Blencowe Albert 1877

ALBERT BLENCOWE [4031]

KILLED IN ACTION 1ST OCT. 1918.

1878-1918

Father Nm: Thomas Blencowe [4748] c 2.3.1851 Bicester s/o Henry & Caroline M.Q. buried 18.6.1913 Bicester; Oldest known Ancestor – William Blincow C 1702 Bicester.

Mother Nm: Phillis Holt [6114] Jun Q 1869 Buckingham called Sarah

Marriage Dt:1901 to Amelia Alice Norman, Registration Windsor Vol. 2c Page 1038.

K comments: Brother William had served for12 years with the Oxford and Bucks LI from 1899-1911.

Spouse Comments: Amelia Alice Norman born Jun Q 1876 Windsor

Children: Edith 1903.

Birth

Born Mar Q 1878 Bicester mother Holt c 6.1.1878 Bicester Market End

1881 CENSUS

With Parents in Field St, Bicester

1891 CENSUS

General Labourer, Living with parents in New Bldings, Market End, Bicester

1901 CENSUS

1. A boarder at 14 Tanglin Place Eton Berks Occupation: Police Constable

1911 CENSUS 16 STRATHBLAINE ROAD BATTERSEA.

1. Blencowe Albert Head Factory Hand Sugar Refinery M 1878 Bicester 33
2. Blencowe Amelia Wife F 1879 Windsor 32 Wandsworth London
3. Blencowe Edith Dau F 1903 Eton 8

WW1

Blencowe Albert, 1877, Bicester, Private, S/34182, 5th Bn. Rifle Brigade, 12/47908, Rifle Brigade, 12^th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles, D 

Synopsis

A medal card and the medal roll record Alberts service towards his medals was with the 12th RIR however some good research by GWF members suggests he attested in 1915 and then mobilised in September 1917 and landed in France in 1918 with the 5th Rifle Brigade but then posted to the 12 RIR..

The following messages explain what  the members found on my query to them uncertain about why he was with the RIR an Irish battalion.

Message 1

His SDGW entry states: ‘formerly S/34182, Rif. Bde.’

Fred Eastwood S/34183 ( one number away from Albert) attested/enlisted 5 Nov 1915, but was only posted in Sept 1917.

Message  2

34178 Floyd was a Derby recruit attested 9 December 1915 mobilised 6th September 1917.

S/34182 Blencowe mobilised ? September 1917

S/34183 Eastwood was a Derby Recruit who was mobilised on the 4th September 1917.

S/34184 Sayer was a conscript who was deemed to have enlisted under the terms of the Military Service Act  in June 1916 and was mobilised on the 6th September 1917

All these men were from London and had clearly appealed to the Local Tribunal to gain exemption of military service.  In most respects this would have been occupational or on grounds of hardship, as the war progressed and losses mounted exemptions were conditional and subject to review thus many older men were mobilises in 1917.

Pte Blencowe appears to have been in a draft from the 5th Battalion Rifle Brigade which landed in France on the 31st March 1918 following the losses of the 21st March and was posted to the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles at the Infantry Base Depot, joining the Battalion on the 8th April (see 47861 Camfield indexed as Cameron; 47851 Jakes – both young conscripts).

The war diary records a draft of 434 other ranks arriving on the 7th April 1918 and further draft of 400 men on the 23rd April.  I suspect he was in one or other of those drafts.

Corroboration from Soldiers Effects shows a war gratuity of £5 10 shillings.

The 12th Battalion was not disbanded.  The war diary ends on the 3rd April 1919.

Pte Blencowe did not serve in the field with the Rifle Brigade, technically speaking if he was attached to the RB when he landed in France then that is what should be engraved on his medals as it was the regiment he was serving with when he first entered a theatre of war.  There is no consistency in completing the medal rolls and clearly the clerks compiling the RIR Roll considered as all his active service was with that Regiment that is what should be recorded.

For example scrolling back  on the Roll 47888 Journet and the other soldiers on his page had all previously served with an active service unit of the Rifle Brigade and were probably at the Depot when hurriedly despatched to reinforce the BEF.  Their medals will show the Rifle Brigade.  The clerks compiling the Rolls did not ‘miss’ Briscowe’s service, or that of his comrades, in the Rifle Brigade. It was not considered relevant.

1915

• 9 September. Albert attested/enlisted in London where he was living in the Rifle Brigade and had this number S/34182 . Source “Soldiers that die in the Great War” states formerly S/34182, Rif. Bde.
• Albert an older man was not immediately mobilised and was probably at this stage granted an exemption.

1917

• About 5th September. Albert was mobilised and sometime after placed witthe 5th Bn rifle Brigade depot

1918

Note On 21st March 1918,The 36^th Division was holding a sector of the British front line and Forward Zone southwest of St Quentin. The main defences consisted of a number of isolated redoubts, in which the Ulstermen held on for several hours while under bombardment and ultimately being surrounded and cut off. The 12^thRIR was on the front line close to Mezil.

• • 31st March. Landed in France with the 5th Bn Rifle Brigade.
  • 29^th Sept. – 2^nd Oct. Fifth Battle of Ypres,
    • “During the afternoon the Belgians were reported to have moved through the village of Moorslede; meanwhile, the 36th Division had finally succeeded in capturing Terhand. …Despite no covering artillery fire ‘owing to the shocking state of the roads’, the 36th Division managed to sustain its push forward. The enemy machine gun positions made good use of hedges and isolated buildings for cover, as the British advance moved beyond the damaged terrain of the former battlefield. The village of Terhand was taken in the late afternoon together with the hamlet of Vijfwegen two hours later; this lay one mile south of the village of Dadizeele.” source -Facebook The Great War 1914-18
  • 30th Sept. 36th Division was engaged in a series of hard fights to capture and secure Hill 41, a key feature south of Dadizeele”
  • 1st Oct. “At 08:30, the 36th Division recorded that there were reports from prisoners of three fresh enemy divisions being brought up. “
  • 1st Oct. Killed in Action, near Dadizeele, Belgium. Albert’s body was found on Map Ref 28 K18 d3.3 which enables us to locate his position at the time of death.

• The map reference of 28 K18 d3.3 allows us to pinpoint within yards where Albert was found and likely died.

  

  

  Note: 13 Comrades fell alongside Albert on the 1st October – lest we forget

  BARRITT GR 47868 12TH BN
  BILLSON VC 52491 12TH BN
  BLENCOWE A 47908 D COY 12TH BN
  BOOMER WC – 12TH BN
  COBB C 2056 12TH BN
  COLWILL WH 52513 12TH BN
  HALLIDAY G 1357 12TH BN
  HOUSTON F 6323 12TH BN
  PATTERSON D 19166 12TH BN
  PRICE AA 50140 12TH BN
  REDMAN S 47003 12TH BN
  REGAN R 488 C COY 12TH BN
  SMITH WE 43573 12TH BN
  WARNER S – 12TH BN

SOURCES

1. The 12^th Royal Irish Rifles, An internet history of the Central Antrim Volunteers.

2. Facebook The Great War 1914-18

MEDALS

Awarded the British and Victory medals.

In about 1921-22 Albert’s wife Alice would have received a Plaque (engraved with her name ) and a Scroll signed by the King.
Probably of more practical importance would have been the War Widows Pension which because Albert was a Private would have been 13 shillings and 9 pence a week and 5 shillings for daughter Edith until she reached the age of 16.

DEATH 1918 age 42 years

Name: Albert Blencowe, Death Date: 1 Oct 1918

Death location: France & Flanders, Enlistment Location: Battersea, Middx.

Rank: Rifleman The 12th battalion of Irish Rifles landed at Boulogne in 1915 and has survived almost 3 years of war Albert is killed in 1918

Regiment: Royal Irish Rifles, Battalion: 12th Battalion, Number: 47908

Type of Casualty: Killed in action, Theatre of War: Western European Theatre, Comments: Formerly S/34182, Rif. Bde.

Buried at Dadizeele New British Cemetery (Dadizeele) (West Vlaanderen Belgium.

Son of Henry and May Blencowe, of Bicester, Oxon; Husband of Alice Amelia Blencowe, of 109, Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common, London.

Gallery

Note: there are 2 service records for this man that exist that are not shown in this gallery for copyright reasons.