Brooksmith John Douglas 1885-1918 – Blencowe Family in World War One

John Douglas Brooksmith

1885-1918

Father’s Mm: Eldred John Brooksmith 1856 Cheltenham. Barrister-1932

Mother Nm: Mary Louisa Blencowe [3682] b 11.8.1854 Brackley : Oldest known Ancestor – Thomas Blencowe 1475 Marston St Lawrence

K comments: Brother Eldred Stuart served with the Royal Navy as a Commander.

Spouse comments:

Children:

Birth: 28 May 1888 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

Residence 1891: Age: 3, Pevensey, Sussex, England

Residence 1901: Age: 13, St Mary, Berkshire, England

Arrival in North America: 1910 Age: 22, San Francisco, California, United States

Residence 1911: Age: 23, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Canada

Moves to New Brunswick 1914: 6 Feb Age: 25, St.John, New Brunswick

WW1

Brooksmith John D, Private, 43572, CFA, 2nd Lieutenant. ‘B’ Battery, 47th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.

1914

Enlisted 28th Jul. as a private (43572) at Rimouski, Québec .

1915

Embarked 12th February on SS Rosette for Avonmouth, England with the CEF the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column.
17th February he was struck off the staff of CEF and had applied for a Commission as an officer in the RFA. On 15th March he was transferred.
his records the transfer from CEF to RFA on a Commission to an Officer
The British archives hold the Records for John while with the RFA they can be purchased here. National Archives John Brooksmith. In any event, we do know was with the 47th Brigade (Howitzer) Artillery and was with this unit from 1915 until his death in 1918.
A 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer is being positioned by troops of the 293rd Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. John’s 47th Brigade was likely fitted with these 6-inch howitzers.
Sometime before September 1915, John joined the 47th Brigade (London Brigade) of the RFA who served in the 14th Light Division for the whole of the war. John was placed as a 2nd Lieut with ‘B’ Battery that at the time had 15 Pounder guns upgraded to 18 Pounders in Nov 1915 and in mid-1916 converted to a Howitzer Bde made up of 4.5inch Howitzer guns.
Two Howitzer guns are in position. This photograph conveys how these guns were used and positioned. They are hidden amongst some thin trees and have been covered with bivouac-type huts. The men in the background, milling about, are most probably the gun crews. Howitzers were a World War I innovation and allowed for long-distance, accurate bombing of enemy targets. One of the strategies developed, due to this new weapon, was to continuously bomb the enemy’s front line to disturb the soldiers’ sleep and unnerve them psychologically. Then after a few days, an attack would be launched in the hope that the defenders would be dazed and disorganised. [Original reads: ‘OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. Howitzers.’] National Library of Scotland
20 May. The 47th Brigade RA embarked from Southampton and disembarked at le Havre. John is not with the Bde as it goes to the Flanders front destination Ypres.
The map of the Western Front battlefield highlights the battlefield of Ypres (green). Map by kind permission of Joanna Legg at www.greatwar.co.uk”
29 May. The 47th arrived at Dickiebusch and set up firing positions.
Dickebusch (now Dikkebus) was a village in the Ypres Salient behind the front lines. It had one of the largest concentrations of troops in the years 1915-1917.
25 August. John joins the 47th Bde. in the Ypres sector. The War Diary entry doesn’t mention any previous army unit so assume this was only a British Army unit.
September. The Second Attack on Bellewaarde – Flanders. It may be this was when and where John was cited for his award of the DSC as it mentions two incidents of bravery in the October 1916 gazette announcement. Note the next major action of the 47th Bde after Sept 1915 was a year later at Delville Wood Arras sector and given timing to recognise and award DSC it is likely 1915 action was the reason John was cited.
- 23-24 September. The first action that the 47th tasked with to cut the wire at Railway Wood. Bde Casualties as the German defence was ferocious and the 32nd Div failed to break through.
19 December. The Nominal Roll of B Battery 47th Brigade confirms John as a member of the B Battery..

1916

16 February. The 47th Bde move to France by train to Amiens
28th February Relieved the 57th Regt of Artillery French army Corps SW of Arras
April-May. Based at Dainville. mostly quiet
June-July. Arras some action but mostly quiet.
August. Moved to near Mametz Wood in the Somme.
27 September. The War diary records that John was awarded the Military Cross. Note given the time to recognise and award this places his bravery at a much earlier date and likely I think in September 1915 at Ypres.
20 October. John’s award of the Military Cross was announced in the London Gazette notice, the citation records two brave acts.
For two years John fights with the RFA and then in March 1918 meets his death.

1918 Death

21st March. Arras, France The German Spring Offensive.

Ruined buildings surround the German reserves advancing through the streets of St Quentin, during the great battle of the west. A soldier next to the truck (left) is wearing a red cross arm band. A label bearing the following inscription is to be placed on the back of all German Official Photographs for which orders are received:- “This is an official German photograph the sold proprietary rights in which belong to the Deutsche Reichsarchiv, Potsdam, whose permission in writing must first be obtained before it is reproduced.”

“Sixty-three German divisions attacked over 60 miles of the front held by 26 British divisions, overwhelming British defences and driving them west. The Germans concentrated on infiltrating strongly in one central area, whereas the British expected that the attack would be spread out and that the Germans would attempt to outflank them in the Somme woods and valleys. The British 3rd Army and 5th Army were taken by surprise, divided and forced to retreat. German troops then rapidly advanced across the Somme battlefield towards Amiens. In five days, they had recaptured all the land they had lost around the Somme in the previous two years. This was disastrous for the Allies”. Artillery posts were typically overrun before they could be withdrawn and last-ditch defence by the RFA typically involved many deaths. The 47th Brigade was overrun resulting in Johns’s death on the 21st March amongst heavy Casualties. The 47th Brigade lost all their guns during this enemy offensive.

J D Brooksmith B Battery missing war diary entry

Burial Information:

Cemetery: ARRAS MEMORIAL; Pas de Calais, France

Grave Reference: N/ALocation: The ARRAS MEMORIAL is in the Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery, which is in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of the town of Arras, near the Citadel and approximately 2 kilometres due west of the railway station. The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates over 35,000 casualties of the British, New Zealand and South African Forces who died between Spring 1916 and 7 August 1918, excluding casualties of the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, and who have no known grave. The design, by Sir Edward Lutyens, consists of a cloister built up on Doric columns and faces west. In the broader part of the site, the colonnade returns to form a recessed and open court, terminated by an apse in front of which is the memorial to the Flying Services. The names of the casualties are carved on stone panels which are fixed to the Flying Services Memorial or to the cloister walls. The British Air Services originated in the use of balloons for purposes of reconnaissance. The balloon gave way to power-driven air machines and in 1911 an Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was formed. In 1912 the Air Battalion was absorbed into the Royal Flying Corps which consisted of a Naval Wing and a Military Wing and a Central Flying School. These two wings developed during the course of the war, both sections expanding greatly until they combined and the Royal Air Force came into being on the 1 April 1918. The Flying Services Memorial commemorates over 1,000 men of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, who have no known grave.

Arcola, Saskatchewan Memorial.

From Flickr account of stone MacLeod Arcola being the home his father and mother made in cada

War Medals

Awarded posthumously the Military Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory medals.