Thomas Blaney

Died of stomach peritonitis 05/06/1949 in the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. Thomas was a prisoner of war for nearly 4 years

ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION - Thomas married Margaret Kelly at St Mary's R.C. Church on the 22/04/1921. Margaret was born in Holytown on the 31/10/1900 (41 New Row, Carnbroe). She died on the 13/04/1935 in a Maternity Home in Airdrie. Their residence was 30c Kildonan St, Coatbridge. Thomas died on the 05/06/1949 at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. His address at the time was 24 Southfield Crescent , Greenend, Coatbridge. A huge thank you to Michael Small for all this information and photos - Thomas enlisted as a Private in the 3rd Battalion Highland Light Infantry on the 15/04/1904. He was posted to the Regular Army (Highland Light Infantry) on the 06/06/1907 (his sister Mrs Mary Connor of 15 Gas Lane, Coatbridge is listed as his next of kin) where he spent 7 years in India and when he was despatched to France on the 01/12/1914 he was in charge of a section of Gurkhas. The Battalion were part of the 9th (Sirhind) Brigade, 3rd (Lahore) Division. Newspaper clippings state Thomas was Killed in Action between the 19/12/1914 and the 21/12/1914 however his Service Records state he was taken prisoner between the 19th - 21st December1914. He was on a list of POW's at Wittenberg, Germany. Winter operations (Western Front), 23rd November 1914 - 6th February 1915 : French orders for a major offensive in December lead to disastrous piecemeal British attacks. Localised operations seeking tactical advantage continue through winter. The Sirhind and Ferozepore Brigades attack on the 19th December : The plan was concocted during the meetings on the 18th December and was launched at 5.30am the next day almost two hours after the Leicesters had commenced their attack and by which time the German defences were fully alerted and projecting enormous volumes of fire onto the British lines. Described in orders as a 'simultaneous and conjoint' operation between the Sirhind and Ferozepore Brigades, the action took place east and northeast of Givenchy. Their objective was the capture of enemy trenches on a front about 150 yards in breadth. On the left, four waves of men of the Sirhind Brigade, comprising 1st Highland Light Infantry and 1/4th Ghurka Rifles, would advance. It was their first significant operation since arriving in France from Egypt. The first wave of the left-hand group (the Sirhind Brigade) left their trench and moved out into No Man's Land. The moment is stopped, they rushed the last 180 yards or so and entered the enemy fire trench with very few losses. They had achieved an element of surprise, regardless of the generally alerted enemy, and sent some 80 prisoners back to British lines. The Scots of the Highland Light Infantry and the Ghurkas now moved on to the Reserve trench, finding that stage relatively straightforward, too, and the second wave arrived soon afterwards. But the advance was halted there. The two captured trenches, so narrow in extent, were now so crammed with men that a message was sent back to the third and fourth waves to halt their advance and return. At 10am, one of the tragedies of the day took place. A Platoon of the 1/1st Ghurka Rifles of the Sirhind Brigade, meant originally to have gone into the attack at 5.30am but unable to do so as it was not ready, began to advance. It did not need to do this: its order had been cancelled. The Battalion also fought during the defence of Givenchy 20th - 21st December 1914 : The epicentre of the bombardment was the front held by the Sirhind Brigade, on which on this occasion the German had an extra ace to play. The Brigade was of course still in the process of recovering and reorganising after the fighting of the previous day, and as such its front line was being held by a very mixed set of units. A Company of the 1st Highland Light Infantry, two double Companies of the 1/4th Ghurkas and two Machine Gun teams from the 125th Rifles held the line. On their left came another Company of the 1st Highland Light Infantry and two double Companies of the 1/1st Ghurkas. Parts of the 1st Highland Light Infantry, 1/1st Ghurkas and 125th Rifles were not far behind, in local reserve on the Festubert road. Givenchy would acquire a terrible reputation as being a place for that most feared of trench fighting technique, and the explosion under the Brigades trenches was the harbinger of many horrors yet to come. The timing of the explosions had been set in order to give the German engineers daylight in which to test the electrical circuits and to make any improvements needed before the switches were thrown. The Sirhind Brigade had been caught out by the very thing that all British units had been warned to look out for : the Germans digging saps out from their front line towards the British. From the sapheads closest to the Brigades parapets, just three metres away, German engineers had tunnelled below and quietly laid the charges. It was not until later than an assessment could be made of the exact effect of the German mines, but it was immediately evident that it had been very grave. On the Brigades right front, one of the of the double companies of the 1/4th Ghurkas were simply erased, apparently without survivors. The greater part of half a company of the 1st Highland Light Infantry suffered the same fate. The 1st Battalion casualties for this action were : 2 Officers and 54 Non-Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks Killed, 63 Non-Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks Wounded, 8 Officers and 266 Non-Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks Missing. SEE PHOTOS x 11 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY FOR DECEMBER 1914 AND A MAP OF THE LOCATIONS OF FIGHTING IN DECEMBER 1914. Service Records also state Thomas re-joined the Highland Light Infantry on the 13/03/1919 (74585) and was discharged on the 15/11/1919. It was stated he was 'no longer physically fit for War Service' (see Service Records 5, 12 and 14). On his Pension Record it is listed that Thomas was discharged having dementia. He was a noted Billiard player and was a member of the football team in India that won the Highland Light Infantry Battalion Cup in 1913. Thomas is listed as BLOYNEY on the Memorial and BLAYNEY in the Reverend Samuel Lindsay's 1919 book. See photos for Thomas' Medal Index Card, all 4 Blaney brothers listed in the Reverend Samuel Lindsay's 1919 book (Blayney) x 2, Thomas' Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls x 2, his Pension Records x 2, his Attestation Papers (15/04/1904) x 4, Thomas' Service Records from 1907 x 4, from 1914 x 5, from 1919 x 8, Thomas' Birth Certificate, his Birth information, Thomas and Margaret's Marriage Certificate, Thomas' Death Certificate, Thomas' wife Margaret's Birth Certificate, her Death Certificate and Thomas' sister Annie's Birth Certificate. Finally, see photos for Newspaper clippings x 6 (Coatbridge Leader x 3, Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1, The Scotsman x 1 and the Dundee Evening Telegraph x 1).