Blencowe John H 1899

John Henry Blencowe  [4603]

1899-1957

Known as Jack.

Father Nm: John George Blencowe [3971] born 1874 Nunhead Surrey (Camberwell S.Q.) died prob. 1948 Finsbury D.Q.

Mother Nm: Nellie Summers 1875.

Marriage Dt: 1922 to Beatrice Dray, Dec 1922 Pancras Vol 1b Page 86.

K comments:

Spouse comments: Beatrice Ruby Dray was born in Guildford, Surrey 17 Sep 1898 and died in Havering in1981.

Children: Joyce WF 1923, Beatrice Joan S 1929. One other

(Research): GR[B] Camberwell March 1899 1d 901 GR[D] Thanet vol 5b p 965 Dec 1957.

1901 Census Camberwell

1. John Blenkow 26
2. Nellie Blenkow 26
3. John Blenkow 2
4. Ada Blenkow 6 Months

1911 Census

1. Blencome Ada Florence F 1901 10 Edmonton Middlesex
2. Blencome Arthur George M 1903 8 Edmonton Middlesex
3. Blencome Beatrice F 1911 3 Months Edmonton Middlesex
4. Blencome James Sidney M 1905 6 Edmonton Middlesex
5. Blencome John Head M 1875 36 Edmonton Middlesex
6. Blencome John Henry M 1899 12 Edmonton Middlesex
7. Blencome Lenard M 1908 3 Edmonton Middlesex
8. Blencome Lizzie Maud F 1904 7 Edmonton Middlesex
9. Blencome Nellie Wife F 1875 36 Edmonton Middlesex
10. Blencome William M 1906 5 Edmonton Middlesex

	Kings Own Royal Lancs. Rgt.	Royal Air Force

WW1

Blencowe Jack (John Henry), 1899, Camberwell, Private, 22948, 24669, 22412, 12^th Bn. Suffolk Regt. 11^th Bn. and 5^th Bn. Kings Own Royal Lancashire Regt., Sergeant 347368 Royal Air Force.

Synopsis

Jack a cab driver from Shoeburyness joined up in 1915 and spent a long period of the war in the Artois region of France. A small man (just 5 feet) he was transferred to a ‘bantam’ division and sent to France in June 1916.  He suffered two wounds and survived some terrifying trench bombardments including heavy gas attacks. Captured in early 1918 he spent time in the tough conditions of the German POW camp at Stendal where he was most likely surviving on a few scraps of food a day. Remarkably on his discharge from the Army in 1919, he enlisted as a civilian entry into the RAF where he was to have a lifetime career. He served in WW2 and went on to be a Squadron Leader until his retirement in the 1950’s.

1915

• 3^rd Nov. Enlisted at Bury St Edmunds in the 12^th Bn. Suffolk Regiment. Living at 2 St Andrews Hse, St Andrews Rd. Shoeburyness.

1916

• 3^rd Jan. Transferred to 2^nd Bn. South Lancs Regt. 
• 1^st Apr. Transferred then to 11^th Battalion Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regt. likely because of his height (this was part of the 120^th Brigade 40^th ‘bantam’ Division).² Bantam battalion i.e. men were between the height of 5 feet and 5 feet 2 inches. Jack’s own medical shows he was 5ft and ¾ in.
• 3^rd Jun. Embarked for France and likely joined ‘B’ Coy of the 11^th KORL.
• 16^th Jun. Noyelles .⁴
• 20-23^th Jun. Sailly-le-Bourse. In the trenches. Casualties for June 4 killed and 20 wounded.⁴
• 24^th Jun-6^th Jul. Bruay. Training.⁴
• Jul. The battle of the Ancre. Maroc Sector (west of Lille). Spells in trenches, casualties for the month 20 wounded.⁴
• 1^st-4^th Aug. Les Brebis. Billets.⁴
• 5^th -15^th Aug. Loos sector. Spells in the trenches. Particularly fierce German bombardment of the trenches between 5^th and 12^th. Casualties 7 killed 29 wounded and 2 men were killed in Billets. ⁴
• 16^th-30^th Aug. Calonne Sector. Bully Grenay. Spells in the trenches. Casualties for this period 2 killed 9 wounded. ⁴
• 1^st-5^th Sept. Les Brebis. Billets. ⁴
• 6^th-19^th Sept. Maroc Sector. Spells in the trenches. On the 19th a small raid was carried out. ⁴
• 19^th Sept. Bn relieved to Les Brebis billets. ⁴
• 22nd. Sept. Move to Marzingarbe. ⁴
• 26^th-30^th Sept.Marzingarbe. In trenches and patrol operations. ⁴
• 12^th-18^th Oct. Hulluch Sector. Trench operations in this sector resulted in 17 casualties including 3 killed. ⁴
• 19^th-30^th Oct. Various locations billeted, by the end of the month in billets at Maisnil-St-Pol and Neuville-au-Cornet. ⁴
• 12^thNov.Marched to Doullens from billets at  Prouville via Bernaville-Fienvillers-Hardinval-Hem. ⁴
• 14^th-17^th Nov. Hebuterne Sector. Trenches. Shelling at times. Casualties 17 of which 6 died. ⁴
• 24^th-26^th Dec. Christmas 1917 spent in camp near Bray-sur-Somme. ⁴

1917

• Jan. In the trenches, Rancourt 5-8^th Jan. Billeted in much the same location by the end of the month moved 12 km to Vaux-sur-Somme. 7 casualties. ⁴
• 1^st– 10^th Feb. Billets at Corbie. ⁴
• 10^th-24^th Feb. In trenches Belair. ⁴
• 6^th Mar. Howitzer Wood. ⁴
• 7^th-10^th Mar. The Germans retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Bethune Rd Sector. Heavy casualties 1 killed 18 wounded of which 2 died of their wounds. Further casualties in the month, for a total of 24. ⁴
• 1^st– 16^th Apr. Curlu. at the disposal of XV Corps doing none combat work like repairing roads etc. ⁴
• 17^th Apr. Marched to Equancourt. ⁴
• Apr-May. The capture of Fifteen Ravine, Villers Plouich, Beaucamp and La Vacquerie
  • 18^th-22^nd Apr. In front line trenches east of Metz-en-Couture and north-west of Gouzeacourt. 19^th Apr. advance towards Beauchamp and east of Havrincourt Woods on the 20^th rushed forward from there and captured a machine-gun post and 5 POW. unable to hold position moved back. There were 23 Casualties in the attack.
  • 23rd-25th Apr. the Bn. In Bde. reserve 23/24^th as the 120^th Bde. attempted unsuccessfully to take Beauchamp. At 03:00 Hrs on the 25^th took over from 14^th HLI and captured Beauchamp taking up a line on the Ridge and holding this despite heavy enemy Artillery fire and taking heavy casualties. Total casualties for the period 21^st-26^th April were 7 killed and 61 wounded.
  • 26^th Apr. Relieved from the line and in reserve at Dessart Woods for the balance of the month.⁴ 
• 14^th-30^th May. Gonnelieu sector. Patrol operations on the 18^th four men killed in action diary do not detail. Casualties for the month 6 killed and 5 wounded.
• 12^th Jul. Villers Plouich Sector. The 11^th KORL were in the front line at Villers Plouich on the 12^th July 1917. A raid was attempted on the night of the 12/13^th but failed due to the thickness of the enemy wire. The battalion was relieved on the 13^th July by the 13^th East Surreys and moved back to Fifteen Ravine.¹
• 31^st Jul.- 10^th Nov. Beaucamps sector. The men regularly patrolled ‘no man’s land’. They also carried out several raids on the German trenches.
• 7/8^th Aug. Wounded on patrol.  Jack was wounded in a night patrol, that was patrolling no man’s land towards Plush trench and German front line. The patrol ran into a group of Germans in this area who threw bombs which wounded 1 Officer and 7 other men including Jack. (see larger trench map). ⁴  The Army service records are hard to read but looks like a bomb fragment hit him in the buttock and he is treated for this wound in a Casualty Clearing Station. Initially, Jack would have been treated at a dressing station close to the front line on the 8^th Aug. and then was transported by field ambulance to the CCS. ⁵
• 27^th Aug. 136 Field Ambulance. After 16 days at hospital/CCS Jack has moved for recovery to one of the 40^th division Field Ambulance units the 136^th FA. Casualties for the month 10 Officers and  one OR. ⁴
• 14^th Sept. Returned to the battalion in Beauchamp sector.
• 5^th Oct. 40^th Div. After 9 months is taken out of the line and goes to III Army reserve at Heudecourt. ⁴
• 10^th Oct. Entrained to Boisleux -au-Mont and then marched to Simonscourt (10 km south-west Arras). In reserve until 30^th Oct. then moves to Halloy for training until 16^th Nov.⁴
• 17^th Nov. Bn. moved to Courcelette-Le-Comte via Beaumetz-Riviere-Ransart-Adineer-Ayette.⁴
• 20^th Nov -3^rd Dec The Attack on Cambrai. The Bn. in reserve at the beginning of the attack was put into service on the 24^th.
  • 24^th Nov. In trenches at Map ref. K4. two Coys (‘A’&’C’) go to Bourlon Woods to reinforce the 119^th Bde. who had been ordered to “clear out the wood”⁴ The ‘A’ & ‘C’ Coys. with the 119^th Bde had a torrid time in Bourlon Woods. Led by tanks the 119^th forced their way into the woods and made several attacks to gain the ridge there. Finally, the two companies of the 11^th KORL would successfully take and hold the ridge where they were joined by the Guards Div. But after some time holding the line, they were relieved by the 62^nd Div on the 25^th.4
  • 25^th Nov. At midnight the Bn. (including Jack but less 2 Coys.) march to Quarry (E24c 7.9) via Grandcourt-Sugar Factory (E29 a 5.7). Attached to 121^st Bde. the 11^th Bn. was heavily shelled until eventually relieved by units of the 62^nd Div. The Bn. moved back to trenches  (K16c) in the early morning of the 16^th.4
  • The two companies that went to the Bourlon Woods suffered the overwhelming majority of casualties in this period. 4 killed all with ‘A’ or ‘C’ Coys. 33 Wounded of which only 3 were from ‘B’ and ‘D’ Coys and 7 missing all from  ‘A’ or ‘C’ Coys.⁴

Note: At Cambrai, three members of the Blencowe family were with the 40^th Division trying to capture Bourlon woods – Jack Blencowe, Ralph Blinkho 18^th Bn Welsh Regiment, 119^th Bde and Percy’ Edward Blencowe 14^th Highland LI, 120^th Bde.

• 13^th Dec. Premont-Serain. Gas Shelling on this day causes 16 to be gassed, one dying later of the effects.⁴
• 18^th Dec.-2^nd Jan 1918. Jack gets a well-deserved home leave rest.

1918

• 25^th Jan. Noreil. Wounded. A ‘gunshot wound’ to the face. The 15^th Bn. had relieved the 13^th East Surreys in the Bullecourt east sector on the 21^st Nov. and this was the last day of the trench duty. The war diary says an extremely quiet night just one casualty (Jack) likely from shell shrapnel.⁴
• 7^th Feb. By early 1918 the British Army was running short of men. As a result, one battalion in each infantry brigade was disbanded. The 11^th Battalion was disbanded on 7^th February and the men were sent to the 6^th Entrenching Battalion. Allocated at the Corps level, the Entrenching battalions were used as pools of men, from which drafts of replacements could be drawn by conventional infantry battalions.
• 9^th Feb. Jack returned to duty, no combat followed this period of convalescence and posted to 9^th Entrenching Bn. It would appear that after this he was assigned to the 1/5^th Bn. KOYL. Note: On the 2^nd of February 1918 they had transferred to 187^th Brigade, 62^nd (2^nd West Riding) Division, absorbed the 2/5^th Bn. and were renamed 5^th Battalion.
• 7^th–29^th April, Battle of Estaires
  • 9^th April, Jack “missing in action” The Germans launched the second phase of their offensive on 9^th April 1918 overwhelming and capturing many soldiers. Jack was captured at La Bassee. ( ICRC records.)
• Reported a Prisoner of War shortly afterwards, spent time at Stendal POW camp.

  

• 8^th Dec. Repatriated home by this date.

1919

• 6^th Mar. Demobilised and discharged.
• Sept. Enlisted RAF and from service number, this indicates Sept 1919 as a Civilian entrant ie off any reserve list. Sergeant RAF is also added to the medal card.

Sources

1. The Long, Long Trail, The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918.
2. Wikipedia
3. Article about 11th KORL
4. War diary of 11th KORL
   • 11 KORL war diaryWO-95-2611-3_1
   • 11 KORL war diary WO-95-2611-3_2
   • 11 KORL war diary WO-95-2611-3_3
   • 11 KORL war diaries WO-95-2611-3_4
   • 11 KORL war diary WO-95-2611-3_5
   • WO-95-2430-2_6
   • For information about these diaries please contact the author
5. Medical evacuation in WW1

Medal Card

British and Victory Medals awarded. Jack is entitled to wear two wound stripes on his dress uniform.

1. The situation of World War I prisoners of war in Germany is an aspect of the conflict little covered by historical research. However, the number of soldiers imprisoned reached around 2,400,000 held by Germany.

Starting in 1915, the German authorities put in place a system of camps, nearly three hundred in all, and did not hesitate to resort to denutrition, punishments and psychological mobbing; incarceration was also combined with methodical exploitation of the prisoners. This prefigured the systematic use of prison camps on a grand scale during the 20th century.

However, the captivity organised by the German military authorities also contributed to creating exchanges among people and led several prisoners to reflect on their involvement in the war and their relationship with their homeland. .source Wikipedia

After the War

1922 Home address 6 Fourth Ave., Bush Hill Park Enfield

1939 Census

John is still with the RAF. Beatrice and three children at 34 Regarth Ave Romford Essex Beatrice still here in 1965

Beatrice R Blencowe 17 Sep 1898 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married
Joyce W F May (Blencowe) 20 Sep 1923 Female Switch Board Operator Single
Joan S Eley (Blencowe) 16 Apr 1929 Female At School Single

 

WW2

RAF	Warrant Officer

John Henry Blencowe, 347368, Sergeant, Squadron Leader, RAF

The number indicates recruited as a civilian in 1919, John did well and was eventually promoted to Squadron Leader.

1942

RAF List for October 1942 Blencowe J H Warrant Officer. What role played as a WO is at this stage unknown. (Personnel records required)

Probably in 1948, John was Promoted to Squadron Leader as this was customary after serving 6 years as an Officer

After the War

John’s whereabouts is unknown at this stage but likely at the RAF base or nearby and after 1948 as a Squadron Leader of a Flight wing.

Death 1957 Age 57

Oct 1957 Thanet Kent. As Probate indicates John was living in Ramsgate at the time of his death Beatrice was still in Romford and probably separated. Evidence of RAF rank in Probate.

GALLERY

Note: 13 records exist for this man that are not shown in the Gallery for copyright reasons.