in spite of the fact that many of them were so very young, and had only just come out to France. The casualties during these days were six officers and 172 men including of course Alfred.¹ Note: Bailleul was not retaken by the allies until 30^th August 1918.³

Note: Official war list does not list Arthur missing until 18 June 1918 such as casualty reporting at the time.

Note in 1919 Arthur’s body was located at the German Cemetery in Steenwerck south of Bailleul This is 12 km south of Mount Noir where the main part of the 59th Div fell back to so this suggests he fell in this general area in the fighting.

Later the body was exhumed and taken to a British Cemetery at Steenwerck just 4 km away as part of the grave concentration work carried out by the 102 Labour Battalion a horrific task that these men carried out.

 

Sources

1. Andrew Hesketh at http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums.
2. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918.
3. Wikipedia.
4. War Diary 7^th Battalion Sherwood Foresters.
5. CWGC Database of casualties.
6. Gommecourt.
7. Breaking the Hindenburg Line – Priestley, R. E.

Medals

Awarded the British and Victory medals.

Burial

Arthur was initially buried sometime after the 15th April 1918 by the German Army he was buried without a cross at Steenwerck German Cemetery .

1919

• 8 October. Arthur’s body was exhumed from the German Cemetery inSteenwerck by the 102nd Labour Corps and moved 4km to the British Cemetery Steenwerck. His identity was incorrectly identified initially as Plancove and his regiment is just MGC. A number is recorded but incorrect at the time. He along with all the men in this report have no cross on the grave.

Final Burial

Le Grand Beaumart British Cemetery, Steenwerck
Departement du Nord
Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Plot: III. G. 1.

Additional Information:

Son of Mrs H. Massey (formerly Blencowe), of Juniper Hill, near Brackley, Northants.

Also remembered at Cottisford Church, Oxfordshire.

Annex.

59th Battalion MGC men who died 15 April 1918

note all in Belgium

Page 1 of 1

001	BROOKES	JR	131835	59TH COY	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
002	CHAMBERS	H	130271	59TH COY	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
003	DAY	HM	–	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
004	EDDOWES	HA	130502	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
005	FLYNN	W	130404	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
006	GILL	H	130513	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
007	GODDARD	C	58995	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
008	GRINSTEAD	A	130642	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
009	HEMBURY	F	16357	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
010	MORTENSON	A	–	59TH COY	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS
011	PEACOCK	E	T4/242816	3RD COY 59TH DIV TRAIN	15/04/1918	ARMY SERVICE CORPS
012	PERCY	AF	123750	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
013	REED	F	140078	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
014	WEBB	F	46835	59TH BN	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
015	WHITAKER	AH	14949	59TH COY	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)
016	WOMERSLEY	SP	–	59TH COY	15/04/1918	MACHINE GUN CORPS (INFANTRY)

Source Geoffs WW1 database

GALLERY

Note: there are 3 records that exist for this man that is not shown in the Gallery for copyright reasons.