Buckland John Edward E 1894

John Edward (Ernest) Buckland

known as Ernest

1894-1957

Father Nm: Albert Edward Buckland 1873

 

 

 

Mother Nm: Elizabeth Sophia Blinco [460] born Mar Q 1871 Eton died Oct 1961 Eton

Marriage Dt:

K comments: Father Albert served in WW1 with the Rifle Brigade. Three brothers also served:  William A C . served with the 4th Royal Fusiliers.  Albert Frank served with the 3rd and 8th Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. Frederick Charles served with the 1/4th and 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry

Spouse comments:

Children.

Born 1894

22 October 1894 Eton district.Vol.3a Pg. 668

1911 CENSUS

9 Grays Place, Stoke Road,  with Family.

WW1

Buckland John Edward, 2556, 265812, 1/1st Buckinghamshire Regt., 1/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 145th Brigade, 48th Division., 2/4th Bn. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

Ernest’s first regiment number 2556 is later than brother Frederick whose number was 1955 but only a few weeks or so in terms of recruiting. It appears the two brothers were initially with the 1/4th OBLI Territorials and journeyed together on 30 March 1915 to France.

We do not know exactly when Ernest was transferred to the 1/1st Bucks Bn but we do know that from his 1914-15 Star medal award he was not with the I/1st Bucks Bn when he arrived in France. It may have been the 1/4th Bn OBLI but it wasn’t a significant amount of time. Sometime after May 1916 when the 2/4th Bn OBLI landed in France Ernest joined this battalion. We know this from his 1918 Absent Voters list shown below. We also have two records from Clint who records him missing in May 1918 and eventually a POW.

1914

The Battalion mobilised in Aylesbury on August 4th, 1914. On August 5th, it travelled to Portsmouth and on August 6th, it joined the 145th Infantry Brigade of the 48th (South Midland) Division at Swindon. From there, it travelled via Dunstable to Chelmsford, where it remained for training until March 1915.

1915

• 30 March. Brothers Ernest and Frederick enter France. It seems likely with the 1/4th Bn OBLI.

At some point, they join the 1/1st Bn Bucks OBLI.

The 1/4th OBLI and the 1/1st Bucks Bn were part of the 145th Brigade, 48th Division proceeded to France at the end of March and spent three months in the line near Ploegsteert (3 miles south of Ypres in Belgium)

• April. Initially at Bizet south of Ploegsteert in billets. Several spells in trenches at Ploegsteert Woods for the next 10 weeks.  1st Bn records 5 men killed and 6 wounded in the month.
• May. Casualties for the month 1 killed 10 wounded.
• June. The 145th Bde. and its battalions moved from Ploegsteert back into France to Romarin. Then on to Allouagne just south of Lillers and a period of rest before the next campaign. The Brigade WD reports that 6 men of 1st Bucks were killed in the month and that since arriving overseas lost 9 killed and 59 wounded, the battalion numbers totaled 895 down from the initial 1004 men.
• July. Moved  to the Hebuterne Sector of the Somme, where it spent a year

  

• July. Just to demonstrate the risks associated with all army operations, on July 12 at the Bomb Training School in Noeux-les-Mines, 20 soldiers from the 1st Bucks, 1/5th Glosters, and 1/4th Qxfords were injured when a no. 5 Mills bomb (grenade) exploded as it was being thrown. Note Remember that this kind of grenade was newly introduced; was it faulty or misused?

  

  Note: It seems to me that this was given in the early days of training a miscommunicated instruction about the use of the trigger mechanism and not a faulty bomb. The thrower would draw out and remove the Safety Pin to arm the grenade while maintaining a tight grip on the Striker Lever to keep the Striker in the loaded position.

  The Striker Lever ejects and flies off when the thrower releases the grenade and throws or lobs it at the target. The sprung Striker then fires down, striking the Percussion Cap and lighting the time delay fuse, which ignites the Detonator and ignites the High Explosive inside the grenade.
  The Time Delay Fuse was initially set to a 7-second delay, but this proved to be too long, giving the enemy time to hide, take cover, or even toss back the grenade. Eventually, this delay was decreased to a 4-second delay.

• 15-25 July. The 145th Bde. and battalions moved to Hebuterne over this period. The 1st Bucks entered the trenches on the 25th and captured two German soldiers who were on patrol.
• August In trenches Hebuterne in spells. Casualties for 1st Bn 1 killed 6 wounded.
• September. 1st Bn moved by Bus to Couin. In trenches Couin in spells. Casualties 7 Wounded
• 11 October. Moved to front line at Hebuterne at map ref K10. Casualties No Casualties
• November. In trenches Coin in spells.Casualties 1 Wounded
• December.In trenches Hebuterne in spells. Casualties for the year 87 wounded and 10 killed. The 1st Bn finished the year with 200 men under strength at 808.

1916

• 21 January. The first of the 1916 trench duties in the Hebtuerne sector, facing cold weather and little protection from the elements let alone the enemy. This may be the possible cause of illness for Frederick as undoubtedly many men succumbed in the winter of 1916 to trench related illness.

  

 

• • January -February. Spells in the same trenches at Hebtuerne sector. Some casualties.

  • March. Was quite a difficult month for the first battalion. On 7 March a patrol was taken in the enemy territory and during this period, the Germans suffered at least 12 reported casualties, There were three casualties for the 1st Bn who were slightly wounded and all remained on duty.

    On 19 March, there was a very heavy bombardment of the trenches, and the first battalion suffered 13 casualties. This was a gas bombardment and casualties would’ve not only suffered injuries from explosions but also from inhaling the gas.

    On the very next tour of duty in the trenches beginning on the 27th, they were further bombardments over the next few days and the casualties again we are quite high. Furthermore, the trenches were also containing the 13th Yorks and  Lancs regiment which was attached to the 1st for this duty. At this particular point in time, they also suffered casualties.

    The 145 infantry Bde war diary reports totals of three killed, and 26 wounded for the 1st battalion during the month of March. It’s entirely possible that in this period Frederick was gassed. This would account for later being reported as wounded, and also sick. Very often, the man would have incurred some kind of physical injuries externally, and also their lungs would become poisoned by the gas. This in time resulted in lung disease and illness.

  • April.
    • 1 April, the 1st Bn was back in trenches and took part in a trench patrol on the enemy. Unfortunately, the enemy had gained intelligence from this raid and increased their numbers so that the party went out to face at least 50 enemy. The casualties for this particular time were two killed and four wounded. of note was the fact that to prevent the enemy identifying the dead. The wounded were bravely recovered and taken back to the trench line.
    • 8 April. Another spell in the trenches. no casualties
    • 22 April. The battalion returned to the trenches, and was heavily bombed by the enemy, just before daylight, the resulting casualties were four killed and three, wounded.
    • May 12-15.  In the trenches. on the 12th they underwent heavy shelling, resulting in 4 wounded but on 15th much more damage with 1 killed and 14 wounded.
    • At the end of May the 1st Battalion was marched out of this area

Note: At this point, I believe brother Frederick is wounded possibly gassed and invalided out of the front line to spend time probably in a French-based Army Hospital before being invalided to the UK. By August he is discharged so his wounds or gassing was significant enough to warrant a medical board seeing no fighting use for him.

 

• July. Battle for Deville Wood. The 48th division made an attack on the night of 20/21 July. Casualties were high, 54 men were killed

During the Somme battle of 1916, the Battalion was in action for two periods, each of about three weeks, during which its most notable achievements were a very successful attack north of Ovillers, and the holding of the Sky-line Trench, immediately northwest of Pozieres.

 

1917

It seems that for 1917 Ernest was with the 2/4th Bn. OBLI  and that he was with them until 1919 when discharged. When he transferred is not known but a likely point is November 1917 when the 48th Division moved out of France..48th Divisional HQ received orders on 10 November for a move to Italy. Entrainment began on 21 November and all units had detrained around Legnano (Adige) by 1 December. The Division then moved north to the area allotted to XI Corps.

For the history of the 2/4th OBLI we have a good account in a PDF here The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of the 2_4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, by G. K. Rose

1918

Prisoner of War

What we also know about Ernest is that he went missing later captured(reported on 31 May 1918, South Bucks Free Press) when the German Spring Offensive was on. The history of the battalion tells of the regiment being in several situations in April when his likely capture was to take place. I can’t find a Red Cross report for him in their files for POW but we have a date of 4 October when he apparently was confirmed as a POW by the South Bucks Free Press newspaper. The source the work of Clint Lawson.

Evidence of Edwards regiments in this Absent Voters listing for 1918

 

Sources

1. Ancestry  and BFA database
2. Light Bobs website
3. 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion War Diary
4. Find My Past- National Archive Army records
5.  Regimental Chronicles of the OBLI
6. The Long Long Trail, The history of British Army 1914-1918.
7. Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 2/4th Battalion) G. K. ROSE
8. Clints Honor Roll  mentions Slough, Eton & Windsor Observer 22/1/16; Slough National School roll of honour; Windsor, Eton & Slough Express 23/1/15 Slough roll of honour; Bucks Absent Voters List 1918  9 Grays Place, Stoke Road; South Bucks Free Press 31/5/18 missing; 4/10/18 pow; Slough, Eton & Windsor Observer 18/12/15 Pte 2556 EE Buckland O&BLI – Slough Christmas gift roll
   Windsor, Eton & Slough Express 29/1/16 Stoke Road School roll of honour
   Bucks Btn Casualty Books B Co; National Archives, Medal Index Cards 2556 &265812 O&BLI

 

Medals

Ernest awarded the 1914-15 Star the British and Victory medals.

After the War

1921 census

9 Grays Place, Slough

First name(s)	Last name	Relationship to head	Sex	Birth year	Age in years	Birth place	Occupation	Employer
Albert Edward	Buckland	Head	Male	1872	48	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	Painter & Decorator	Pwnell & Clifford Builder Etc
Elizabeth Sophia	Buckland	Wife	Female	1872	49	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	Home Duties	–
Edward Ernest	Buckland	Son	Male	1894	26	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	General Labourer	Out Of Work
Horace George	Buckland	Son	Male	1904	16	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	Electric Hammerman	Out Of Work Peters & Co Windsor Works
James Thomas	Buckland	Son	Male	1907	14	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	Shop Boy	Slough Trading Company
Bertram Harry	Buckland	Son	Male	1910	10	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	–	–
Irene Louisa	Buckland	Daughter	Female	1914	7	Slough, Buckinghamshire, England	–

1939 Census

Slough, General labourer single living with mother.

Death 1957

26 Nov 1957 Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England

Gallery