James Ernest Blincoe [4217]

1886-1932

Known as Ernest.

Father Nm: Joseph Blincow [1263] b 11.7.1843 Dudley c 24.3.1844 St. Thomas Dudley died 11.2.1920 Handsworth Birmingham: Oldest known ancestor – Henry Blincow 1709 Kings Sutton.

Mother Nm: Jane Holmes [4947] born 1851 ? Bradford died 18.2.1904 Darlaston Staffs

Marriage Dt: 24 Aug. 1913 to Alice Duffield.

K comments:

• Arthur John served in the 2nd South Staffs Regt.
• Albert Edward died of wounds in 1914 serving with 7th Bn. Staffs Regt.
• Joseph Frederick served with the 96th Training Reserve Bn. and the 300 RDC Protection Coy.

Spouse Comments: Alice Duffield born 28.2.1887 [8225] died Sep q 1963 Walsall aged 77

Children: Ernest Alfred 1917-1995, Alice 1919-1994.

(Research): GR[B] West Bromwich Sept 1886 Morrison.

1891 Census 6 Bentley Rd Darlaston Staffs

1. Joseph Blencow 48 Maltster
2. Jane Blencow 40
3. William H Blencow 11
4. Joseph F Blencow 10
5. Albert E Blencow 8
6. Arthur J Blencow 6
7. Jame E Blencow 4
8. Bery Now Blencow 1

1901 Census 3 Bentley Rd Darlaston Staffs

1. Joseph Blencoe 58
2. Jane Blencoe 50
3. William Blencoe 21
4. Frederick Blencoe 20
5. Albert Edward Blencoe 18
6. Arthur I Blencoe 15
7. James E Blencoe 14
8. Benjamin Blencoe 11

1911 Census Walsall Staffordshire

1. Blincow Edward Head M 1883 28
2. Blincow Ernest Brother M 1887 24
3. Blincow Female Dau F 1911 0
4. Blincow Ben Son M 1907 4
5. Blincow Joseph Father M 1843 68
6. Blincow Lizzie Wife F 1884 27
7. Blincow William Brother M 1877 34

South Staffordshire Regiment

WW1

Blincoe (James) Ernest, 1886, West Bromwich, Private, 15064, 9^th, 1/6^th and 3^rd Bn. South Staffs Regiment.

9^th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers)

Formed at Lichfield in September 1914 as part of K3. Moved to Aldershot and in December 1914 went into Talavera Barracks.

Attached as Army Troops to 23^rd Division, and became Pioneer Bn. December 1914. Moved to Shorncliffe in March 1915 and went on in May to Oxney Park (Bordon).

Landed at Boulogne on 24^th August 1915.

A Pioneer Battalion the 9^th was involved in the general labouring required to support the war efforts this doesn’t mean they were out of harm’s way and indeed casualties and combat were part of the duty.

1915

• 24^th Aug. Entered France as per Medal card. Medal roll confirms originally with the 9^th (Service) Bn. Arrived after smooth crossing, disembarked 7 am. Marched to No.5 Rest Camp. Collected 32 horses, 12 two-wheeled carts and 6 four-wheeled carts. Left 2 officers and 120 men at no 5 Rest Camp and entrained at Gare de Marchadise. Journey via St Omer to Tilques, with danger from hostile aeroplanes on the way.²
• 21^st Sept. Battle of Loos. This date is before the main attack of the 25^th Sept. and suggests that it was in the preparations for the attack that the 9^th Pioneers were used. Although the 23^rd Division (including 9^th) was in the order of battle not much reference to the division in the history of the battle. ⁷ The Bn. Suffer first casualty – 16033 Pte H Gerrard of D Coy wounded in the thigh. III Corps to go on the offensive.²
• 24^th Sept. Bois Grenier B Coy attached to 68 Bde; C to 69 and D to 70. HQ and A Coy at La Motte. MG section attached 69 Bde.
• 26^th Sept. Received draft from 11^th South Staffords. Now at 30 Offs. and 1020 rank and file.
• The 9^th Pioneers were in 1915 mainly in and around the Armentieres region especially Bois Grenier making hurdles and trenching.
• 3-18^th Oct. A and B Coys employed as before. C Coy. Working on the Grenier Line – 50 men on barbed wire entanglements in the rear of the first line and 50 at work paving Shaftsbury Avenue with bricks. D was revetting and repairing Cowgate Avenue communication trench. They remained in these locations until the 18^th, but with D Coy sending 30 men to Brasserie as a carrying party on the 9^th and working on Brick Street communication trench from the 10^th to the 13^th.
  • 13^th Oct. Lavisee Post was shelled causing C and B Coy working parties four casualties. Wounded were; 14148 Pte Dennis J. C Coy;15041 Pte Harris L.J.;15257 Pte Smith E B Coy 14472 L/Cpl Chapman, . The Bn. suffered 12 deaths in 1915 after landing. ²

1916

• 26^th Jan.-8^th Feb. From 9^th Battalion war diary: The 23^rd Division was relieved after a long five month spell in the front line by 34^th Division. After a certain amount of confusing movement, Divisional HQ was established at Blaringhem and the units concentrated around Bruay.
• Feb. – Jun. The battalion served on the Souchez Front until June 1916.
• Jun. – Aug. The Pioneers were engaged on the Somme, holding defensive positions near Albert.
• 1^st Jul. Bazieux – Albert – Contalmaison – Pozieres – Munster Alley (War Diary notes clearing the battlefield on 8^th Jul.)
• 7^th Jul. The Battalion was at Contalmaison and again in early August.
• Aug. The Division moved back to Armentieres for a peaceful month before being posted to Le Sars and taking part in its capture between 15^th and 22nd September. The Bn. suffered 53 deaths in 1916.

1917

• Following duty on the Somme Front, the Division was sent to the Ypres salient during the first two months of 1917 being posted close to Zillebeke. ²
• 7-11^th Jun. The Battle of Messines. The division had two infantry brigades in this attack after huge mines were detonated under the German lines. The 23^rd Div. took Hill 60, Caterpillar, Battle Wood (Pillars of Fire) from the German 204th Regiment on the 7th of June and held it. This area was at the extreme north of the attack line.
• 19^th Aug. Edewaarihoek working on the roads. ²
• 26^th Aug. Passchendaele, in the line. ²
• 30^th Aug. Glencourse Wood. ²
• 20^th Sept. Menin Road and Tower Hamlets. ²
• 23^rd Sept. relieved by 33^rd Divn. ²
• 30^th September 1917 – in the line north of Menin Road. ²
• 1^st Oct. In the line. ²
• 9^th Oct. relieved by the 7th Div. ²

  

• Oct. Ernest is transferred. Following their involvement in the Third Battle of Ypres, the 9^th South Staffs received orders to accompany the 23^rd Division to Italy but Tom was not to go with them. He was instead transferred to the 1/5^th South Stafford’s on 13^th October 1917 and therefore remained on the Western Front in a combat role. ² A paragraph from Tom Drury’s diary provides a clue to when Ernest was transferred it seems very likely he also was moved to a Territorial battalion in October 1917, in Ernest’s case, the 1/6^th Bn S. Staffs.137^th Brigade 46^th (North Midlands) Division. ⁴

Note: The 9^th Bn. South Staffs suffered 46 deaths in 1917 before being moved away from the Western Front.

1918

The 1/6^th South Staffs, 46^th Div. have the following battles attributed to their participation, however, it’s not known if Ernest spent the balance of the war with the 1/6^th Bn.

• 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
• 29^th Sept. – 3^rd Oct. The Battle of the St Quentin Canal. A series of actions the first was the Battle of Bellengise.

  

  The task that the 137^th Bde was allotted was;

  1. to lead the Division across the Canal, to overcome any enemy resistance west of the Canal,
  2. to cross the Canal itself, break through the main defences of the Hindenburg Line east of the Canal,
  3. capture Bellengise, and advance to the Red objective, where a defensive position was to be consolidated so the other Brigades would pass through to continue the attack .⁴
• The 29^th of September 1918 was to be the day the Hindenburg Line, the final truly defensible German defence line, was to be breached. The 46^th Division was to storm the St. Quentin Canal between Bellenglise and the Riqueval Bridge with the 1/6^th South Staffs to the northwest of Bellenglise. At ‘zero’ hour (5.50 a.m.) the 1/6^th South Staffords approached the western bank of the canal enshrouded in fog. Lightly manned enemy outposts presented little resistance and they re-grouped at the west bank of the canal. Each man was to make his way across the canal which was in cutting some 50 feet deep. Moving up the opposite bank, they advanced to the second line of trenches, comprising heavily fortified concrete defences and machine-gun emplacements. The persistent fog allowed the Staffs to approach the German trenches before rushing in with the bayonet. Many of the defenders similarly made use of the fog to escape although many more were made prisoner. After a brief pause, two companies of the 1/6^th South Staffs continued the forward advance whilst the other two companies now turned to their right to enter Bellenglise. The Stafford’s met with little resistance and had little more to do than mop up the remaining Germans paying special attention to the entrance to the Bellenglise Canal tunnel, a previously impregnable part of the Hindenburg Line, and from where they captured almost a thousand prisoners..⁶
• When Bellengise was captured and on the other side of the Canal the battalion pressed on meeting little resistance until they reached the Green Line objective where they were relieved by the 32^nd Div.
  • 30^th Sept.-3^rd Oct.The Battle of Ramicourt.
  • 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 Ramicourtand 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 55 men killed in the period 27^th-4^th Oct. 7 men killed on the 25^th (At Pontruet), 27 killed at Bellengise on the 29^th and lost 17 men on the 3^rd Oct. in the German counter-attack.
  • 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 John Thomas Blinco a Private with the Sherwood Foresters fought in this battle with the 139^th Bde. of the Division.
• After St Quentin, the 1/6^th South Stafford’s took part in these last 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.

1919

• At some time before demobilisation, Ernest was transferred to the 3^rd Reserve Bn. (This Bn. on his medal card). Note the 3^rd did not leave the UK the entire war.
• 5^th Mar. Discharged to Z reserves.

Sources

1. 9^th Bn. S. Staffs War Diary
2. Extracts from the diary of Private 15452 Tom Drury 9^th Bn S. Staffs
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. Tom Drury and the South Staffordshire Regiment/Labour Corp
6. Tipton Remembers “Wolverhampton Warriors” by Roy C. Evans.
7. Loos 1915 Nick Lloyd

Medals

Awarded the British and Victoria Medals

After the War

1932 Death age 45 years

England & Wales, Death Index, Name: James E Blincoe, Birth Date: about 1887, Date of Registration: Jun 1932, Age at Death: 45, Registration District: Walsall, Inferred County: Staffordshire, Volume: 6b, Page: 611

Gallery

 

There are 3 records in the National Archives for this man. For copyright reasons, they cannot be re-published.