Blincow John 1889 MM

John Blincow MM [10895]

1889-1946

Father Nm: Charles Blincow [3189] born 1858 Tipton Staffs died 10 January 1923, Gartcosh Lanark: Oldest known Ancestor – Henry Blincow 1709 Kings Sutton.

Mother Nm: Mary Ann Davis [1831] ] born c 1862 Tipton Staffs-1936.

Marriage Dt: After 1915

K comments: Brother Henry served with the Scottish Rifles and the Highland Light infantry.

Spouse comments: Sarah Campbell  b about 1890 died 1957 Gartcosh.She had previously married James Kent 1911 . James was KIA in 1915.

Children:

John Blincow b. 1920 Gartcosh, Lanark
James Campbell Blincow, b. 1925, Gartcosh, Lanark
Stewart Blincow, b. 1937, Gartcosh, Lanark
Robert Stanley Blincow, b. 1930, Gartcosh, Lanark

Grandaughter Lydia Wenbourne posted photo of John Blincow in the Great War Forum

Born 1890

26 Dec 1890, Gartcosh, Lanarkshire

1891 Census Gartosh, Lanarkshire

1. Charles Blincow 33
2. Mary Ann Blincow 30
3. John William Blincow 10
4. Mary Ann Blincow 6
5. Lily Blincow 3
6. John Blincow 1
7. George Drysdale 22

1901 Census 4 Smith Terrace, Gartosh, Lanarkshire

1. Charles Blincow 42
2. Mary Ann Blincow 39
3. John W Blincow 19
4. Mary Ann Blincow 15
5. Lily Blincow 13
6. John Blincow 11
7. Nelly Blincow 8
8. Charles Blincow 6
9. Lennie Blincow 4
10. Henry Blincow 2
11. Albert B Blincow 1

Gordon Highlanders	Pioneer collar badge	Royal Fusiliers
Labour Corps

WW1

Blincow John, 1889, Gartosh, Private, S4751, 111293, 383207, 9^th Bn. Gordon Highlanders, 44^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers, Labour Corps

1915

The Medal Roll for the 1914-15 Star shows John was awarded this medal while in service with the 44th (Garrison Bn.) Royal Fusiliers in 1919 but that John enlisted with the 9th Service Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders (Likely enlisted in early 1915).

• 9^th Jul. The 9^th Gordons (Divisional Pioneers) landed in France.

The 9^th was part of K2 “formed from surplus personnel of the 8^th Bn. (9^th Div) and a draft of 400 recruits from the depot. It formed part of the 44^th Highland Brigade….they went from Aldershot to Haslemere then in Feb 1915 left the 44^th Brigade to become divisional pioneers being based at Perham Down until going to France on the 9^th of July 1915.

The role of the Divisional Pioneers was not to fight but to provide work parties for various repairs and tasks to support the division, however, combat action could not be avoided given its proximity and John certainly was heavily involved in some action on at least one occasion.

• 25^th Sept. – 13^th Oct. The Battle of Loos. John was involved in The Battle of Loos with the 15^th Scottish Division. The largest battle of WW1 and ultimately a very heavy defeat. General Haig mistakenly thought this would be a great victory (even one to end the war)but without the planning, adequate Artillery fire and specific target maps of advancement. Haig thought the first use of the gas by the British would devastate the Germans but it did not. The BEF commander Gen. Sir John French lost his command as a result of the failure of the battle and Haig inherited the role from then on.^{Ref.The battle of Loos Nick Lloyd} Map of attack area of 15^th (Scottish) Division on 25^th September 1915.
• 25^th Sept. On day one of the attack, the 15^th Division broke through German lines and reached Hill 70 shown on the trench map below (between H31-H32). However, even by as early as 10.30 a.m., there were between 700 and 800 German soldiers ‘in the area from Lens North to Cité St Auguste’. This was, of course, more than enough to pin down the 1,500 mixed-up Scottish soldiers that reached Hill 70. By 1 p.m. I Corps admitted that the situation around Hulluch was unclear, and IV Corps reported that the Scottish battalions on Hill 70 were being heavily counterattacked and ‘it was questionable whether 15^th Division would be able to hold it’. In the end, they were not able to. Losses in the 15^th Division were very high, and as the divisional history noted, out of a total fighting strength of over 19,000 men, 6,606 died or were wounded in the battle.³

1916

• January-February. Wounded. It’s in this period that John is wounded for the first time. The digging of trenches right on the front line in the industrial area of Loos was fraught with dangers. The war diary reports several wounded and one killed in January and one more wounded in February. On the 27th of February, the battalion is relieved and goes to billets in Lillers for a well-earned rest but it’s very likely by this time John is in a hospital somewhere in France.

• March. The 9th Bn in billets at Lillers for a short period returned to trenching work in the Markinzarbe area on the 6th of March. We don’t know how serious the first wounding of John was and he may have rejoined the Bn in the March-April period or he may have been absent ie in the hospital for a period.
• 27th April. Possible Gassing. The war diary describes a Gas attack when some 9th Gordons are assisting RE with Gas cylinder placements . 2 ORs are wounded and this ties in with the family comments about John getting gassed and dragging a colleague to safety.
• 30th April. Mentioned in despatches by General Haig. Ultimately the award of the Military Medal would come from this and maybe other acts of bravery. John did return to service with the 9th Bn as evidenced by a later hospitalization in 1917.

Note: because we do not know when John returned to his battalion I have documented the progress of the 9th Bn. from April 1916 onwards.

• April and May. The 9th in the Lens-La Bassee sector.

• 11^th May. The 15^th Division was involved in the defence of the Kink salient, which resulted in its loss to the enemy. On the night of the 11^th, the Bn. had two companies working on mining trenches when a heavy enemy bombardment and attack began.
• 12^th May. “G” company mining the “Sticky Trench”. “E” Coy proceeded to the “Hohenzollern Craters” when commanded to the 45th Infantry Brigade to man and repair “V100 Street” which was knocked in after the attack of the 11^th. They stayed and worked for 30 hours. “F”&” H” companies recalled in the morning from Villaceline and proceeded to consolidate Infantry position in “Sackville Street” Casualties were 20 killed and 4 other ranks wounded.
• 15^th Jun. The war diary details the London Gazette mentioned in despatches from 30 April 1916

Note: Johns MiD is listed in the LG of 15 June 1916 p.5950, which was for ‘gallant and distinguished conduct in the field’:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29623/supplement/5950

The relevant 9th Bn. War Diary can be viewed here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14053621

These War diary entries indicate that while the main role of the Pioneers is building, repairing trench systems etc. the need to take part in combat was part of the necessity of surviving in the front-line trench work. The battles that the 9^th Bn. were associated with over the balance of the war were;

• 23^rd Jul. – 7^th Aug. The Battle of Pozieres*.
• 15^th -22^nd Sept. The Battle of Flers-Courcelette* in which the Division captured Martinpuich.
• 1^st – 18^th Oct. Battle of Le Transloy* in which the Division took part in attacks on the Butte de Warlencourt

The battles marked * are phases of the Battles of the Somme 1916

1917

• 9^th – 14^th Apr. The First Battle of the Scarpe.**
• 23^rd -24^th Apr. The Second Battle of the Scarpe** in which the Division captured Guemappe.

The battles marked ** are phases of the Arras Offensive.

• 31^st Jul.– 2^nd Aug. The Battle of Pilckem.***
• 16^th–18^th Aug.The Battle of Langemark.***

The battles marked *** are phases of the Third Battles of Ypres.

Note; John was either taken ill or wounded in 1917 as the record shows he was transported in the 31st Ambulance train.

1918

• 24^th – 25^th Mar. The First Battle of Bapaume.+
• 28^th Mar. The First Battle of Arras.+

The battles marked + are phases of the First Battles of the Somme 1918

• 18^th – 22^nd Jul. The Battle of the Soissonnais and the Ourcq including the the attack on Buzancy, was a phase of the Battles of the Marne 1918.
• 2^nd Oct. – 11^th Nov.The Final Advance in Artois.

It seems John served for all of the war period with the Gordon Highlanders and was likely transferred to the 44^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers in late 1918. Evidence for this is serial number 111145 who was transferred Oct 1918 to this Garrison Bn.

1919

• Jan. John was transferred to his last regiment the Labour Corps about Jan 1919 (serial number 383342 joined Labour Corps Feb 1919) he was probably then discharged later in 1919.

Sources

1. The Long, Long Trail- The British Army In The Great War Of 1914-1918.
2. Wikipedia.
3. Loos 1915 Nick Lloyd.

Medals

John’s name can be read on the 1914-15 Star reverse

1914-15 Star, British and Victory medals with the Oak Leaf emblem attached to Victory medal to recognise he was Mentioned in Despatches.

After the War

1921 Census

Gartcosh
John 31
Sarah 31
John 1

1930s

John worked at the Gartosh Steel Mills, where indeed father and other members of the family had. It seems John was in a supervisor role noting the suit and tie.

Death 1946 age 57 years

Cadder Scotland.

Granddaughter says the family story is that he had been gassed in the war

Gallery

 

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