Augustus Thomas Blencowe  [4130]

1882-1935

Known as Thomas.

Father Nm: Thomas Blencowe 1847-1890 oldest known ancestor -Thomas Blencowe C1475 Marston St Lawrence.

Mother Nm: Maria Hinves  1849-1906.

Marriage Dt:

K comments:

Spouse Comments:

Children:

Note: Identified by WW1 Army papers, Birth is given as Camberwell and next of kin sisters Edith Painter (Blencowe) and Florence Crook (Blencowe). His Father died in 1890 so his mother was a widow with several children Thomas does not appear with his Mother in 1891,1901 or 1911 Census records although Edith and Florence his siblings do. There is a sibling Augustus born in Oct. Quarter of 1882 so I suspect the name changed later to Thomas in memory of the father.

Birth 12 Sept 1882 Camberwell

(based on the information provided to the Army at enlistment)

1881 Census

1. Thomas Blencowe 33
2. Maria Blencowe 31
3. Florence Blencowe 4
4. Edith Blencowe 3
5. William H. Blencowe 1

1891 Census Albert Rd Camberwell

1. Maria Blencowe 42
2. Florence Blencowe 15
3. Edith Blencowe 13
4. Augustus Blencowe 8
5. Ethel H Blencowe 2

1901 Census Peckham

1. Maria Blencow 55
2. Edith Blencow 23
3. Augustus Blencow 18
4. Ethel Blencow 12

1911 Census Boarder Camberwell

Blencowe Augustus Boarder 1884 27

East Kent Regiment

WW1

Blencowe Thomas, Private, G/3205, 7^th Bn. (The Buffs) East Kent Regiment.

Occupation: Mechanic with W Tice and Co Southwark 1914.

Synopsis

Thomas had a very long war and can be said to have been very fortunate in surviving, given the casualties that his battalion took in the war. This could have been due to the fact that Thomas had some skills as a mechanic and maybe he was not in combat that much because of his duties. The 7^th Battalion East Kent Regiment had 1,114 killed during this period remarkable if we consider the full size of the battalion was just 1,007 men. In the Somme for two years he saw all the major battles, then in 1917 moved to the Ypres sector. At the end of the war, he was deep in the Mormal Forest a location that 4 years earlier had been the scene of the Retreat from Mons. Thomas was overseas until January 1919 and discharged in February having completed 4 years and 161 days of service.

1914

• 4^th Sept. Enlisted at Canterbury/medical Camberwell and the Norfolk Regiment is named to be his regiment initially.
• 9^th Sept. Posted to the 7^th Bn. East Kent Regiment. The 7^th (Service) Battalion, was raised at Canterbury in September 1914 as part of Kitchener’s Second New Army and joined the 55^th Brigade, 18^th (Eastern) Division. The Division initially concentrated in the Colchester area but moved to Salisbury Plain in May 1915.

  

1915

• 28^th Jul. Entered France and concentrated near Flesselles (13 km. N of Arras). Albert is around 25 km. east of Flesselles.
• Aug. A week in Bray, in trenches under instruction. Marched back to Bonnay and 2 days later on to Dernancourt, then Meaulte on 25^th.

1916

• 1^st Jul. The Battle of Albert.
  

  

  The 7^th Bn. (Buffs) held the line in front of Carnoy, and its objective was a trench about two hundred yards north of the Montauban-Fricourt road. On the 1^st of July, the 7^th Bn. of the  55^th Brigade held the line in front of Carnoy, and its objective was a trench about two hundred yards north of the Montauban-Fricourt road. Zero hour was 07.30 hrs. and the following was the order of battle for the attack:

  • The 7^th Queens were on the left, the 8^th East Surrey on the right, the 7^th Buffs in support, with the special task of clearing the Carnoy craters, and the 7^th Royal West Kent were in reserve.
  • At 17:00 hrs. our barrage became intense and remained so till 07.22 hrs., at which time all guns of the Trench mortar battery opened for 8 minutes, and at zero hours the whole brigade went forward to the assault.
  • Local conditions necessitated the breaking up of the Buffs for several separate duties: Two platoons of ‘B’ Company, under 2^nd Lt.Tatam, were to clear the Carnoy mine craters.
    • Two platoons of the same company assist the assaulting battalions by clearing up captured trenches or ground.
    • ‘C’ Company to consolidate and garrison Pommiers Trench.
    • Two platoons of ‘D’ Company to act as carrying parties.
    • Two platoons of ‘A’ Company to garrison two selected localities of the Pommiers Trench.
  • The Carnoy mine craters took six hours to clear, and six hours of very heavy fighting it was. ‘C’ Coy. was soon called away to aid the East Surrey’s. as were later two platoons of ‘A’ Coy. In fact, these two platoons of ‘A’, together with one of ‘C’ Coy. reached the final objective and held that part of it allotted to the East Surrey Regiment until relieved by other troops. Again it became necessary about noon to send up half of ‘D’ Company to make good, part of the final objective of the 7^th Queen’s. There is no doubt that during the whole operation, which was carried out more or less as planned, our troops encountered far more opposition than was anticipated; particularly at the craters.
  • The battalion lost the following casualties on this day:
    • Killed: 4 Officers and 48 other ranks.
    • Wounded:2 Officers and 144 other ranks with 7 missings.
  • The Buffs remained in the front-line trenches till the night of 4^th/5^th Jul. and were heavily shelled.

• 14^th-17^th Jul. The Battle of Bazentin Ridge included the capture of Trones Wood. The division involved but not it seems the 7^th Bn.
• 30^th Sept. The Battle of Thiepval Ridge.

  

  After the allies had taken the Schwaben Redoubt over the period 23^rd – 26^th Sept. on the 30^th a German dawn counter-attack drove the 7^th Bn. and its Division from the south and west sides of Schwaben Redoubt; the south side was recaptured and the north side of the redoubt was taken at 1600 hrs. The 7^th Bn. suffered many casualties in 13 being killed.

• 1^st Oct – 11^th Nov. The Battle of the Ancre Heights in a confusing succession of attacks, the 18th and 39th Divisions struggled unremittingly to clear the Schwaben Redoubt of its last defenders and eventually re-capture the Schwaben Redoubt. On the 4^th Oct the 7^th Bn. suffered 13 men killed in one day of this fighting.
• 18^th Nov. The Attack on Desire Trench.

  

  The attack on Desire Trench was at dawn in conjunction with the Canadians on the right and the 19^th Div. on the left.  The 55^th Bde attacked for the Div. and reached the arranged line but was never able to link up with the 19^th Div. At the last minute, the 7^th Bn. were brought in (unprepared) to bolster the 18^th Div line but as they advanced they were shot mostly in the back as German snipers were positioned in shell holes in front of Desire Trench unknown to the battalions Officers. The Casualties for the battalion were severe, all the Officers were killed save one severely wounded and 68 men were killed on this day.⁴

• The Bn was relieved for a well-earned rest and to take on replacements and wintered in the Abbeville area.⁴

1917

• Feb. Operations on the Ancre. After the very hard winter of 1916 the Bn. returned to the Somme front line and were the first to discover the enemy was falling back. On the 23rd Feb, a night patrol found the German trench at south Miraumont. was abandoned. The Bn. was ordered then to advance and reached their target of a line near Irles without great resistance.
• The Germans retreat to the Hindenburg Line.
• 3^rd – 4^th May. The Battle of Cherisy.

  

  This was a rushed operation and with little time for getting to know the ground over which they were to attack. In the dark, it was even more difficult and enfiladed machine gun fire from Cherisy and Fontaine Woods mowed down the battalion which suffered its largest one-day loss of the war 123 dead.

• 28^th Sept. The Buffs were in St Jan Ter Biezen, where a hostile aircraft dropped bombs into the camp, doing a very great deal of damage. The men were in huts and tents and the area was a very congested one. It was dark when the aeroplane flew over and it dropped bombs resulting in the death of I Officer and 26 men. and the wounding of 3 Officers and 63 men.
• Jun-Sept. the summer of 1917 was quieter for the Bn. and by October they found themselves in the Ypres sector for their next major battle.
• 11-13^th Oct. Poelcappelle.

  

  In conditions not favourable for a successful attack, there was no shelter was to be had for the assaulting troops, who had to be out in the open, in mud and rain, close up to the front line and in full view of hostile aircraft; much detail in the way of attack orders was altered and amended at the last moment, and these details consequently could not be made known to everyone in time. The artillery barrage to precede the attack was also not effective. D Company got caught by the enemy’s gunfire and the whole front line came immediately under very heavy fire, particularly C, which suffered much from machine guns from the neighbourhood of Gloster Farm from point ’37’ D Company got through the houses and enclosures which were on its front, but, on emerging, met heavy cross machine-gun fire from Meunier House and The Brewery, and thus our attack was checked throughout our line. A and B, moving up in the rear so as to keep close, came in their turn under intense machine-gun fire, B Company especially suffering very severely. These supports were eventually merged into the leading line and every effort was made to struggle forward, but the heavy ground prevented anything but a laborious movement which was ill-suited to a rain of bullets, and at last, things came to a standstill. 12 and 13^th October both British and German Red Cross parties attended wounded by flying a white flag.³ The losses for the 7^th Bn. were devastating only 100 men fit returned to their camp⁴ and 108 and 25 killed on the 12^th and 13^th.⁵

1918

• 21^st– 5^th Apr. The German Spring Offensive.

  

  

  The 18^th Div. was positioned 16 km south of St Quentin in the Bois des Frieres area when the Germans attacked the 21^st. The 7^th Bn. was in the front line on the right of the division line at Vendeuil. The system of defence adopted consisted of the 7^th Bn. occupying old French trenches and the ruins of the village of Vendeuil. Some of the 7^th Bn. were in a mixed group manning a garrison in the ancient Fort Vendeuil.  ⁴.

  • 21^st Mar. The 18th division was outnumbered by 4 Divisions to one yet held out against this overwhelming force for 24 hrs. when the attack started. The 7^th Bn. both in the village and in the fort fought ferociously. However the 18^th Div. flanks of the 14^th and 58^th Divs. was giving way and so a retreat was inevitable. The Force was extracted and went west of the Crozat Canal 2,000 yds in the rear of Vendeuil.⁴ The 7^th Bn suffered heavy casualties this day with 27 men killed.⁵
  • 22^nd Mar. After crossing the Canal the 7^th Bn had settled in Frieres Wood near La Faisanderie .⁴
  • 23^rd Mar. Before dawn, heavy attacks were resumed by the enemy,. When the enemy reached the 7^th Bn. in Frieres Wood the resistance from the Bn. was stubborn they held out for a long time but eventually at 11:00 hrs. the order was to withdraw to an orchard south of Frieres Wood and they made defence here in old trenches. At the orchard, the Bn. made another stand for the rest of the day. Again though the force was overwhelming and the remnants of the Bn. retreated with the 55^th Bde..⁴ The Bn. lost 28 men killed this da.⁵
  • 4^th Apr. The Battle of the Avre. The 18th Div retreated over the next days about 60 km, to arrive near Villers-Bretonneux where it was planned to defend Amiens. The Germans pursued the depleted British army and on the 4^th of April, fifteen divisions attacked seven Allied divisions on a line east of Amiens. The 7^th Bn. much reduced played their part in the defence and at a cost, it was successful in halting the enemy. The 18^th Division had held off the German Guards Ersatz Division and 19th Divisions. Casualties were 11 dead for the day but as this was a reduced battalion size a significant proportion of its men were killed.⁵
  • 5^th Apr. The actions of Villers-Brettoneux. The Germans resumed their efforts and pushed the 18^th Division in the south, at which point Villers-Bretonneux appeared ready to fall but were repulsed by Australian 35^th and 36^th Bns. The 7^th Bn. appear not to have had a role in the fighting.
• 8^th Aug. The Battle of Amiens. In the first phase, seven divisions attacked, including the 18^th Div. The attack was successful taking the Germans by surprise. The British Fourth Army took 13,000 prisoners while the French captured a further 3,000. Total German losses were estimated to be 30,000 on 8^th August. The Fourth Army’s casualties, British, Australian and Canadian infantry, were approximately 8,800, exclusive of tank and air losses and those of their French allies.
• 22^nd Aug. The Battle of Albert After the summer of turning around the German advance it now fell to the 18th Div. to take part in the advance on the town of Albert. The 7^th Bn. played a significant part in the fighting (losing 36) killed on the 22^nd Aug. and help capture the town.

  

  For the old-timers of the battalion who had been at Albert in 1916, it wasn’t the town the soldiers had known, it was devastated with literally no buildings left standing.

  

• 11^th Sept. From this point on two Blencowes were serving in the 7th Buffs James Blencowe, Private, 25805 and Thomas himself.
• 18-19^th Sept. The Battle of Epehy. The attack on Copse ‘X’ ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ east of Ronssoy village (south of Epehy) was a hard close-quarter fight but eventually, the 7^th Queens ‘X’ copse and 7^th Buffs ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ copse prevailed.⁴ The 7^th Buffs lost 29 men killed on the 18^th and 10 killed the 19^th Sept.⁵

  

• 23^rd-24^th Oct–.The Advance through Mormal Forest. The Buffs and 18^th Division [4th Army] attacked to protect the operations of the 3^rd Army to the North. The country around them was different from that of the Somme which they had been used to. There were many hedgerows and ditches which affected the style of attack and defence. Arrangements for the attack were made with elaborate care.

  

  The area of advance was divided into portions with an objective at the end of each portion, and each piece of ground was to be gained at a certain time. The 55^th Bde. with Northants Regt., were for 3rd-5th objectives. The 55^th Bde. The attack was to be carried out “leap-frog fashion”. There was to be no creeping barrage but was to be proceeded with at the regular rate of one hundred yards in 4 mins, thus no one unit if instructions were carried out, could ever find itself unsupported by another through advancing too fast. This leap-frog system was even used within battalions. The Buffs arranged for C company on the right, and B on left, to take ground from the 2^nd objective to a certain line, and that A and B should pass through them for the 4^th objective, where the Northants would leap-frog the Buffs
  The Buffs were at their assembly position (west of Le Cateau) at 04:15 hrs, “suffering 15 casualties from shell fire on the way”. As they moved toward the line they came under heavy MG fire from the right flank. The Bde. in front had only got to the 1st objective. However, this was overcome by aeroplanes dropping bombs on the MGs. The second objective was passed by 08:00 hrs. The enemy’s opposition stiffened and there was a great deal of MG fire from the village of Bousies. At 12:30 Hrs, the Officer in charge of tanks reported that he had been in the village of Bousies with A Coy and that the Coy there was mopping up. At 14:40 Hrs all Buff’s Coys were on a road beyond Bousies. There was heavy MG fire from the high ground just in front. At 18:00 hrs, A and B moved forward and made good their objective by 19:00 hrs. An hour afterwards they were relieved by the Northants. The Buffs went into Bde. reserve. Casualties for the 23^rd Oct. were 20 men killed.⁵

• 4^th Nov. Advance through the Mormal Forest.

The 18^th Div. continued its advance through the Mormal Forest and while there was some resistance they made it through; but not without some casualties; among them Private, James Blencowe, 25805.

At the Armistice, the Division was in XIII Corps Reserve near Le Cateau and demobilisation began on the 10^th of December 1918.

Note: This was a very intensive and casualty set of war years for the 7th Bn. and it begs the question how did Thomas come through unscathed? An answer is –  We do not know which of the above 1915-1918 actions Thomas was involved in or what his combat role would have been. We do not know if he was wounded at any time during this period. What we do know is that generally serious wounds needed treatment in the UK and no such trips are noted in the records. We also know he had a pension file that was revisited in 1920 so he either had wounds or an illness that was proven to be war-related. Home leave would have been given probably twice during the war period.

1919

• 3^rd Jan. Returned home to the UK.
• 11^th Feb. Demobilised to class Z reserves and discharged. The Z Reserve was abolished on 31 March 1920.

Sources

1. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918.
2. Wartime Memories.
3. Poelcapelle.
4. The 18th Division in the Great War. By G. H. F. Nichols.
5. CWCG deaths at hut-six.co.uk.

Medals

Awarded the 1914-15 Star, The British and Victory medals.

After the War

A letter in Thomas’s file from their previous employer W Tice & Co Lighting Engineers and Experts Southwark.

The letter is from the Managing Director and indicates that as Thomas is a previous employee before the War, the company would be delighted to (damage in the page so either hire or interview ) him when Thomas was discharged from the army.

Death 1935 age 52

Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1935, Battersea Volume: 1d Page: 460.

Gallery

Note: there are 12 service records for this man that exist that are not shown in this gallery for copyright reasons.