Robert Adam Blench (1886-1939)
Gateshead man served Canadian Army awarded Military Medal
The son of local coal miner George Blench and his Scottish-born wife, Elizabeth, Robert, like all his siblings, was born in Gateshead. He was one of eleven children, four of whom had died in childhood. Ralph, the oldest, was born in 1878 and Wheatley, the baby of the family, in 1895. By 1901, aged 14, Robert was an apprentice joiner. By 1911 he was fully-qualified and working as a joiner in the building trade when he married Abigail Coulson in the autumn. Robert made his way to Canada and set up home in Edmonton, Alberta, to be joined by Abigail in November 1913.
Living in Edmonton and working as a carpenter, Robert enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on 3 April 1916. He gave his wife, Abigail, as his next of kin and mentioned his three years spent in the artillery as a militia man. He became Private 911391 of the 202nd Battalion which trained at Sarcee Camp, Calgary until embarking for England on 30 November 1916. May 1917 saw him transferred to the 31st Battalion based at Witley Camp, Surrey and then posted with them to France, joining them in billets in mid-June. Treated at 101 Field Ambulance for contusions to his right thigh in September, he was away from his unit for two weeks and then, in November, was transferred to the 6th Canadian Light Trench Mortar Battery.
Wounded again in his right thigh, he had two days away from duty in February 1918 and then, three months later, was promoted to corporal. For some unknown action on 10 October 1918, possibly at Cambrai, Corporal Robert Adams Blench was awarded the Military Medal. Two weeks later he was wounded by a gas shell. After the armistice Robert reverted to the 31st Battalion and he remained with them until his return to Canada and demobilisation in Calgary on 29 March 1919.
Robert and Abigail remained in Alberta where their son, Warwick Adams, was born in 1921. Robert died on 12 September 1939. He is buried in a war grave in Edmonton Municipal Cemetery.
Civil Parish: Whickham
Birth date: 02-May-1886
Death date: 12-Sep-1939
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 8 Russell Street, Gateshead (1891 census)
28 Victoria Road, Gateshead (1901 census)
23 Newall terrace, Dunston (1911 census)
10708 68th Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta (enlistment papers)
10818 75th Avenue, Strathcona, Alberta ( ships manifest, 1928)
Religion: Methodist
Employment: joiner (1911 census)
Family: Parents: George Blench, Elizabeth Blench nee Adams
Siblings: Ralph Blench, George Blench, Dorothy Blench, Rebecca Blench, Elizabeth Blench, Wheatley Blench
Wife: Abigail Thornton Tinkler Blench nee Coulsoon
Children: Warwick Adams Blench
Military service:
Canadian artillery (pre-war militia)
911391
Corporal
202nd Battalion Canadian Expedition Force
31st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
6th Canadian Light Trench Mortar Battery
Medal(s): Military Medal
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham