BARON CLAUD ALLEN BLOWERS
Born: 1892, Ipswich.
On or since death presumed: 8th May 1915; age 23; KiA.
Residence: 3, Parliament Road, Ipswich.
Occupation: Golf Caddie.
Enlistment Location: Ipswich.
Date of Entry Therein: 16th January 1915 – France.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 8272
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.
Memorial Reference:
Panel 21.
West-Vlaanderen,
Belgium.
CENSUS
1901 Parliament Road, Ipswich.
Baron was 8 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
Frederick William Blowers, 37, a Shoemaker, born Ipswich.
Jane Blowers (nee Smith), 35, born Ipswich.
Ethel Violet Blowers, 12, born Ipswich.
Leslie Ralph Blowers, 10, born Ipswich.
Frank Harold Blowers, 6, born Ipswich.
Bertrand Victor Blowers, 3, born Ipswich.
Gertrude Maud Blowers, 1, born Ipswich.
1911 Depot Suffolk Regiment, Out Risbygate, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
Baron was 17 years old, a Soldier ranked Private in the 3rd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment.
Soldiers’ Effects to Frederick Blowers – father, a market gardener – own account.
Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion. 84th Brigade
The Second Battle of Ypres was underway, and the 1st Battalion suffered from the fierce fighting along the Salient, with over a thousand casualties in six weeks. The Battle of Frezenberg Ridge and Bellewaarde Ridge took its toll on the 1st Battalion. At 10:00 a.m on the 8th May, the attack began with heavy shelling from both sides of all calibre, then came a cloud of yellow-green poison gas that drifted through the British lines. Blinded and choking men continued to fight on, still under a hail of bullets and shell fire. The shelling had cut most of the communication wires, with little information passing through. The exposed roads gave little shelter for the limited supply line. The German attack had overwhelmed the British; by noon, the Battalion had 400 casualties with 12 Ipswich men dead and more to be killed or die of wounds in the following weeks.
Suffolk Regiment, 1st Battalion:
Suffolk Regiment Battalion movements
SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM
Friends of The Suffolk Regiment
2 Comments
Thank you for posting this. Its a very long story, baron claud allen was my great uncle and his brother Frank came over to Ireland and married a girl here and we have a whole generation of the blowers clan in dun laoghaire co dublin as a result. I tried to find my long lost family and it was through Baron claud allen that i found them 5 years ago. Regards Kenneth William Blowers
His memorial plaque is for sale on EBay:
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