Albert Stanley Blinko [4618]

1899-1960

Father Nm: Henry George Blinko *[482]^ born 1869 c 29.5.1872 Long Crendon died in 1911 Thame: Oldest known ancestor – William Blincow d.1702 Bicester.

Mother Nm: Amelia Edwards [10393] born 1868 Long Crendon – died1955 High Wycombe.

Marriage Dt:

1. 1919 Dorothy May Oxlade.

2. 1928 Elizabeth Mary Eales.

K comments: Brother George Harry served with the Oxford and Bucks LI. Brother Alec Mark served in WW2 with the RA and was killed while POW 1943. Son Kenneth served with the War Office Signals , son Ronald with the Royal Navy and Nephew Theodore George Henry served in WW2 with Parachute Regiment.

Spouse comments:

1. Dorothy May Oxlade.

2. Elizabeth Mary Eales.

Children: Stanley James 1920, Kenneth George 1922, Ronald Geoffrey 1924, Enid May 1926, Amelia Grace 1929, Reginald William, 1930, Albert Colin 1934, Arthur Ernest 1935, Bernard 1938 and Patricia 1940.

Birth 30 April 1899 Beaconsfield

GRO June 1899 Amersham District vol 3a page753.

1911 Census – Primrose Alley, Burts Lane, Long Crendon

1. Blinko Albert Son M 1900 School Beaconsfield 11
2. Blinko Alec Son M 1904 Beaconsfield 7
3. Blinko Amelia Head Widow F 1869 Chilton 42
4. Blinko Amelia Dau F 1909 Long Crendon 2
5. Blinko Edith Dau F 1902 Beaconsfield 9
6. Blinko Harry Son M 1894 Sheperd Leicester 17

Online War Photo Album	Cheshire Regiment

WW1

Blinko Albert Stanley, 1899, Beaconsfield, Private, 4536,201692, 1/4^th Cheshire Regiment -Signals.

1915

• 23^rd Oct. Bert enlisted as a Territorial with the 1/4^th Cheshire Regt. (age about 15 yrs 6 months) (number 4533 enlisted 23^rd Oct 1915)
• 1/4^th Battalion was formed 13^th May 1915 before Bert joined up. The formation became 159th Brigade, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.
• 14^th -19^th Jul. Sailed from Devonport, going via Alexandria to Gallipoli where it landed on 9^th August 1915. *

Note: Bert would have attended training on joining the battalion and given he was enlisted in the Signals it would have been a fair period before he joined the battalion overseas. It’s highly unlikely Bert was at Gallipoli because of this. It is presumed that Bert to joined the 53^rd Div. In Palestine by mid-1916. The medal roll suggests several interruptions to Bert’s overseas duty this is most likely attendance at technical courses for his role in signals.

1916

• 4^th-5^th Aug. The Battle of Romani. The 52^nd (Lowland) Division, recovering from its efforts at Gallipoli, moved to Romani once the railway reached that place. By the time the Turks were ready to make another effort, it had been joined by a brigade of the 53^rd (Welsh) Division. The British force at Romani did not seize the opportunity to destroy the Turkish forces. 42^nd (East Lancashire) Division, ordered up from reserve, was slow to arrive; 52^nd (Lowland) Division in Romani was not committed to attacking speedily enough. Although efforts were made on 5^th August, the greater part of the Turkish force escaped. ³

1917

• 26^th Mar. First Battle of Gaza. The 53^rd Division bore the brunt of the battle where the three brigades, along with the 161^st Brigade of the 54^th Division, had to advance across the exposed ground, withstanding shrapnel, machine gun and rifle fire, to capture the Turkish fortifications. Despite gaining the advantage towards the end of the day, the British commander called off the attack so that the division’s casualties, close to 3,500, were suffered in vain. ¹

Also in this battle was Private, Private, 1635 William Blencowe of the same battalion as Bert, Private, 2671, William Charles Blencowe, 1/1st Staffords under orders of Anzac Mounted Division and Bert’s cousin Sapper, 2866, Edwin Blinco, Royal Engineers.

During 1917 Bert was on home leave as evidenced by this photo with Sisters Jinnie and Eddie. Bert with his very deep Desert tan proof of his being in the Egyptian campaign.

• 17^th Nov. – 30^th Dec. Defence of Jerusalem. The 53^rd was to advance northwards along the Beersheba to Jerusalem road to take Hebron and Bethlehem before moving eastwards to secure the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the Hebron to Bethlehem road south of Jerusalem, the 53^rd Division (known as Mott’s Detachment) had continued their tentative advance to arrive 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Hebron on 4^th Dec. The 53^rd occupied Bethlehem on the night of 9^th December. Final objectives were gained and the line along the whole front was secured.²

1918

Note: It’s not known how long Bert was home for in 1917 nor when he was to be sent to France. As the entries below indicate his battalion was moved from Egypt to France in May 1918. This photo of the same siblings as above ie Edie Bert and Jinny may have been taken at any time in the war but placed here to show them all in war time clothing.

• 31^st May. The 1/4^th Cheshire’s left the 53^rd Division and moved to France via Alexandria & Taranto.
• 1^st Jul. The Battalion attached to 102^nd Brigade in 34^th Division which engaged in various actions on the Western Front.

  

• This period of the War was a major change for Bert and his battalion they would now find themselves in a major offensive to close out the war. The massive resources of American forces were now being applied to the attack and American troops were being trained with themselves for the final push.
• 15^th Jul. – 5^thAug. 1918 The Battle of the Soissonais and of the Ourcqand the capture of Baigneux Ridge. On 18^th Jul. the 10^th army attacked north of Soissons and drove the enemy back some five miles taking many prisoners and guns The 34^th were to take part in the exploitation of this victory. On the 22^nd -23^rd Jul. As the 102^nd Brigade attacked the 1/4^th Cheshires were in Reserve. On the 23^rd Jul. The 102^nd Brigade advanced through high-standing corn suffering from the very start of the enemy’s machine guns but they got forward some 1200 yards, here they dug in pending advance of troops on their flanks. losses were heavy the 1/7^th Cheshires 180 all ranks the 1/1^st Herefords lost 8 officers and 230 other ranks. During the night the 1/4^th Cheshires relieved the 1/7^th Cheshires and 1/1^st Herefords in the front line. The line held until the 29^th Aug. when the 102^nd Bde. attacked again (the 1/7^th Cheshires in Reserve.⁴
• 1^st – 8^th Sept. The Battle of Ypres. Objectives near Wulverghem and Neuve Eglise took, part in the successful breaking of the Hindenburg line. The 102^nd Bde. in the front line 2^nd – 3^rd Sept. the Division losses for period 1^st – 8^th Sept. 85 killed, 458 wounded and 9 missing.⁴
• 14^th -19^th Oct. The Battle of Courtrai. The 1/4^th Cheshires in the front line. The HQ of the 1/4^th Cheshires was hit twice and many casualties were caused. On the front line itself, the 1/4^th Cheshires made a rapid advance to CouCou and in the day took 110 prisoners and several field guns. On the 15^th the 1/4^th Cheshires reached and occupied Menin. On the 16^th the Bn. was relieved.⁴
• 25^th Oct. The action of Ooteghem. At 8 a.m. A planned subsidiary attack by the 1/4^th Cheshires was begun but only partially successful Coy “B” was pinned down by machine-gun fire and the enemy made a clever counter-attack capturing 3 officers and 22 other ranks. The barrage for the main attack started at 9 a.m. The 1/4^th Cheshires then moved forward steadily. By 1 p.m. the Bn. had cleared the village of Moen of the enemy. By 8:30 p.m. the village of Autryve was also cleared of the enemy. The losses of the 1/4^th Cheshires on this day were 10 killed, 24 wounded and they took 57 prisoners and 7 machine guns.⁴
• 31^st Oct. The action of Tieghem. The Battalion and Brigade in Reserve did not take part in this successful attack.
• 1^st Nov. The Division was relieved and was in the area east of Courtrai at the Armistice. It was selected to join the Army of Occupation and began its move across Belgium and into Germany on 14 November. Between 12-19^th December it was billeted near Namur; on the 22^nd Dec., a large number of miners and others with industrial skills left to be demobilised. ⁴
• Late 1918. The General Election of Great Britain in December 1918 caused households to record absent voters ie Military personnel . Below brothers Harry and Bert are recorded absent in late 1918 sometime before December.

1919

• 29^th Jan. The Division occupied the Cologne bridgehead.

We do not know when Bert was demobilised but it may have been in 1919.

Sources

1. Intelligence briefing for the 53^rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in Holland.
2. Wikipedia.
3. The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918
4. The Thirty-Fourth Division 1915-1919 J Shakespear.
5. History of the Cheshire Regt. in the Great War – Crookenden.
6. A brief record of the advance of the Egyptian expeditionary force under the command of General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby … July 1917 to October 1918

Medals

Awarded the British and Victory medals.

After the War

Marriage 1. 1919 December Qtr. High Wycombe to Dorothy May Oxlade.

Wycombe Vol 3a Page 2386.

1921 Census

Living on Chilton Rd. Long Crendon a French Polisher working in Desborough Avenue High Wycombe. Note this is the first time he is recorded using the spelling Blincoe. A mystery to son Ken Blincoe all his life why was he born Blincoe but became Blinko. Well this is likely connected to having been abandoned by Albert and thus taking his grandmother Amelia’s spelling of the name.

Albert S	Blincoe	Head	Male	1898	23	Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England	French Polisher	Messrs Plested And Pritchard Art Chair Manufactures
Dorothy M	Blincoe	Wife	Female	1897	23	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England	Home Duties	–
Stanley J	Blincoe	Son	Male	1920	1	Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England	–

.1925/26?

Shortly before her death, this photo was taken of May and two children Ken and Ron Blinko

1926 Widower

Bert didn’t cope with this tragedy too well he pretty much abandoned his children to parents Amelia and James and went off to work in Beaconsfield where he met Elizabeth Eales. Eventually, after they married in 1928 he took the two boys home but daughter Enid was completely forgotten about.

 

Marriage 2. 1928 at Beaconsfield to Elizabeth Mary Eales.

GRO record

Albert Stanley Blincoe – Elizabeth Mary Eales: 1928 Amersham R.D. (December Qtr 3a 2183) – ‘Blincoe’ is as recorded in GRO Index.

He was born Blincoe, changed to Blinko to enlist at age 15 years, registered children as Blinko (first marriage ) and Blincoe (second marriage).

Served in the 1914-1920 WWI campaigns with the Cheshire Regiment as Private 4536, listed as a recipient of the campaign medals at the Public Records Office.

After WW1 became a telephone engineer British Post Office Telephones Oxford area, Albert installed the first Automatic Telephone Exchange in the Beaconsfield area in the 1930s at Holmer Green, replacing the Operator exchange (see scrapbook photos).

Recorded in 1939-1970 living at 40 Waller Rd Beaconsfield.

1939 Census

Albert S Blinko 03 Apr 1899 Male Skilled Workman General Post Office Engineering Department
Elizabeth M Blinko 07 Oct 1908 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married

Note 4 others on the census form not disclosed

Working as the local telephone engineer he would have been in the minority with a telephone before WWII.

From 1939 until the Beaconsfield exchange was made automatic his telephone number was 1007 changing to 4007.

By 1971 this number was registered to his widowed wife living at 40 Waller Rd.

Death 25th April 1960 at age 61 years

Gallery