John Thomas Blinco  [4569]

1897-1969

Known as Jack.

Father Nm: Charles Thomas Blinco [3086] born 1871 c 5.11.1872 Northampton -1956; Oldest known ancestor – John Blinco 1660 Whilton.

Mother Nm: Sarah Simkin [5950] 1887 Basford -Dec Q 1905 Basford

Marriage Dt:1918 Nottingham

K comments: Even though the same age Thomas James Blinco was Jack’s Uncle and served with KRRC and RAF.

Spouse comments: Mary Thorley [8271] 4.5.1897-Jun Q 1961 Ilkeston

Children: Charles Thomas Blinco 1919-1979, Jaqueline Blinco later Barker 1922 

(Research): GR[B] Basford Dec 1897 JD GR[D] Ashbourne, vol 3a p 10 June 1969. 1927 Hazel Laraine Blinco later Page

Born 15th Oct. 1897

Oct-Nov-Dec 1897, Basford, Nottinghamshire, Volume: 7b Page: 247.

1901 Census 19 Carr St Ilkeston

1. Blinco Sarah Wife F 1874 Ilkeston 27
2. Blinco Charles Head Coalminer M 1872 Northampton 29
3. Blinco Sophia Dau F 1895 Ilkeston 6
4. Blinco Kate M Dau F 1900 Ilkeston 1
5. Blinco John Son M 1898 Bulwell 3
6. Blinco Percy Son M 1893 Ilkeston 8

1911 Census 31 Chapel St Ilkeston

1. Blinco Alice F 1903 8
2. Blinco John M 1898 13 Pit Pony Driver Underground
3. Blinco Kate F 1900 11
4. Blinco Sophia F 1895 16
5. Blinco Charles M 1878 33

	Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derbys)

WW1

Blinco John Thomas, 1897, Basford, Private 2108, 122295, 108023, 1/5^th , 9^th Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derbys) Regiment.

1914

• Volunteered and joined the Territorial Army. The 1/5th Bn stationed at the Royal Drill Hall, Becket Street, Derby.
  

1915

• 1^st Mar. Sent to France. Jack was with the 1/5^th SF Regiment a Territorial Battalion. The 1/5^th Bn. formed part of the 46^th Division 139^th Brigade. It would seem also likely that Jack was in G Company as he was living in Ilkeston at the outbreak of the War and where G Company was stationed at Stanton Hse. Stanton Rd. Ilkeston. There is evidence that miners like Jack assisted the RE Tunneling Companies in Trench raids etc several killed in such action from Jack’s Brigade.
• April-Jun. Kemmel Sector.
  

The 139^th Brigade was involved in many battles throughout the war years and an essay written by Andrew Syk gives a good account of the trials, tribulations and triumphs and above all the learning undergone during the war of the 46^th Division In addition for the Battle of Loos, we have the excellent book by Nick Lloyd to guide us.

• 25^th Sept.- 13^th Oct. Battle of Loos.The largest battle of WW1 and ultimately a very heavy defeat. General Haig mistakenly thought this would be a great victory (even one to end the war) but without the planning, adequate Artillery fire and specific target maps of advancement. Haig thought the first use of the gas by the British would devastate the Germans but it did not. The British had 60,000 casualties compared to the Germans 26,000 which in itself tells of the outcome. The BEF commander Gen. Sir John French lost his command as a result of the failure of the battle and Haig inherited the role from then on.⁷
  • 27^th Sept.

    

    The attack ground into trouble after the first day and by the 27^th Sept. the front of IV Corps now ran from the Béthune–Lens road to the Loos–Puits 14 track. XI Corps now consisted of the 12^th (Eastern), 46^th (North Midland) and the Guards Division and was in the line parallel to the Lens-La Bassée road to a point west of Hulluch where it joined I Corps.⁷

  • 13^th Oct. The 46^th Division was ordered to take the Hohenzollern Redoubt a strong point in the German line near Loos.  This was the last large-scale attempt to recapture the Redoubt, Quarries and Fosse 8 by the British during 1915. Its repulse effectively brought the battle to an end. A disastrous attack on many levels as attested to in the following; Captain G.J. Worthington (1/5^th North Staffordshire, 137 Brigade), adequate reconnaissance of the ground was ‘a difficult matter’ because the maps supplied to him were ‘in many respects incomplete, inaccurate and the trenches themselves had been considerably damaged in the recent fighting’; As British troops desperately tried to hold their fragile gains in the Hohenzollern Redoubt and the Quarries, it was found with horror that ‘many of the bags and boxes of bombs sent up during the afternoon were found to contain bombs without detonators’.⁷
  • Consequently, the Div. underwent its worst day of the entire war with over 3,500 casualties suffered for little gain. Evidence from the divisional records reveals that the objectives were overambitious and unattainable. Personal accounts from soldiers testify to the failure of the artillery and infantry to co-operate adequately.⁷

1916

• 10^th Mar. La Folie Farm Vimy Ridge. The Battalion marched to the front line trenches and relieved the 125^th French Regiment in trenches opposite La Folie Farm on Vimy Ridge, which at this stage of the war could only be recognised as a dirt heap and the presence of a few scattered trees. Jack’s 5^th Sherwood Foresters occupied trenches in the right sub-sector alternating with the 6^th Sherwood Foresters, whilst the 7^th and 8^th Sherwood Foresters alternated trench duty in the left sub-sector trenches. One of the first tasks for the Sherwood Foresters was to repair and strengthen the front line and reserve trenches. In some instances, the craters of large mines, exploded by the Germans, enfiladed the front line trenches. During their time at Vimy Ridge, the 139^th Brigade suffered a lot of cases of “trench foot” and many of these men had to be sent out of the trenches and to the Casualty Clearing Stations for treatment. ¹
• May. The 139^th Brigade, 46^th Division, moved to Fonquevillers on the Somme to prepare for the upcoming offensive.
• 1^st Jul. Gommecourt. The objective of the Battalion was the German 3^rd Line from the northern edge of Gommecourt Wood on the right, to a point 250 yards north where Orinoco C.T. Crossed the 3^rd Line. At 7.30 am the two leading brigades which included the 5^th Bn. Sherwood Foresters of the 46^th Division clambered over the parapet to attack the German trenches in front of Gommecourt. Despite the artillery bombardment and protective smoke barrage, few reached the German trenches and the division suffered 2,455 killed and wounded. Chief among the reasons for the failure was the inability of the British artillery to destroy or even suppress the German machine-guns and artillery or to cut the wire, despite an intensive seven-day bombardment. The Bn. was relieved at 7 p.m. and moved into billets at Bienvillers .² The battalion suffered 167 men killed in this battle.⁶
• 17^th Jul – Oct. Bellacourt Trenches Somme. The 5^th Bn. held this line several times during this period usually spelt by the 6^th Bn. Sherwood Foresters..

1917

• 1^st Jul. Lens – Arras. The 46^th Division was called upon to undertake another major attack among the shelled houses of Lens, a mining town north of Arras.

  

  The task of the Div on the 1^st July was to secure the orange line from the Souchez River to Aconite Trench and Aloof Trench thence to the north-west of Lens. The attack was launched on a three Bde front from right to left the 138^th, 137^th and 139^th. The battle swayed to and fro and while it failed to attain the objectives the Div gained ground and took 13 POW’s. ⁵ The Battalion lost 46 men killed in this attack. ⁶

1918

• 12^th Sept. After fifteen months of almost continuous defensive warfare, the 46^th Div. moved from the Bethune area to the neighbourhood of Beaucourt sur l’Hallue and passed into reserve for a few days’ rest and training before proceeding into action near the southern limit of the British front. ⁴
• 21^st  Sept. One or two days in the Tertry area. Then a new front line which consisted of some 2,500 to 3,000 yards length of an old German trench system to the west of the St. Quentin Canal. ⁴
• 24^th-3rd Oct. The Battle of Saint Quentin.Canal.
  • 24^th Sept. Pontruet (south of Bellengise). In an operation to prepare the way for an upcoming crossing of the St Quentin canal, the 139^th Bde was chosen to attack and take Pontruet. After a  barrage of artillery in the early morning the two companies of the 5^th Leicesters, to whom was allotted the task of outflanking the village, advanced to the attack. At the same time, the 5^th Sherwood Forester’s made an assault on Beux and Leduc Trenches, easily over-running these works and capturing or killing the garrison of the trenches. The battalion had 14 men killed in this attack. ⁶
  • 29^th Sept. The Battle of Bellengise began with the 137^th Bde. of the division-leading the attack across the canal. The 138^th and 139^th Brigades were in support following behind. The 46^th Div objectives its goals and captured both Bellengise and crossed the Canal to the Greenline. At this point, it was relieved by the 32^nd Div. who pushed forward to a line from Joncourt to Levergies.
    

    

    • 2nd Oct. The Battle of Ramicourt. The 46^th Div took over again from the 32^nd Div at the Orange line on the 2nd Oct. for the assault on Ramicourt. The 138^th and 139^th Bdes. joined the 137^th Bde in the thrust to the Red Line objective.
    • The 139^th on the left had a straightforward if difficult task allotted to it the task of advancing against the Fonsomme line at its strongest point and then overrunning and mopping up in succession the villages of Ramicourt and Montbrehain. From the first, the attack met with strong resistance, the German troops in the Fonsomme line putting up a very stout fight indeed.⁴ However the 139^th overcame the enemy resistance and took both Villages, it was however that at Montbrehain they hit trouble.
    • 3^rd Oct. German counter-attack. After providing relatively little resistance the German forces regained composure and counter-attacked ferociously driving the 139^th out of Montbrehain and the division by the end of the 3rd Oct. was on the yellow line and it then handed over to the 32^nd Div yet again.
    • The Bn. had 61 men killed in the period between the 24^th– 3^rd Oct., At Pontruet losing 14 men killed, from then on several each day and in the counter-attack 37 killed on the 3^rd Oct.
    • For the cost of 800 casualties, the 46^th advanced through 6,000 yards of formidable enemy defences, capturing 4,200 prisoners and seventy artillery pieces. Note James Ernest Blincoe a Private with the 1/6^th South Stafford’s fought in this battle with Jack.

Note: it’s possible after the battle of Ramicourt that Jack was invalided or sick he may not have stayed with the battalion after this period as casualties had been high. We do know that by the spring of 1919 he was with a POW company of the Regiment.

• The 1/5^th Sherwood Foresters took part in these final battles of the war.

• • 3-5^th Oct. The Battle of the Beaurevoir Line.
  • 8-10^th Oct.The Battle of Cambrai.
  • 17-25^th Oct.The Battle of the Selle.
  • 4^th Oct.The Battle of Sambre.
  • 11^th Nov. Ended the war in France, at Sains du Nord S.E. of Avesnes.
• Nov. Possibly transferred to a POW Company in the 9^th Bn. at the end of hostilities. It’s likely that this transfer was due to a change in his fitness ie illness or wounds. It was usual to put men with lower fitness levels on the guard duties. *

1919

• 14^th Apr. Jack was admitted to No. 7. Canadian Gen. Hospital, Etaples with dermatitis. Regiment gave at this stage as 9^th Sherwood’s 201 POW company.
• Discharged after April 1919.

Sources

1. Derbyshire Territorials. 
2. War Diary of 1/5^th Sherwood Foresters.
3. The Territorial Divisions, 1914-1918 by John Stirling.
4. The breaking of the Hindenburg line. the story of the 46th (North Midland) Division / with an introduction by G. F. Boyd.
5. The 46^th (North Midland) Division at Lens in 1917. By Pat S. C. Campbell-Johnston.
6. CWGC records using the hut-six website.
7. Loos 1915 Nick Lloyd.

Medals

Two medal cards exist it seems the name was erroneously recorded first as JT Blimcoe

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

After the War

Death 1969 age 71 years

Ashbourne, Staffordshire, Volume: 3a Page: 10.

Message received in July 2017

Hello Roger, my name is Frank Wilson.

I have seen a post you made in 2013 regarding Jack Blinco of The Notts and Derbyshire Regiment. A Jack Blinco joined up with my Father whose name was William Wilson, Army No’s 2274 and 331354.

Jack, my Father and another man whose name I don’t know left the Stanton Hotel in Crompton Street, Ilkeston, Derbyshire and joined the 1st/5thSherwood Foresters. My father was badly wounded at Passendeale and medically discharged on 23/8/1917. All three men met in The Stanton Hotel after the War. All three had been wounded and gassed but had survived.

My father married my Mother in 1919 and had 8 children.I am the sole survivor.

I hope this information is useful to you. Yours Sincerely Frank Wilson

Continuation of exchange with Frank Wilson 2020

Dear Roger,

I have just read the document that you have put on Messenger.I am a bit of a technophobe so please forgive the delay in replying.I am amazed at the detail that was in the document.

My father died in May 1941 when I was 4 years old,I had a younger brother, Peter who was 1 year old.As you can imagine this was an awful time,at the start of World War 2 and two elder brothers in the Services.I never knew exactly where in Europe my Father was wounded but guessed it was at Passchendaele because of the date of the Medical Discharge. Apparently, he was carrying his Rifle when a bullet passed through his lower and upper Arm, paralysing his Arm.

My mother told me my Father would only talk about the War when he was drunk which didn’t occur very often. My Father struggled to find a job after the War but a Foreman at Stanton Ironworks with the unlikely name of Len Lamb found my Dad a job as a crane driver, a job he kept until he died. Years later I had the privilege of being a Foreman alongside of Len and explaining our Family being grateful for he had done for us.

Thank you so much for the information, I look forward to showing it, my Family.Regards Frank 

Gallery

There are records in the National Archives for this man. For copyright reasons, they cannot be re-published.