BLANCH, Peter James
| Service Number: | 2277 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 May 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 36th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Salt Ash, New South Wales, Australia, 19 January 1891 |
| Home Town: | Karuah, Port Stephens Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Oysterman |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Belgium, France, 19 July 1917, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot I.T.26, Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais, France, Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mul Wee Public School HR |
World War 1 Service
| 9 May 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Oct 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2277, 36th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
| 17 Oct 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2277, 36th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Sydney |
Help us honour Peter James Blanch's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Kim Denyse
The eldest son of a successful oysterman in Raymond Terrace, Reg Blanch, Peter enlisted to serve in WWI to fight alongside his twin brother George on the 9th May 1916 aged 25.
From his brother George's War Diary* we learn about Peter's experience and wounding...
"...on Sunday 8/7/17 arriving in rear trenches on the 10th and joined Peter just behind Messines Ridge. Had a few Hours work the first night and then three easy days which brings us to Friday 13 on which night we were carrying to the reserve line and got honoured with a very hot little bombardment from our friend the enemy but it was short and sweet and did no damage to our party, although some shells came quite close enough.
Carrying on again on the 14th and again came under heavy fire and shell gas. H Sergeant was hit on the arm with a big lump of shell but not hurt much.
It rained hard on the way out. Wet through everything except tin hat. Roads very slippery and on Sunday night carrying ammunition to 34 HDQTRS CT. Very muddy but otherwise things were fairly quiet but on the morning of the 16, fritz made things very hot at our dugouts with about 100 shells in the very near vicinity which hunted everybody, except Peter and myself, to the deep dug out and killed our Officer Mr Chapman and one of the men Shumack by name.
We carried again at night and our artillery poured it into him hot and heavy. 34 Batt hopped over and took one of his strong points on the 17. We were all night moving up to the reserve line at night. Were not there long before Peter was wounded and it took the SB six hours to get him to the DS 19 in line...."
Peter never recovered from his injuries of July 18, 1917, and died the next day. George's diary ends on July 25th and he was killed five days later.
The brothers were among the casualties of the third Battle of Ypres. George is buried at Ypres and Peter at Trois-Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerk.
The brothers left behind their grieving parents, Reg and Annie as well as George's wife and cousin Violet, and five brothers and sisters.
* Following George's death his diary was returned ro Australia. Following Violet's death in 1982 it was found amongst her papers.
Biography
Peter James Blanch's twin brother 2932 Pte. George Arthur Blanch (/explore/people/266578) was Killed in Action in Belgium 11 days after Peter's death.
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