Hi all, I posted about my ancestor L/Cpl Charles George Blease here previously (see: Please help me find information on my ex FEPOW ancestor ) I have received his enlistment papers from the MOD today! I have saved the file via PDF but it is too large to upload so I have screenshot them to upload here via photos. Hopefully the quality is okay in the images. if there is anything you at all can provide more info on please do not hesitate to inform me as I welcome all explanations and additional information
The Form B103 appears to be missing. This will show his postings, promotions etc in more detail than the Form 200. If you haven't been sent it I would go back to the MOD and ask them to check for it. The date of 5/11/45 for his return to the UK from Rangoon indicates this was most likely to have been on the Felix Roussel. Ship Name Database NB. The PDF file works fine. Tim
Hi, Thanks for sharing the service record. I do like the scanned colour versions that MOD/U.K. NA now provide. They are much more legible than the old style black and white photocopies that could be pretty difficult to read. I’d echo Tim’s comments about making an enquiry about the missing B103. His first DCM was at Strensall Barracks in York. If he was in reasonably good health on his arrival back in Liverpool he would likely quickly pass through 79 Transit Camp within 48 hours - just enough time to be re equipped and collect his back pay etc - before being sent on a minimum of 6 weeks home leave. You may struggle to find the location of that camp. During his time on leave he would be called for a medical examination. If his repatriation leave wasn’t extended he would - together with other returning POW - likely have to report for a 2 week assessment and selection course where he would have further medical, psychological and aptitude tests to enable the army to decide where was the best place for him to serve during what was left of his regular army service. Many returning POW were posted to RAOC vehicle depot’s on guard duties. However there may have been insufficient time left for him to go through that process as I see he was discharged to Class B Army Reserve in late May 1946. He would likely have commenced his terminal leave in February 1946. He would have ordinarily remained in Class B army reserve until completion of his 12 year enlistment commitment (dates amended due to his history of misconduct) in early 1948 had he not died in an accident. Steve
Thanks all, I will enquire about the missing form and let you all know when I receive a response from them. Thank you for the useful information too it’s greatly appreciate! as for the history of misconduct I haven’t been able to read much of it, the only thing I saw straight away was “deserter” but I’ve yet to read the documents properly as some things are hard to make out due to the way they are written
Just to also mention about the missing form, I have not emailed them yet about it but have noticed this notice is at the bottom of the email they sent me that had his record file attached to do you think it is still okay to message them about the missing form given the message here at the end of the email?
By all means contact them. MOD Glasgow occasionally failed to despatch B103 and only sent them when the omission was pointed out. It would not surprise me if the civil servants at UK NA make the same mistakes. I would even consider submitting a FOI application. Steve
I’ve dropped them an email now, hopefully it was just an error and they do have his missing form! I did actually apply through a freedom of information application initially as far as I can remember but I’ll have to double check on that one. I wonder why this form seems to be omitted a lot, it’s strange that it seems to be a common issue!
The 42 days detention for a "civil offence" in Singapore can be compared with other soldiers who were tried by local courts rather than the regiment's court martial procedure. which gave him detention at Tanglin. Singapore newspapers for the time can be viewed online: to view just tick the terms and conditions. Several reports of football and hockey matches, amongst others. A report of two Manchester Regt. soldiers who were tried in 1940: ( it will eventually load the article : NewspaperSG - Terms and Conditions Later Edit On a happier note, he seems to have done well at boxing and swimming, as reported in the Singapore newspapers. Digitised Homepage I don't want to spoil your own quest, but this report is spot on: NewspaperSG - Terms and Conditions
Thank you so much for this! Fantastic to see him mentioned in a newspaper but with something happy attached to it instead of the usual that I have seen (death, obituary, etc) I wonder, what was the issue with his desertion? I don’t know much about military life, I understand desertion but I’m not quite understanding why and what for , would it have been intentional? However it is amazing to see so much more info on him now, I’m really happy to finally have got his papers Im currently on my phone but once I am on my pc in a little bit I will be able to look at these properly and give a better reply. Somebody on the FEPOW family Facebook group tagged me in a post to say they had noticed my ancestor Charles in the MEN newspaper next to their loved one. Apologies the quality is poor, this is what I was sent , I’ve since located the exact date and page of this and hope to get a good quality copy when I visit the Manchester central library who have these archived papers for free the paper is Friday 28th September 1945, page 4 of the Manchester Evening News.
The early lapse was largely forgotten about after three years' service, and the battalion must have been pleased with his sporting achievements. He appears to have been a formidable opponent in the boxing ring. Ideal training for being a front line soldier. I don't fancy the chances of any Japanese soldier he encountered. I had not realised before that the Singapore newspapers give such detail. The reports say which company he was in in his battalion. Since you have shared your documentary discoveries we have all learnt a little more about "how to research" , so thank you. Football teams surnames are given but often no initials, unless there are two "Smiths" in a team, when further information is given. I also like the way that football scores are given in a narrative sometimes, rather than, e,g. X 2-0 Y. Perhaps they had space to fill.
It’s nice to learn something new about him that includes a hobby or something he excelled in! I’m still reading a lot of those articles that come up upon searching “Blease” I noticed a few from 1939 that said “dmr Blease” in boxing and football etc Would that be Charles as well? Would he have been a drummer before a private ? Or is that a completely different Blease in question. either way for pte Blease I can see he was a skilled boxer ! What a lovely thing to learn about him, my family will enjoy this especially since my great uncle Ronnie married my great aunt who’s last name is Mitchell, if Ronnie was here today he would have got a right kick out of a Blease beating a Mitchell at anything haha
I have actually applied for the service records of other ancestors in my family , one being my grandfather William edwin Blease(although his was post ww2), and some others from great grandparents (not on the Blease side) - one of these other records is from the Royal Navy, once I get those sent to me I am more than happy to post those on separate threads and share them with everyone. you’ve all helped me a great deal so it is only fare that I return the favour ! Plus they are always fascinating to look at even if we don’t learn anything particularly new from them
Also I now have Charles’ original photo , amazing seeing it in person and to have such better quality!! Can now see his ribbons so the photo would have been taken after the war around 1945 some months after liberation or possibly 1946 some months before his passing in May Photo 1 is the scan from my printer Photo 2 is from my phone camera
Good photograph. Some interesting references to the Manchester Regiment and performances by the band of musicians at social events. The first article has pictures of guns, aircraft, etc. in defence of Singapore. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...isplay=0&QT="manchesterregiment"&oref=article https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...=article&QT="manchesterregiment"&oref=article https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...ay=0&QT="manchesterregimentband"&oref=article https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...icle&QT="manchesterregimentband"&oref=article https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...icle&QT="manchesterregimentband"&oref=article https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newsp...icle&QT="manchesterregimentband"&oref=article
Great finds! Thanks so much for this, will give these a read today, quickly browsing that first one had so many great photos! I did find some more newspaper clippings when researching for Charles (when i still had my free ancestry newspapers trial) I’ll post them here if they’re of interest to anyone. I thought it was interesting to see how the info was originally published at the time below are all taken from The Manchester Evening News Photo 1 - Thursday 4th October 1945, page 4 Photo 2 - Monday 2nd April 1945, page 3 Photo 3 - Tuesday February 23rd 1943, page 3 Photo 4 -Thursday April 15th 1943, page 1
