In Memory of Leslie Crompton Blackman Private 3234 'D' Coy, 5th Battalion, AIF who died on Thursday 29th June 1916. Age 31. Son of William and Frances Emily Blackman of 12 Baird Street, Ballarat, Victoria. Buried in plot B.16 Berks Cemetery Extension, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium. Right: Photograph of 3234 Pte Leslie crompton Blackman, 5th Battalion, from Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Bureau files 1914-1918 war: ref: 1DLR/0428. Possibly a family photograph, circa 1914, submitted by the family. Source: Geoff Hutson, great nephew of Leslie crompton Blackman

Cemetery Location: Berks Cemetery Extension is located 12.5 kilometres south of Ieper [Ypres] town centre on the N365 leading from Ieper to Mesen, Ploegsteert and on to Armentieres. From Ieper ... [take the] N336. 3.5 kilometres along the N336 [take] ... the right hand fork leads to the town of Mesen. The cemetery lies 3 kilometres beyond Mesen on the right hand side of the N365 and opposite Hyde Park Corner Royal Berks Cemetery. Historical Information: The cemetery is overshadowed on the North-West by Hill 63. It is also close to the 'Catacombs', which were deep shelters, capable of holding two battalions, and used from November 1916, onwards. Berks Cemetery Extension was begun in June 1916, and used continuously until September 1917. There are now nearly 900 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The cemetery covers an area of 3,125 square metres. Most were killed in the course of the day-to-day trench warfare which characterised this part of the line, or in small scale set engagements, usually carried out in support of the major attacks taking place elsewhere. Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
	Above: Le Rouge et Noir shoulder patch of the 5th Battalion

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Source: Australian War Memorial, Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War   Go to <View circular>

Caleb Crompton would have been proud of his descendants.

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Leslie crompton Blackman's life with the 5^th Battalion

Enlistment

Leslie crompton Blackman, once a blacksmith born Miners Rest and now a gas fitter working for the Melbourne Gas Company on St Kilda Road, signed his attestation papers in Melbourne on 5 July 1915 and reported to the 5th Battalion's 'D' Coy. at their Broadmeadows training camp. In 1915 this was through the northern suburbs, past Fawkner Cemetery and along Sydney Road to a large paddock [enclosed land] bounded, on the south, by road from Sydney Road to Broadmeadows railway station and on the east the disused Melbourne to Cambelltown railway, and on the west by fields dotted with stony outcrops, a description which might aptly describe the cemetery in the S.W. corner.

Above: A modern map showing the extent of the Broadmeadows camp in 1998

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	From Leslie crompton Blackman's enlistment documents. Source: National Archives of Australia - Service Records Click on <Australian Army - World War 1 > Scroll down to < Find and view a World War I service record online >
Top right: Leslie crompton Blackman, taken from the Blackman family photograph in Ballarat 1914 Source: Geoff Hutson

Embarkation

On 11 October 1915 Leslie, now part of the 5th Battalion's 11th Reinforcements departed Melbourne in A71 HMAT Nestor bound, at 14 knots, for Egypt. Left: The 14,501 tons SS Nestor of Alfred Holt & Co's Blue Funnel Line of Liverpool photographed in 1913

Training in Egypt

'After the evacuation [from Gallipoli the 5th Battalion] reassembled in Egypt early in January, 1916, the desert in the vicinity of the famous Tel-el-Kebir [70 miles/ 110km north-east of Cairo] being selected as the venue for the infantry; ... the ninth, tenth and eleventh drafts of reinforcements arrived and the old Battalion settled down to tent life with the ease of veterans.' Right: Tel-el-Kebir Camp May 1916 Source: Australian War Memorial (AWM) ref: C00207

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On the twenty fourth of January the Battalion moved up to Serapeum, on the banks of the Suez Canal. ...

On the tenth of February, the Fifth marched across the sands to Serapeum East, a distance of fourteen miles. With the veterans weakened by their privations, and the new drafts still raw, this march proved an intensely trying one to all. The sun blazed fiercely down on the column plodding through the clogging sand, and when the destination was reached at dusk that evening, tired men were allotted out-post groups, and reluctantly dug cover for this purpose. There was still a vague possibility that the Turks might return to the Canal attack, especially now that their occupation of Gallipoli, so to speak, was gone; ...

Above: Australian troops prepare to cross the Canal Source: AWM J00262

[On 17 March 1916 Leslie crompton Blackman's second cousin, 4161 Pte. William henry Caldwell arrived with the 13^th Reinforcements and was taken on the strength of the Fifth.]

Here until the end of March the Fifth were continuously training into the physical fitness they needed to face the immanent hard fighting on the Western front ... ... More latitude was allowed in dress, and most of the men wore nothing more than a singlet and 'shorts' on the body. Sunday, however, brought the 'military maniac' from the lair ... and in full dress uniform and with meticulously arranged kit, the men suffered the infliction of inspections ... Right: 5th Battalion sports at Tel-el-Kebir 250416 Source: AWM P00851

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The desert was left on March twenty-fifth, the return march to Serapeum [sic] being reeled off without distress, and entraining here in trucks, the Battalion went on its jerky way to Alexandria, where it embarked the same day. Right: Members of 1st Division at Serapeum before departing from France in 1916 Source: AWM H01982

Right: Map locating Tel-el-Kebir and Serapeum in Egypt

Source:
Keown AW, 1921, ‘Forward with the Fifth - The story of Five Years’ War Service Fifth Battalion, AIF - Chapter XVII, The first Battle of Pozieres’, Naval and Military Press, Uckfield, Sussex, Reprint 2009, pages 147-150

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On 22 February 1916 Leslie was taken on Battalion's strength. He embarked from Alexandria, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, on 25 March 1916 on board HMT Briton bound for Marseilles, France arriving there on 30 March 1916 and disembarked the following day at 06.00. SS Briton remained in commercial service during World War I, but her third class space was devoted to troops. Left: Union-Castle liner Briton, (10 248 tons) photographed between 1900 and 1926

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Service in France

Above: The route taken by 5th Bn. between arriving on the Western Front and their arrival at Ploegsteert Wood.

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Sources:
Keown AW, [ibid], pages 154-165
Speed, Brig. FW, Ed, ‘ Esprit de Corps The history of the Victorian Scottish Regiment and the 5^th Infantry Battalion’, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1988
0 04 302007 0

MOVE       1. The Battalion will move to new Billets in the neighbourhood of NEUVE 
ELISE today. Head of Coys. will be at [reference] G.9.c.38 at the following
times, dressed in Marching Order, with unexpired portion of day's rations, one
iron ration, water bottle filled, one blanket and waterproof sheet on the man:-
       C Company        1450       B Company        1455
       A    "           1500       D    "           1505
       M.G.Section      1510
       Specialist Platoons & H'qrs Detail          1515
       Transport        1520
ROUTE      2. From Starting Point G.9.c.38 to G3b.75/A.22.a.18/
STEENWERK ... to NEUVE EGLISE.
COMMAND    3. For the purpose of march discipline, Captain L. LEVY will act as
Battalion 2nd-in-command and move to the rear of the column. Lt. H.A.M. GRAY will
command Intelligence, Raiding and Grenade Platoons, together with the pioneers
and Headquarters' Details, who will move as a Company.
PRECAUTIONS 4. On the appearance enemy aircraft, units will halt and take cover
at the side of the road. Coy. Commanders will ensure that an interval of at least
250 yards is maintained from Coy. in front.
HALTS       5. Halts of ten minutes' duration will be made at 20 minutes past
clock hour.
...
REPORTS    10. Reports to the heads of column en route. The new position of
Battalion H'Qrs will be notified on arrival in new Billeting Area.
                                 (Sgd), H.H.G.O'LOUGHLIN  Lieutenant. Adjutant

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Plugstreet Wood

Keown [ibid] continues:

The woods in front of the Berks Extension Cemetery are Ploegsteert Woods (known as Plugstreet to the soldiers) and were the south-eastern hinge of the Ypres Salient for the majority of the war. One of the location of the 1914 Christmas football match and fraternisation was close by at Le Petit Douve Farm (along Mesenstraat). It was the right flank for The Battle of Messines (Mesen) in 1917. Until the German push of April 1918, in the Battle of the Lys (known as Fourth Ypres), this area was known as the 'nursery trenches', where battalions new to the front received their initiation and training, in this quiet sector of the trenches. There was no major activity in the area in June 1916. Right: Map locating Plugstreet Wood

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Speculation as to Leslie crompton Blackman's final action

The War Diaries of the 5th Battalion AIF reveal what may have been Leslie's last action.

Source: War Diaries of 5th Battalion AIF, July 1916, TNA, Ref: WO95/3233

Pte. 3266 J Dillon, of the 5^th Battalion, was also killed on the same day and is buried next to Leslie Blackman.

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  1. The battalion has been ordered to form Carrying Parties to handle
     Gas Cylinders as per details hereunder.
  2. The Cylinders will be brought up from railhead on nights of 27/28th and
     29/30th June in two Convoys A and B on each night....
  3. Carrying Parties for Convoy[s] will be found by 5th Battn. for
     [both nights as per Appendix A and B.]
  4. Unloading Parties will be furnished by ...
     Parties to report at 2330.
  5. The Routes to the Trenches for the Cylinders brought up by Convoy B
     will be HYDE PARK CORNER, MUD LANE-AND CORNER-PROWSE POINT.
     Squads will return by ONTARIO AVENUE-TRAMLINE-HYDE PARK CORNER.
  6. Guides ....
  7. Poles & trench sticks ...
  8. Reception of cylinders in trenches ...
  9. Action in the event of a puncture ...
  10.Hostile ...
  11.Precautions ...

  APPENDIX 22   CONVOY "B" - FIRST NIGHT
  No of                  Strength   Carried    No. of   No. of     No. of
  Squad   Officer        O.Rank     for        Bay      Cylinder   Trench
                                                                         
  1      Lt. Samson       40        A.Coy      16        12         187
  2      Lt. Smith        40        A.Coy      15        12         ''
  . .......... .. .....   ..        .....      ..        ..         ..

  10     Lt. Chenu        40        D.Coy       2        12         ''
                                                                      
  Total  10 Officers     398 O.R.                       180

Keown [ibid page 199] describes the huts and the raiders at Le Grand Monque Farm.

'A sermon, given by Chaplain Miles to the Fifth whilst in Egypt, dealt with the doings of a tribe mentioned in Deuteronomy, and called the Zam Zummim. noted for their huge proportions and strength. It was an interesting discourse, but, as is often the case, the peculiar name was remembered by the men long after the moral effect of the sermon had been dissipated.

When the first raiding party was chosen at Ploegsteert Wood, the men were segregated for the special training necessary, and on the door of the hut they occupied was chalked in bold letters — "The Zam Zummers," a half-serious allusion to the sermon heard many months before. Ever afterwards raiders in the Fifth were known as "The Zam Zummers".'

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Above: 1917 trench map, correct to 1-4-17, of Plugstreet Wood showing, in blue, the outward route taken by the 5th Bn. gas carrying party on 29 June 1916. British trenches in blue. German trenches in red. Source: GH Smith & Son Ontario Avenue from Barton, Peter, 'The Battlefields of the First World War', Imperial War Museum, London, 2008 Clicking on the bottom of the map opens a 571kB, A4 landscape image of the map.

The fatigue parties return journey is also described in:

• It is believed that the Chemin du Mond de la Hutte, the modern road from Prowse Point to Mesen Road was Ontario Avenue.
• 'Two platoons of the reserve company then proceeded to the Catacombs at Hyde Park Corner, the rest of the battalion entering the trenches via The Strand, Bunhill Row, Mud Lane Breastwork and Ontario Avenue. ... Rations were brought up to Campac Dump by transport, thence by the Canadian Pacific Light Railway (mule drawn or hand pushed), to Mud Lane Breastwork, Prowse Point and St. Andrew's Drive.'
  Source: Cunningham W.H., Treadwell C.A.L, Hanna J.S., 'The Wellington Regiment (NZEF) 1914 - 1919', Ferguson & Osborn, Limited, 1928, Chapter XXI. — Ploegsteert, Chapter XXI, pp.143-4

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Above: 1917 trench map of Plugstreet Wood showing, in blue, the outward route taken by the 5th Bn. gas carrying party on 29 June 1916. British trenches in blue. German trenches in red. Source: GH Smith & Son

	- Clicking on the map camera hotspots opens a contemporary jpeg photograph.
	- Clicking on the map camera hotspots opens a modern jpeg photograph.

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Above: Looking towards Mesen (Messines) from Prowse Point Military Cemetery, at the intersection of the track from Mud Corner and the road to La Hutte and Hill 63. Bairnfather's Christmas Truce took place in the foreground field. Anton's Farm is on the left. This was a fortified farm on the British front-line, which lay roughly on the hedge line. The Germans held the high ground of Mesen church and the land in the area of the copse. This area was the objective of the gas carrying party. See map above for more details.

The war diaries do not give a clear cause for Leslie's death. However, a reliable eye witness account in The Australian Red Cross reports of the missing and wounded does.

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It seems likely that he either died in the operations to move the gas cylinders or, as Ballarat's tribute to those who fought and died in World War 1 suggests, whilst volunteering for a bombing raid as a 'Zam Zummer'. Both would link to the family record him dying on "specially dangerous work in the front line".

Leslie crompton Blackman remembered in Ballarat and Melbourne

Left: Ballarat's Avenue of Honour (Remembrance Drive), stands at the western entrance to the city and leads to the tree lined avenue that commemorates the soldiers of World War 1.

Right: Tree number 798 is dedicated to Leslie crompton Blackman, Below: The commemorative plaque, which was missing in January 2005 Photos: Geoff Hutson

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Leslie crompton Blackman remembered at Royal Berks Extension Cemetery, Ploegsteert, Belgium

Above: The official letter confirming the location of LCB's burial - see below Note: Frances' address in the letter. Source: National Archives of Australia - Service Records Click on <Australian Army - World War 1> Scroll down to <Find and view a World War I service record online>

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The cemetery, cemetery extension and memorial were designed by Harold Chalton Bradshaw Top: The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, at the position known during the war as Hyde Park Corner'. It commemorates 11 447 men with no known grave and who fell in the area. Above left: The Sword of Sacrifice Above right: The Stone of Remembrance Right: Gilbert Ledward's lion photograph by Matthew Dempster, April 2009

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Leslie crompton Blackman's grave

The Government were responsible for the erection and maintenance of the headstones. In 1929 families were informed, by letter, that they could add personal inscriptions at a maximum of 66 letters and spaces. In 1929 each letter cost 3½d, approximately equivalent to 1.5p or AU$0.04.(2009)

Clicking on the black and white photograph will open a new A4 portrait page with four contemporary and dated photographs. Right: Leslie crompton Blackman's headstone - September 2001. The family words, at the foot of the headstone, read: 'FOR KITH AND KIN HE GAVE HIS LIFE A SACRIFICE SUPREME O'ER ALL'

And finally at the family home

Above: Streetview of 709 MacArthur Street, the Blackman's home when Leslie enlisted

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Right: Frances Blackman's letter in reply to an enquiry from the Base Records Office Melbourne, showing the change of address

Left: 12 Baird Street, Ballarat, - taken in November 2003 and looking to be little changed from its original Federation style)

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Right: A modern map of Ballarat, Victoria, locating 709 MacArthur Street; 12 Baird Street where the family moved and 416 Creswick Road, the home of Maralena (Madalena) louisa Donald (nee Crompton - Caleb's daughter). With thanks to Warren Power of Creswick, Victoria for the photograph and map.

Above: A letter confirming LCB's personal effects

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Above: William Blackman's signature on the receipt for the Memorial Scroll Source: National Archives of Australia - Service Records Click on <Australian Army - World War 1> Scroll down to <Find and view a World War I service record online>

End pieces

On 12 July 1916 the 5^th Battalion moved to the Somme and the first battle for Pozieres. William henry Caldwell was killed in action on 25 July 1916 and was buried in front of the barbed wire protecting the German trench OG1.

During August 2002 we decided to cross the English Channel to shop in Calais; have an evening meal in Ypres and to attended the Last Post Ceremony at its Menin Gate.

The morning was wet and lorry convoys on the A26 constantly sprayed the window screen. This, together with driving on 'the wrong side' of an unknown road, meant that we cruised pass our planned turn to Steenvoorde and Poperinge. The next motorway exit took us to the legendary and romantic Armentieres. In the days before SatNavs the car found its way around backstreets and through junctions looking for the N365; a cross-country route to Ypres' back door.

Just across the Belgium boarder, the village sign spelling P-L-O-E-G-S-T-E-E-R-T ¹ had no meaning; the wood we passed had no significance.² At the end of a long straight, once cobbled road, shafts of sunlight illuminated the dome of a Portland Stone Rotunda ³ of considerable size and importance, but of unknown relevance. We drove pass it and the headstones of Commonwealth graves lining either side of the road.⁴ It was impressive but of no obvious history, and Ypres beckoned.

Cresting a ridge a wide plain, that rose to an imperceptible ridge, appeared.⁵ The road descended to a bridge over a shallow river ⁶ and then climbed towards a church tower, ⁷ which dominated the skyline. This settlement announced itself as 'Mesen', ⁸ but the map identified it as 'Messines'. A familiar name suggesting we had driven through the scene of the 1917 battlefield and Allied victory.

The steak and chips was very Flemish and the Last Post Ceremony moving and memorable.

Several months later that I discovered Leslie crompton Blackman lay in the cemetery by the Rotunda, and that the name of John henry Crompton, from Driffield in Yorkshire and of the 42nd Battalion, was engraved on the Menin Gate.

I am perhaps the only relative, distant thought I am, to visit the grave. My fourth and most recent visit to the Royal Berks Extension Cemetery was in October 2008, when I showed friends around Plugstreet Wood. I have seen the headstone in three seasons: after the ravages of winter with unkempt weeds; in early summer when the carefully tended boarders come to life; and in late summer when the flowers are at their zenith. What ever the season or weather the roar of the traffic disappears in this tranquil, beautiful and historic setting.

A fitting place for one who gave his life for what was considered to be 'the home country'.

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Footnotes:
1. Troops 'translated' this Flemish spelling to the more familiar Plugstreet.
2. THE Plugstreet Wood.
3. The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing - see above.
4. On the left Royal Berks Extension Cemetery, and on the right Hyde Park Corner Cemetery.
5. The valley of the Lys and the Messines Ridge.
6. The Douve river, where the Germans were stopped in 1914.
7. Messines church, in whose crypt the wounded Corporal Adolph Hitler was supposedly treated for wounds to his arm.
8. 'Mesen' is Flemish and 'Messines' French

Lieutenant Roland Leighton, 1/7 Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, picked violets from the top of a dugout along Toronto Avenue. They were sent to Vera Brittain, whose daughter Shirley Williams documented their love story in her book, A Testament for Youth. On the same day, 25 April 1915, Leighton sent a poem to his mother. Leighton was killed just before Christmas 1915.

Villanelle Violets from Plug Street Wood, Sweet, I send you oversea. (It is strange they should be blue, Blue, when his soaked blood was red, For they grew around his head; It is strange they should be blue.) Violets from Plug Street Wood- Think what they have meant to me- Life and Hope and Love and You (And you did not see them grow Where his mangled body lay. Hiding horror from the day; Sweetest it was better so.) Violets from oversea, To you clear, far, forgetting land These I send in memory, Knowing You will understand.

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This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass	Version D19 Updated 02 July 2010