Acres Joseph William 1895- – Blencowe Family in World War One

Joseph William Acres

1895

Father Nm: George Edward Acres 1869

Mother Nm: Catherine Maria Blencowe [9139] b 28.2.1870 Port Adelaide Oldest Known Ancestor; Thomas Blencowe 1825.

Marriage Dt:6 August 1919 to Annie Catherine Gaffney at St Andrew’s Church, Cobham Surrey.

K comments: WW! Brother Edgar George served with the 5th Bn and was KIA in 1918

WW2 Brothers George Edward Acres and Clement Victor Acres served with the Australian Army.

Spouse comments: Annie Catherine Gaffney 1893

Children:

Birth 1895

22 September 1895

Regimental number 6714
Place of birth Sandwell, South Australia
Religion Church of England
Occupation Horse driver
, home address Cheltenham, South Australia
Marital status Single
Age at embarkation 21
Next of kin Mother, Mrs C Acres, Berkley Street, Cheltenham, South Australia
Enlistment date 31 August 1916
Place of enlistment Adelaide, South Australia
Rank on enlistment Private
Unit name 10th Battalion, 22nd Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/27/4
Embarkation details Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A19 Afric on 7 November 1916
Rank from Nominal Roll Private
Unit from Nominal Roll 10th Battalion
Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll) No fate details were entered on the Nominal Roll.

Prior to World War 1 Joseph and his brother Edgar were Naval Cadets at Largs Bay


Gallery	10th Battalion Patch

WW1

Acres Joseph William, Sandwell SA, 6714, Private,10th Bn. AIF.

1916

31 Aug. Attested and allocated to 2nd Dept Bn. Coy “A”. Occupation Horse Driver.Single and home address Cheltenham, South Australia.
3 Oct. Allocated to the 22nd reinforcements to the 10th Bn. The 10th Bn. was in Gallipoli indeed being amongst the first battalions to land, they were evacuated and sent to France in Mar 1916 so Joseph was sent to England and then France to join them.
7 Nov. Embarked from Adelaide on the ‘Afric’ bound for England. Acting Corporal rank

1917

9 Jan. Disembarked at Plymouth, England.
10 Jan Reverts to Private on joining the 3rd Training Bn. at Durrington.
20 Feb. Admitted to hospital with influenza
6 Mar. Discharged hospital to duty.
24 Apr. Admitted to hospital with scabies.
3 May. Embarked for France from Folkestone.
11 May. Taken on service of the 10th Battalion at Bapaume. WD notes the receipt of 26 Reinforcements. Training was the main occupation in this period.
22-23 May. Marched via Bazantine to Ribemont to new billets.
Jun-Jul. Continued training at Ribemont until the 24th June when the Bn. moved to Mailley Maillet .
1-6 Jul Mailly Maillet the route march to Ribemont on July 6th.
7-12 Jul. Ribemont then route march to Bray sur Somme.
13-26 Bray sur Somme
27-31 Jul. The Bn. left the Somme area and were moved to the Pais de Calais. Entrained for Steenbecque and travelled 100km north on arriving detrained and then marched to billets at Staple for 3 nights and then onto Seninghem.
1-5 Aug. Seninghem training.
6-8 Aug. Staple. Route march and bus to Staple on the Aug.6th.
9 Aug. Route march from Staple to Bleu.
10 Aug.-12 Sept. Bleu mostly training.
13 Aug. Moved by route march over the next few days to arrive at Chateau Segard on Sept. 18th.
19 Sept. Final Preparation for Action.
20 Sept. Action at Polygon Wood.

The capture of the Green Line in Polygon Wood by the battalion was a costly attack, 51 men of the battalion were killed (mostly on the 20/21 Sept. ) as they fought through machine-gun posts at Glencorse Wood.
1-10 Oct. The Battle of Broodseinde.
- 1 Oct. As the 10th Bn. relieved the 48th Bn. They came under heavy bombardment and the war diary records 5 men killed and 24 injured however some of the wounded did not survive as the CWGC records 11 deaths for this day.
- 2 Oct. “During the day intermittent shelling otherwise quiet on the day.”¹ “After relief the Bn. went directly to the China Wall (trench line). On handing over Lieut. Browne was gassed and there were 23 casualties.”¹CWGC shows 13 deaths for the day.
- 3 Oct. Resting at China Wall all day then ordered back to the line. CWGC show 4 men’s deaths that day.The Bn. relieving at Westhoek Ridge
- 4-6 Oct. Continuing to hold the front, casualties minimal.
- 7-9 Oct. Main days of battle and battalion advance costs lives. CWGC record deaths as; 10 on Oct. 6th, 8 on Oct 7th, 29 on Oct 8th, and 4 on Oct 9th. Detailed location shown by war Diary notes on trench maps for 7 Oct. and then 9 Oct.
11-30 Oct. Bn. moved to Dominion lines for rest and Training, 24 Oct moved closer to Ypres and only on 30 Oct moved back to the Reserve area. Notwithstanding 6 deaths recorded in this period likely carryover from action of 1-10 Oct.
30 Oct-11 Nov. Moved into Reserve lines and then support at Anzac Ridge relieving the 9th Bn. WD reports the following casualties in this period.
Nov. The Bn. was marched well behind the lines over the month via Halifax Camp, Renescure, Vaudringhem, Bourthes , Bezinghem to arrive at Equin south of St Etienne.

1918

After a winter at rest south of St Etienne, the battalion returned to the front at the end of February. Joseph however was given leave to England and was there from the 2nd until the 23rd of February.
1/2 Mar. The Battalion now at the front again in the Hollebeke Sector was subject to night raid by the enemy.CWGC reports 5 deaths on these days.
3-31 Mar. The balance of March was spent on the front line at Hollebeke. Shelling on most occasions and 11 men lost during this period.
3 Apr. Bn. Entrained to join the III Army in the Somme.
5-7 Apr. Train journey of about 9 hours via Calais, Boulogne, D’Abbeville to St Roch then entrained again through Amiens to Poulainville.
5-28 Apr. German Spring Offensive. The Bn was ordered to the front to the defence of Hazebrouck completing via train a full loop almost back to where they set out on Apr.3rd.The 10th Bn. set up positions between Lillers and Bethune on April 14th.
- 19 Apr. They Bn. moved up to the front line at Meteren (see trench map in Gallery)
- 24 Apr. While German attacks began on the 23rd the 24th was the deadliest day for the battalion as 30 men were killed that day from enemy shelling.(see War Diary report of casualties for the period at the front)
- 28 Apr. Relieved by 3rd Bn. AIF in front line.
May. Strezeele Sector.Action on the 9th May resulted in casualties and then on the 27th, the Bn. relieved the 2nd Bn. AIF is on the front line of the Merris sector.
30 May. Bethune. A night operation was carried out resulting in the war diary recording 12 killed and 54 wounded. CWCG records actual deaths for this day as 16.
1-5 Jun. Merris Sector in the line. A small operation on 2/3rd June resulted in flanks pushed forward and enemy machine guns and 31 POWs taken. The battalion sustained 10 deaths in this period.
28-30 Jun. Merris front. German raids on 10th Bn. position and subsequent counterattack resulted in casualties of 16 battalion men killed between 26-30 June.
29 Jul..The 10th Bn. take part in the capture of Merris. 12 men were killed in this action.
1 Aug. The 10th Bn. moved over 100 km south to the front near Villers Brettoneux. First by bus to Heuringhem and stayed there until 7th Aug when the Bn. was marched from Point Remy to Cockerel.Then embussed for Poulainville.
8 Aug. Bn. marched to Harbonnieres.
10-11 Aug. Lihons.The 10th Bn. as part of the 3rd Brigade AIF were to take part in the attack to capture the ruined village of Lihons.”A formal assault by the 2nd and 3rd brigades, conducted in heavy fog, carried the back slopes of Lihons Hill and the -village beyond. Severe fighting again followed as the Germans countered, first with a gas barrage and then with infantry attacks. These failed to expel the Australians from their gains and by that night the attack in this sector effectively ended.”³
- 11 Aug. In this action, Joseph is wounded. Gunshot or Shell wound to the right forearm. He is picked up by the No. 1 Australian Field Ambulance and then taken to the 53rd Casualty Clearing Station at nearby Longre. CAGC records 33 Bn. men were killed in this action.
- Between 11th August and the 26th Aug. Joseph would have been in a process of evacuation from the battlefield to then invalided back to England. Note records state 12th Aug L of C Hpl. This means Lines of Communication rather than ‘In the Field’, and includes all General Hospitals and some Stationary Hospitals, but excludes all Casualty Clearing Stations and Field Ambulances.ie an unknown hospital likely on the coast at Le Havre or Rouen.
- 25th Invalided to England on the ship “Princess Elizabeth”.
26 Aug. Admitted to Essex County Hospital with wounds.
9 Sept. Transferred to No 1 Australian Auxillary Hospital at Harefield Park.
21 Sept. Discharged from the Hospital to join No. 1 Com Depot and was on furlough.