Captain T.G. Black, Royal Dublin Fusiliers

[Dez]

Hello All,

I tried posting this query last week on Soldiers, without success, perhaps I should have posted closer to home. Does anyone have any details about the career of Captain T.G. Black of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. My information lists his medals as M.C. and 2 Bars, M.I.D., M.M. (Fr), Order of St. George 4th class. Any detail about his service would be most welcome.

Dez

[corisande]

Dez

You are probably more likely to get a reply if you list what you have on him.

I suspect you have the wrong initials, as nothing comes up on MIC or LG or Times for me.

Could he be "Walter Ian Black" of 2nd RDF who certainly had MC and bar. He served as an OR in Australian force, before being commissioned into 4th RDF and serving in 2 RDF.

With a bit more to go on, it should be possible to solve this one

[corisande]

And..

As far as I can see from the index of RDF awards, only one man, called O'Donnell, had 2 bars to MC in the RDF.

Not many in RDF with Order of St George 4th class, and neither is O'Donnell nor W I Black

And only 4 French MM noted, again none to Black

[Dez]

corisande,

Thank you for your efforts. My Captain T.G. Black is an Auxiliary Cadet, (No. 1663) who joined on 11/2/21 and was assigned to "B" Company on 14/2/21, being promoted to Section Leader on 22/7/21. He remained with "B" Company until disbandment.

His regiment is listed as the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and his awards are set down as follows ... M.C. & Bars (2), Medaille Militaire, Russian Order of St. George 4th Class, Mentioned.

I was working him backwards, assuming that if his medal entitlement was correct, that there was a good chance that he would have been researched already and that if his medals were not listed correctly someone would point that out.

He appears in the Register as Capt. T.G. Black, another source lists him as T.G. Bluck, but I have always treated that as a mis-spelling. In a tightly knit organisation such as the Auxiliary Division it would seem reckless to make bogus claims to medals you were not entitled to.

Dez

[IPT]

How about this man?

HIs medal card shows that he was promoted to Captain - http://search.ancest...rc=&pid=4076925

Regimental Sergeant-Major 6118 Thomas Bluck M.C. 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Thomas Bluck joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1899 and not long afterwards he had the opportunity of proving his mettle in the Boer War. He arrived in South Africa and after the initial training, and fought in the war avoiding most of the bloodbath by his late arrival. He gained his South African Medals as Corp. after quick promotion, he received Q. S. A. clasps, South Africa in 1901, and South Africa medal in 1902. He Embarked with the 1st Batt,R.W.F on the 6th October 1914 for France fighting all the way back to the coast on the retreat from Men's. In a letter from the front concerning that terrible struggle in October it stated :-

The Sergeant Major, two Staff Sergeants have been -wounded, three Colour Sergeants are prisoners in Germany, and two Colour Sergeants, Craven and Sullivan were missing Sergeant Bluck was the last sergeant to get wounded, he was one of the last two left and did splendid work, being practically in command of a double company for days. If the commissioned Officer or Adjutant had been here he would probably have got the V.C. , which he deserves.. Colonel R. Gabbett, who was killed in action recently and at the time of the Ypres engagement was Major, was wounded at the same time as when Sergeant Major Bluck was hit, and was instrumental, it is understood in obtaining official recognition of his N.C.O. 's gallantry.

The Battalion suffered severely in that conflict, Sergeant Bluck was one of the last two left of his rank after the battle, and the last to get wounded, he was practically in command of a double company for 2 days, and for his gallantry it gained him The Russian Cross and his Sergeant-Majorship He had two slight wounds but refused to go to hospital, and of course, to England

CQMS 4016 William Sullivan from Enniskillen, who enlisted Caernarfon and CQMS 8284 Sidney Cra¬ven born and enlisted in Birmingham were both killed in action with another 78 other men on 30th Octo¬ber 1914, 24 days after landing in France.

In The Birmingham Daily Post printed on the 13th Dec. 1914, 185 RWF men listed as missing -88 of those we know were taken as POW and 80 were killed in Action, and one was shot for desertion. Bluck was made Sergeant Major a month later, He was born Birmingham, his parents are among the oldest residents living at 103 Wright Street, Small Heath having resided there for 25 years while 40 years of there lives have been spent living in the city. He has three brothers serving in the armed forces they are:- Sgt. William Bluck 3rd Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who has been six years with the colours, and is now a Staff-Orderly. Private Harold Bluck who is in R.A.M.C. (The Royal Army Medical School) and Private Frank Bluck 5th Royal Warwick's (Transport Section) now in France and who formerly worked at the City Gas Works.

Regimental Sergeant Major Thomas Bluck went on to get further glory on the battlefields of France and twice he was mentioned in Despatches for conspicuous bravery in operations near Hullach during the "Big Push" as the German trenches were captured Bluck, with cool precision, followed up, establishing ammunition depot's in them under a hail of bullets and shells and constantly encouraged his men to put all they were worth into the offensive. Bluck escaped death by a miracle and received a bullet through his right arm.

It is pretty safe to say that at the age of 35 very few Birmingham man got the honours bestowed on Bluck That he received, he has the proud record of having gained :-

S.A Medal, South African Queens Clasp

Military Cross; The Russian Cross of St.George Fourth Class; and the French Military Cross

Mon's Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal.

He retired from the Army in 1924 and spent the rest of his days in Small Heath, Birmingham

http://webcache.goog...ww.google.co.uk

Free BMD shows a Thomas George Bluck, born in Aston in 1881 which may be him.

Medaille Militaire

http://www.london-ga...upplements/4226

Cross of the Order of St George 4th Class

http://www.london-ga...upplements/8506

Bar to Military Cross

http://www.london-ga...upplements/8354

Second Bar to Military Cross

http://www.gazettes-.../14215/page.pdf

[corisande]

Certainly looks like Dez's man

The "Black" to "Bluck" and "RDF" to "RWF" one can see with transcriptions.

2 bars to MC and the other two "exotic" medals exclude any RDF man

[Dez]

IPT,

Thank you for your response and sharing your excellent detailed research on Capt. T.G. Bluke, R..W. Fus. I certainly did not expect a mistake in both surname and regiment. I can't do much about the originals but I can amend my records to reflect this information. A large number of men who joined the Auxiliary Division, R.I.C. held gallantry awards and a report on recruiting for the Division in the Daily Chronicle of 30th July 1920, stated ... It will be the most decorated force in the world. Most people don't connect heroes with the Auxiliary Division, R.I.C. but the records show otherwise.

Des

[corisande]

There are lies, damn lies and what you read on Wikipedia

I came across this page there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Recipients_of_the_Military_Cross_and_two_Bars

It does not have Bluck on it, and I am sure that more than 21 men got MC and 2 bars

[David_Underdown]

That's a category page, categories can only be applied where an article actually exists (and an article can only be created where the subject is notable, and it's generally be held that to be notable as the recipient of a decoration it has to be the highest decoration eg VC or GC, or similar), if you looked at the top level cateogry for MC recipients you'd see a banner explaining that it's not intended to be an exhaustive list of those having the MC (or MC**) - I've now applied the same disclaimer to this category too.

[corisande]

Thanks for putting me right on that

[David_Underdown]

There's this book mostly available through Google books which covers winners of the MC and multiple bars in more detail http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Uw98jVk5pkoC

The entry on Bluck ca be found at http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Uw98jVk5pkoC&pg=PR8&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=bluck&f=false

[Dez]

corisande and David Underwood, thank you both for your additional input. I'm sure that T.G. Bluck is Auxiliary Cadet No.1663, and details of his military career have shown him to have been an exceptional soldier. It would appear that he spent the latter part of the war in Italy, where in 1918 he won the second bar to his M.C. leading raids against the Austrian and Hungarian forces who were dug in along the River Piave.

Dez

[Murrough]

It will be the most decorated force in the world. Most people don't connect heroes with the Auxiliary Division, R.I.C. but the records show otherwise

Unforunately decorations on the western front or other theatres did not qualify these men for counter insurgency actions in Ireland.

[corisande]

I have seen now where the "T G Black" "T G Bluck" differences come.

There are in fact two ADRIC registers - one is numeric and the other alphabetic

The Alphabetic one lists him clearly as "T G Bluck" and has his decorations. The difference between RDF and RWF is within transcription problems of interpreting the script in the registers.

IPT has saved me a deal of work here too :-)

If Dez is still around could you PM me - you box does not work

As you say few medal claims were bogus, but 1409 Lt A T Blake's claim to DFC and bar, AFC and MM was, as far as I can see completely ficticious