Valentine Blencowe  [3550]

Died 1923 from a war-related illness(gassed).

1885-1923

Father Nm: Thomas Blencow [1670] born 30.11.1859 Neithrop c 8.12.1860 Banbury died 8.11.1906 Banbury -Oldest Known Ancestor: Thomas Blencowe,1803, Bishops Itchington.

Mother Nm: Charlotte Ada Buzzard [3193] 1859.

Marriage Dt:30 July 1910 Banbury

K comments One of five brothers that served, brothers Alfred and Ernest KIA with the Oxford and Bucks.  Brother Thomas served with RNAS and his wife Edith with the WRAF. Brother Fred served initially with the same 109th TR Bn. KRRC that Valentine did.

WW2: Son Ernest Valentine was KIA 1941at Tobruk

Spouse comments: May Rosina Fenner was born 29 May 1886 St Olave, Bermondsey and died May 1958, Middleton Cheney. 1926 re-married to James P Charles 1878 Builder prior to 1939.

Children: Ernest Valentine 1911-1941, Cecil George 1913-1930 and Sophia May 1916-1997

(Research): GR[B] Banbury March 1885 JD GR[M] Banbury, Sept 1910 1891 Census.

Birth 14^th Feb 1885 Banbury

Source Army records.

1891 Census  9 Box Hedge Lane Banbury

Living with parents.

1901 Census Neithrop Oxon

1. Blencowe Tom Head Steel Iron Grinder Neithrop 41
2. Blencowe Charlotte Dau Neithrop 9
3. Blencowe Charlotte Ada Wife Neithrop 42
4. Blencowe Ernest Son Neithrop 7
5. Blencowe Fred Son Neithrop 11
6. Blencowe Alfred Son Neithrop 14
7. Blencowe Rosa Buzzard Dau Neithrop 18
8. Blencowe Thomas Son Neithrop 12
9. Blencowe Valentine Son Neithrop 16 Linen Cutter
10. Blencowe Sarah Dau Machinist Neithrop 19

1911 Census 36 Broughton Rd Banbury

Blencowe May Rosina Wife F 1887 Rotherhithe, Surrey 24 Blencowe Valentine Head Linen Cutter M 1885 Banbury 26

Spouse and Children lived at Brick House, Middleton Cheney during service however child Sophia was born in Middlesex in 1916. Army records show but registration in Banbury.

Kings Royal Rifle Corps	Army Service Corps

WW1

Blencowe Valentine, 1885, Banbury, Rifleman/Private, A/201179, T/446509 B/70323, 19^th, 16^th, and 6^th Bn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Army Service Corps.

1915

• 4^th Dec. Enlisted in Army at Banbury in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in a reserve battalion the 19^th stationed in the UK. Nb. The brigade became the 19th Training Reserve Battalion of the 4th Training Reserve Brigade.

1916

• 2^nd Apr. Mobilised to depot, rank Rifleman 19^th Training Bn.
• 1^st Sept. Transferred to 109^th Training Reserve Battalion of 26th Reserve Brigade at Wimbledon. (Note on 1 September 1916 the 19^th Bn. converted into 109th )

1917

• 15^th Mar. Army docs indicate with the KRRC 109th Training Reserve 13th Battery. In May 1917 was stationed at Seaford and it graduated in this with the 237^th Batt. The 237^th Graduation Bn. did not have a regimental affiliation. Note the 237^th had been the 19th Battalion of the Training Reserve (Valentines recorded Training Bn. ).
• It is sometime after this in 1917 when it’s likely Valentine went overseas with the 16^th Bn. of the 33^rd Division.

Movements of 16^th Bn. KRRC

1917 contd.

Valentine sometime after March joined the 16^th Bn. in France, he may have been in time to join the battalion’s main combat of 1917 the Battle of Arras. Private George Blencowe 1897, Whitchurch was already with the battalion at this time.

• 23^rd Apr. Arras,

  

  The action on the Hindenburg Line. On April 23 the 33^rd Division attacked a section of the Hindenburg Line between Croisilles and Fontaine-lez-Croisille.¹ The attack was made towards the northeast, astride the Sensee River, with the 100^th Brigade on the right, and the 98^th on the left.3 The 16^th KRRC were supporting the 1^st Queens attack which started from either side of the Croisilles/Fontaines Les Croisilles road towards the Hindenberg line and failed for a number of reasons. 2 Both battalions suffered very heavy losses in officers and other ranks. Casualties were 13 officers killed, wounded or missing out of the 14 who began the attack, losses among the other ranks were 26 killed 101 wounded and 308 missing. 7 of the officers were reported as German prisoners of war.² CWGC gives 76 killed for this day.⁴

• 20^th May. Hindenburg Line. The 16^th K.R.R.C, which had been out of the line since the affair of April 22/23, took part in another attack against almost the identical part of the Hindenburg Line where they had such an unfortunate experience the month before. They behaved as gallantly and had as bad luck as on the former occasion. The Brigade attacked with the 2^nd Worcestershire on the right, the Glasgow Highlanders in the centre, and the 16^th K.R.R.C. on the left; the 1^st Queen’s being in reserve. The advance began in a thick mist, and there was no bombardment. The surprise was complete, and they took the first line almost without resistance, so presumably, the wire had been well-cut. The barrage then came down on the enemy’s second line, and the advance was resumed under it. This line was strongly held, and the two leading companies were driven back on the other two, which were holding the German front line. The Battalion started consolidating this line with posts thrown out to the front, under heavy artillery fire all the time. At 10 a.m. orders came to prepare to renew the attack. The Battalion started making preparations to comply, though it had already lost nearly half its numbers. In the afternoon the orders for the 100th Brigade to attack were cancelled, and they were informed that two battalions from another brigade would pass through. This attack failed too. Consolidation went on all the next day, and the line was heavily shelled. On the night of the 22nd/23rd, the Battalion was relieved.⁵ The CWGC reports 56 men killed,⁴ this extract says fewer men killed and the wounded were 133 with  55 men missing.
• 24-27^th Sept. The Third Battle of Ypres.

• 

  • 25^th Sept. German Counter Attack. Return fire from the 33^rd Division and the 15^th Australian Brigade along the southern edge of Polygon wood, forced the attackers under cover around some of the Wilhelm line pillboxes, near Black Watch Corner, at the south-western edge of Polygon Wood. German attempts to reinforce the attacking troops failed, due to British artillery observers isolating the advanced German troops with artillery barrages.⁵
  • 26-27^th Sept. High command ordered the attack scheduled for 26^th September to go ahead but modified the objectives of the 33^rd Division.The 98^th Brigade was to advance and cover the right flank of the 5^th Australian Division and the 100^th Brigade was to re-capture the lost ground further south. Casualties in the 33^rd Division were so great that it was relieved on 27^th September by the 23^rd Division, which had only been withdrawn on the night of 24/25 September.⁵

1918

• 10-11^th Apr. German Spring Offensive at Lys.The Battle of Messines. As the weather conditions began to improve after the winter, a second phase of the offensive, code-named “Operation Georgette” in the German plan was the start of the Battle of the Lys (9^th– 29^th April 1918).The 100^th Brigade of the 33^rd Div. Involved in this tactical withdrawal from Messines. Do not know if the 16^th KRRC were involved.

  

• 13-15^th Apr. German Offensive at Lys. The Germans drove forward in the centre, taking Bailleul, 12 kilometres west of Armentières, despite increasing British resistance. Plumer assessed the heavy losses of the Second Army and the defeat of his southern flank and ordered his northern flank to withdraw from Passchendaele to Ypres and the Yser Canal.⁶
• 13^th Apr. Neuve Eglise- The Battle of Bailleul. At dawn next morning (April 13^th ) the Germans attacked in force, Behind an intense barrage, a dense wave of the enemy advanced from Le Romarin and Rue du Sac. During that fight, another force of the enemy entered the western end of the village but was driven out by the Glasgow Highlanders. Fierce and confused fighting lasted all morning on the slopes south of Neuve Eglise. Two companies of the Glasgow Highlanders established and held a position north of Kortepyp Cabaret. Two other platoons of the Highland battalion reported to Colonel Stoney and aided in the defence of the village. But a wide gap existed between Kortepyp Cabaret and the front line of the 2^nd Worcestershire; for the 16^th K.R.R.C. had almost ceased to exist. A remnant of that battalion, three officers and forty men, fell back about midday to a position astride Leinster Road at Buston Farm, and “B” Company wheeled back from its trenches into line with them; but it was clear that the original position could not be held much longer, and about 2.0 p.m. Colonel Stoney determined to draw back the front line companies from the “Army Line” trenches to the outskirts of Neuve Eglise.
• 26^th Sept. The Battle for Polygon Wood. On the front of the 100^th Brigade, a counter-attack was organized to retake the ground lost on the previous day. The 9^th H.L.I. was reinforced by a company of the 16^th K.R.R.C…The enemy gave way and fell back, raked by fire from the Worcestershire platoons on their flank. Enemy aeroplanes joined in the fight, flying low and firing their machine guns at the attacking troops. Lewis guns and rifles blazed at them from the shell-holes, and two of them came hurtling down close to the front of the 2^nd Battalion Worcs. The battle raged throughout the day, and by nightfall. The line of the 100^th Brigade. Was restored except for a small pocket along the Menin Road itself, but the Brigade had been reduced to a thin line of desperately weary men scattered in groups among the shell holes. It was decided that the 33^rd Division must be relieved, and that night came orders for the relief.
• Gassed sometime in 1917-1918. source handwritten note 30 Oct 1918 indicates Valentine was gassed and spent time in the 3^rd Southern General Hospital Oxford.
• Valentine, when gassed on the western front, would have been first treated at a Field Hospital or Casualty Clearing Station and then move onto a Hospital in France. So it’s likely that he was gassed sometime between July-Sept. given a lag between the incident and when he turns up on the records at the 3^rd Southern War Hospital, Oxford.

• 23^rd Oct. Transfer to 4^th Coy 6^th Bn. KRRC medical condition B3 ie Only suitable for sedentary work
• 21^st -30^th Oct. Granted leave.
• 2^nd -7^th Nov. Granted further leave.
• 27^th Nov. Transferred to Army Service Corps, The T prefix in Valentines ASC serial number indicates a Horse Transport unit of ASC. Valentine was for a very short time November 1918 -Jan 1919 with the ASC Horse transport depot. Because of his medical condition, he was likely to have had very light duties.

1919

• 1^st Jan. Discharged KR XV1 physically unfit for service.

Sources

1. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War.
2. King’s Royal Rifle Corps-Regimental History.
3. The Thirty-Third Division in France and Flanders 1915-1919-Seton Hutchinson.
4. CWGC deaths database at http://www.hut-six.co.uk.
5. Volume V of the Annals of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps.
6. Middletoncheney.org.uk

Medals

Awarded the British, Victory and Silver War Badge.

After the War

Appears to have been in poor health and severely incapacitated by the gassing, was age 41 years on discharge and lived only 4 more years.

Middleton Cheney

 

1920 Electoral records

Living at the Brick House , Middleton Cheney

1921 Unveiling of War memorial in Middleton Cheney

The third memorial in the village is a large cross in the churchyard, which was subscribed by the parishioners and unveiled by the Reverend H.P. Brown on the 10^th July 1921. Older village residents used to recall that before the First World War this area was a rose bed, laid out in the form of a cross. Valentine, Rosina and the children may well have attended this event.

The Avenue Middleton Cheney

Valentine is in poor health and unlikely to be working he and wife May have three children and he is a war veteran so it’s not surprising they are the first to be given a Council built and provided a house in Middleton Cheney.  The Avenue stands on what were village allotments. These were the first council houses to be built in Middleton (1921) at a cost of approximately £900 each. The rent was 7/6d per week which included all mod cons; a short walk along the road will lead you to one of the communal water pumps! source: Middletoncheney.org.uk

3 March 1923 Death age 38 Years

Living at the Avenue, Middleton Cheney next of Kin May Rosina.

Banbury Volume: 3a Page: 1238

Note this death recorded in the Army records indicates his condition (illness) on discharge was thought to be war-related.

GALLERY

Note: there are 10 records that exist for this man that is not shown in the Gallery for copyright reasons.

The extended family of Valentine Blencowe shows that commitment to military service was strong.