Albert Stanley Blinko [4618] 1899-1960 Scrapbook including war service

WW1

Blinko Albert Stanley, 1899, Beaconsfield, Private, 4536,201692, 1/4^th Cheshire Regiment -Signals.

1915

No date of this photo but possibly at the begining of the war a photograph of Edie Bert and Jinnie.

23^rd Oct. Bert enlisted as a Territorial with the 1/4^th Cheshire Regt. (age about 15 yrs 6 months) (number 4533 enlisted 23^rd Oct 1915)
1/4^th Battalion was formed 13^th May 1915 before Bert joined up. The formation became 159th Brigade, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.
14^th -19^th Jul. Sailed from Devonport, going via Alexandria to Gallipoli where it landed on 9^th August 1915. *

Note: Bert would have attended training on joining the battalion and given he was enlisted in the Signals it would have been a fair period before he joined the battalion overseas. It’s highly unlikely Bert was at Gallipoli because of this. It is presumed that Bert to joined the 53^rd Div. In Palestine by mid-1916. The medal roll suggests several interruptions to Bert’s overseas duty this is most likely attendance at technical courses for his role in signals.

1916

4^th-5^th Aug. The Battle of Romani. The 52^nd (Lowland) Division, recovering from its efforts at Gallipoli, moved to Romani once the railway reached that place. By the time the Turks were ready to make another effort, it had been joined by a brigade of 53^rd (Welsh) Division. The British force at Romani did not seize the opportunity to destroy the Turkish forces. 42^nd (East Lancashire) Division, ordered up from reserve, was slow to arrive; 52^nd (Lowland) Division in Romani was not committed to attacking speedily enough. Although efforts were made on 5^th August, the greater part of the Turkish force escaped. ³

1917

26^th Mar. First Battle of Gaza. The 53^rd Division bore the brunt of the battle where the three brigades, along with the 161^st Brigade of the 54^th Division, had to advance across the exposed ground, withstanding shrapnel, machine gun and rifle fire, to capture the Turkish fortifications. Despite gaining the advantage towards the end of the day, the British commander called off the attack so that the division’s casualties, close to 3,500, were suffered in vain. ¹

Also in this battle was Private, Private, 1635 William Blencowe of the same battalion as Bert, also Private, 2671, William Charles Blencowe, 1/1st Staffords under orders of Anzac Mounted Division and Bert’s cousin Sapper, 2866, Edwin Blinco, Royal Engineers.

During 1917 Bert was on home leave as evidenced by this photo with Sisters Jinnie and Eddie. Bert with his very deep Desert tan proof of his being in the Egyptian campaign.

17^th Nov. – 30^th Dec. Defence of Jerusalem. The 53^rd was to advance northwards along the Beersheba to Jerusalem road to take Hebron and Bethlehem before moving eastwards to secure the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the Hebron to Bethlehem road south of Jerusalem, the 53^rd Division (known as Mott’s Detachment) had continued their tentative advance to arrive 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Hebron on 4^th Dec. The 53^rd occupied Bethlehem on the night of 9^th December. Final objectives were gained and the line along the whole front secured.²

1918

31^st May. The 1/4^th Cheshire’s left the 53^rd Division and moved to France via Alexandria & Taranto.
1^st Jul. The Battalion attached to 102^nd Brigade in 34^th Division which engaged in various actions on the Western Front.
While these are American Telephone Engineers, Bert would have been in a very similar role to these men erecting land and radio links for essential communications with the forward troop’s Source Missouri State Archives
This period of the War was a major change for Bert and his battalion they would now find themselves in a major offensive to close out the war. The massive resources of American forces now being applied to the attack and American troops were being trained with themselves for the final push.
15^th Jul. – 5^thAug. 1918 The Battle of the Soissonais and of the Ourcqand the capture of Baigneux Ridge. On 18^th Jul. the 10^th army had attacked north of Soissons and driven the enemy back some five miles taking many prisoners and guns The 34^th were to take part in the exploitation of this victory. On the 22^nd -23^rd Jul. As the 102^nd Brigade attacked the 1/4^th Cheshires were in Reserve . On the 23^rd Jul. The 102^nd Brigade advanced through high standing corn suffering from the very start from the enemy’s machine guns but they got forward some 1200 yds, here they dug in pending advance of troops on their flanks. losses were heavy the 1/7^th Cheshires 180 all ranks the 1/1^st Herefords lost 8 officers and 230 other ranks. During the night the 1/4^th Cheshires relieved the 1/7^th Cheshires and 1/1^st Herefords in the front line. The line held until the 29^th Aug. when the 102^ndBde. attacked again (the 1/7^th Cheshires in Reserve.⁴
1^st – 8^th Sept. The Battle of Ypres. Objectives near Wulverghem and Neuve Eglise took, part of the successful breaking of the Hindenburg line. The 102^nd Bde. in the front line 2^nd – 3^rd Sept. the Division losses for period 1^st – 8^th Sept. 85 killed, 458 wounded and 9 missing.⁴
14^th -19^th Oct. The Battle of Courtrai. The 1/4^th Cheshires in the front line. The HQ of the 1/4^th Cheshires were hit twice and many casualties caused. On the front line itself the 1/4^th Cheshires made a rapid advance to CouCou and in the day took 110 prisoners and several field guns. On the 15^th the 1/4^th Cheshires reached and occupied Menin. On the 16^th the Bn. was relieved.⁴
25^th Oct. The action of Ooteghem. At 8 a.m. Planned subsidiary attack by the 1/4^th Cheshires was begun but only partially successful Coy “B” was pinned down by machine-gun fire and the enemy made a clever counter-attack capturing 3 officers and 22 other ranks. The barrage for the main attack started at 9 a.m. The 1/4^th Cheshires then moved forward steadily. Bu 1 p.m. the Bn. had cleared the village of Moen of the enemy. By 8:30 p.m. the village of Autryve was also cleared of the enemy. The losses of the 1/4^th Cheshires on this day was 10 killed, 24 wounded and they took 57 prisoners and 7 machine guns.⁴
31^st Oct. The action of Tieghem. The Battalion and Brigade in Reserve and did not take part in this successful attack.
1^st Nov. The Division was relieved and was in the area east of Courtrai at the Armistice. It was selected to join the Army of Occupation and began its move across Belgium and into Germany on 14 November. Between 12-19^th December it was billeted near Namur; on the 22^nd Dec. a large number of miners and others with industrial skills left to be demobilised. ⁴

1919

29^th Jan. The Division occupied the Cologne bridgehead.

We do not know when Bert was demobilised but it may have been in 1919.

Sources

Intelligence briefing for the 53^rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in Holland.
Wikipedia.
The Long, Long Trail The British Army in the Great War, 1914-1918
The Thirty-Fourth Division 1915-1919 J Shakespear.
History of the Cheshire Regt. in the Great War – Crookenden.
A brief record of the advance of the Egyptian expeditionary force under the command of General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby … July 1917 to October 1918

Medals

Awarded the British and Victory medals.

war gallery

4th Battalion, Sussex Regiment march through Bethlehem. Bert’s infantry division the 53rd (Welsh) Division occupied Bethlehem on night of 9 December 1917.

Close up of the group photo of the what looks like a Signals Course during WW1

Postcard sent to Bert’s sister Martha Jane likely posted after the war, from his mother ( Amelia Blinko). Wound stripes on one man indicate late or after the war.

1st – 8th Sept. The Battle of Ypres. Objectives near Wulverghem and Neuve Eglise taken, part of the successful breaking of the Hindenburg line.

14th -19th Oct. The Battle of Courtrai. The 1/4th Cheshires in the front line. The HQ of the 1/4th Cheshires were hit twice and many casualties caused.

The medal roll shows on several occasions Bert is taken on strength and probably sent for signals training courses and then returned to his battalion.

Telephone Engineers constructing lines of communication in the war. IWM

Various signals activities at the front.

Signals men using a land line telephone system.This system used earth signalling hence the ground spike in front of the man kneeling, this kind of system was very prevalent until normal telephone service until the 1950’s in England

After the War

1919 Married Dorothy May Oxlade.
Children

Children from first marriage Ken, Ron and Enid Blinko

1928 Married a 2nd time to Mary EALES and moved to Beaconsfield

Beaconsfield new town as it may have looked in 1928

Beaconsfield. The Station Approach in the 1950’s The Telephone Exchange that Berts was to work from can be seen as second last building on the right.

November 1934 Albert joins the British Post Office Engineering Department as a Engineer SW2 grade

Page showing Albert joined the Post Office in 1934 as an Engineer SW2 grade source British Postal Service Appointment Books, 1737-1969

1935-1960 Telephone Engineer line and Telephone Exchange Construction Beaconsfield Bucks .

Bert in his career built several telephone exchanges in Chilterns of Buckinghamshire.

1939 Census at 40 Waller Rd.

1951 Marriage of son Reginald William (Bill) Blinco born 1930 and Joanne Petersen.

From Ken Blinko“I’m attaching what I believe to be the last photo taken of the Henry George
family survivors – taken in August 1954 on the occasion of my half-brother Bill’s wedding outside the Church at Beaconsfield, and shows Harry with his Mother, Brother and two Sisters. I have extracted the relevant section in the other photo.
Starting with Gran centre right we have Elizabeth Mary Eales (Dad’s second wife) standing to the right of her. Immediately behind is Albert Stanley and to the left is my wife Peggy with two of my children David and Valerie in front of her with self immediately behind.
To the left of Peggy is Auntie Peg (Jinny) then next left is Uncle Harry. To the left of Harry is my brother Ron’s wife Wyn with their son Geoffrey in front and finally, two in from the extreme left is Auntie Rose”

Photo of Bert in the 1950's with his brother Harry and sisters Jinny and Rose and mother Amelia (Granny Oxlade) — Part of the Wedding Photo of Bert’s son shows him in the 1950’s with his wife Mary on his right side. Also in the photo brother Harry and sisters Jinny and Rose and mother Amelia (Granny Oxlade)

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