Sydney Fenner Blencowe

Sydney Fenner Blencowe

Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1889
Place of Birth	Dulwich, Surrey, England
Death	11 Apr 1917
Place of Death	Reincourt, France
Age at Enlistment	25 years, 11 months
Description	5'3¼" (1.61m) tall ; 119lbs 53.977 kg ; fair complexion ; blue eyes ; dark hair
Occupation	letter carrier
Religion	Church of England
Address	Victoria Park, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr Francis Blencowe
Military Information
Reg Number	2863]
Date of Enlistment	22 Jul 1915
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	16th Battalion, 9th Reinforcements, transferred to the 48th Battalion
Date of Embarkation	4 Oct 1915 ‒ 27 Oct 1915
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A20 Hororata
Fate	Killed in Action 11 Apr 1917 1st Bullecourt
Monument	Gosnells War Memorial Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Postmaster General's Department Roll of Honour AWM
Medals	1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Born in the last quarter of 1889 in Camberwell, London, the son of Francis Blencowe and Elizabeth Mary Maria Blencowe (nee Fenner) and he appears on the UK Census for 1891 living with the family at 100 Rye Lane, Camberwell, London. His father’s business was a Hatter and Hosier. By 1901 the family was living at 26 Lordship Lane, Camberwell, London.

Sydney migrated to Canada, arriving via St. John, in March 1908, and later, in November 1909, crossed into the United States at Eastport, Idaho stating that he resided in Candiac, Saskatchewan.. Sydney is recorded on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census in Nehalem, Tillamook, Oregon, as a hired man 20 years old. He was aged 22 when he migrated to Australia.

Electoral Roll entries: 1916 - 1917 Cecil street, Victoria Park, letter carrier.

War Service

Sydney entered camp on 22 Jul 1915, and on 1 Aug 1915 he was posted to the 9th reinforcement draft for the 16th Battalion with whom he travelled to Egypt.

At Ismailia in Egypt on 9 Jan 1916, Sydney was taken on strength by the 16th Battalion from the reinforcement pool, but with the re-organisation of the Australian Imperial Force, he was transferred to the new 48th Battalion on 3 Mar 1916. Four Officers and 349 other ranks joined with him in making the change from the 16th to the 48th that day.

On 2 Jun 1916, along with the rest of the 48th Battalion he boarded the HMT Caledonia in Alexandria for Marseilles where they disembarked on 9 Jun 1916. Loaded into cattle trucks, 30 men per truck they were given 4 days rations to last the journey north to Hazebrouck. Their first taste of the front lines occurring nearing Fleurbaix.

There is no other entry in Sydney's military records before the entry noting his death on 11 Apr 1917 at Bullecourt. The Red Cross appear to have conducted a check of German POW camps and noted that he was not a POW in Germany.

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  Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
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  Part of the 48th Battalion's panels

Notes

It is to be assumed that his presence on the Gosnells Memorial is based on his working in the district as he lived in Victoria Park.

Probate was granted 1918, for the estate of Sydney Fenner Blencowe of Western Australia, Private, 48th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces, died 11 April 1917 in France on active service. Administration (with Will), London, 5 June (1918) to Mary Lizzie Brooks nee Blencowe (wife of Alfred Stanley Brooks). Effects £86 11s 1d (worth £3,290.00 using the retail price index as of 2010.)

Sydney’s half-brother Francis Drake Blencowe served in the First World War with the British Armed Forces, enlisting in the 21st Battalion, London Regiment, regimental number 655822, rank Private, later transferring to Royal Army Medical Corps with regimental number 137829.

For more information about the history and heritage of the City of Gosnells, please contact the Heritage Coordinator on 9391 6011