Martin Blanchfield BEM

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Deasy.
Whatever you find out please let us know on site, as many are interested .
Cheers Des.

[Deasy]

Hi Des, thanks, I certainly will. Like a lot of families we know some stuff and are really proud of the service given, but we probably need to take it more seriously from the standpoint of documenting it. We have a lot of navy in our family and I think most of it comes from Martin but no one has got around to researching it properly. This website and forum has been extraordinary helpful in starting that process.

Martin had no kids. It would be great to verify his involvement in the arctic convoys for the rest of the family. He probably thought it was just his job, I think it was amazing and something my son (who is two and a half) should know about.

Thanks

[gray_marian]

Found this Deasy, not sure if you have these, translation of places & dates on Ancestry World Wide can be comical..

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Nationality: Finnish, read Irish
Birth Date: 1900
Arrival Date: 1 May 1920
Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Last Residence: Courtmacdherry Court, Cark [should read] Courtmacsherry Co. Cork
Ship: Yarborough
Wound on chest & back

New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963
Name: Martin Blanchfield
Dept date 30th June
Arrival Date: 7 Jul 1920
Port of Arrival: United States
Birth Date: abt 1899
Age: 21, Rank: Sailor
Gender: Male
Nationality: British
Port of Departure: Danzig
Ship Name: Yarborough

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Arrival Date: 31 Jul 1920
Port of Arrival: United States
Birth Date: abt 1899
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Nationality: British
Port of Departure: Danzig
Ship Name: Yarborough
Race: Irish

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1900
Age: 24,
Arrival Date: 26 Oct 1924
Port of Arrival: San Francisco, California
Ship Name: Strathborne
Port of Departure: Hong Kong
Written beside his name: "Checked out - Ordered detained/determined? by Inspector - g or jar [guard?] 8/24 nov"
Physical marks, peculiarities or disease G.S.W. Back & chest

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Arrival Date: 17 Apr 1926
Birth Date: abt 1901
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality: Irish
Port of Departure: Port Said, Egypt
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: Steel Traveler
Seaman's Identification card: L.B.159927
Rank A.B. 9yrs service

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Age: 27, Rank:AB
Gender: Male, now 5''7"
Birth Year: abt 1901
Port of Departure: Callao
Ship: Cuzco 5 & 6 same year.
Port of Arrival: Honolulu, Hawaii
Arrival Date: 6 Jan 1928
Race: British (English)

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Birth Year: abt 1901
Port of Departure: Arica
Ship: Condor
Port of Arrival: Honolulu, Hawaii
Arrival Date: 29 Aug 1928
Race: Irish


Then, not sure if these next two are red herrings? Depends on town of birth in Co Cork.

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Gender: Male, Single.
Age: 25, Seaman,
Nationality: Irish
Birth Date: abt 1900
Birth Place: Courtmacst, Ireland [Courtmacsherry] Mother's address.
Departure Place:Cobh and Queenstown, Ireland
Arrival Date: 21 Aug 1925
Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Last Residence: Ireland
Friend: Blanchfield:....Father, James Sullivan.
Ship: Samaria


State Court Naturalization Records, 1850-1986

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Declaration Age: 27, [Labourer]
Record Type: Declaration
Birth Date: 29 Nov 1899
Birth Place: Courtmacsherry, County Cork, Ireland
Declaration Date: 1 Apr 1927
Declaration Place: Santa Clara, California, USA

1930 Census of Merchant Seamen

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Age: 29, Rank: BOS'N [Boatswain]
Estimated birth year: abt 1901
Birthplace: Ireland
Race: White, Single.
Port in 1930: San Francisco, San Mateo, California
Page: 38A
Ship Name: Coya
Address of wife or next of kin: 219, Hicks Ave, SF.

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Birth Date: abt 1900
Age: 38 Rank D.B.S
Port of Departure: Dairen, China
Arrival Date: 22 Feb 1938
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: Suez
Ship Name: Diomed
There is a squiggle on the crew page instead of a straight line, so not sure if it was Martin and the chap below him that didn't sail or both...

WWII Medals Issued to Merchant Seamen, 1939-1945
Name: Martin Blanchfield BEM
Birth Date: 28 Nov 1899
Service: 1939-1945
Medal Issued/Claimed: 1946-2002
Discharge Number: 1043709
URL: http://discovery.nationalarchi...

Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964

Name: Martin Blanchfield
Gender: Male
Race/Nationality: Irish
Arrival Age: 51
Birth Date: abt 1900
Departure Place: Oslo
Arrival Date: 6 Sep 1951
Arrival Place: Brownsville, Texas, USA
Ship Name: British Lady
Record Type: Manifest
Rank: Bosun

Nothing showing for Arctic Convoy that I can see..sorry. Did he marry?
There is a tree on Ancestry for Martin's brother William & his headstone 1895-1924 if interested?

[Deasy]

Hi Gray_Marian, thanks so much. That's fascinating, yes that's him alright. The wound to the chest and back is the giveaway.

It goes like this. Martin was badly wounded fighting with the Royal Irish Regiment in WW1. The bullet was lodged close to his heart. He was shipped back to London where they decided he couldn't be operated on because they felt it would have killed him. The alternative (leaving it there) was almost as grim, as it was affecting normal living. He was sent back to Cork where his mother realised he had to have the operation. The bullet was removed in Cork (without much fuss by the way). The fact that it was done at home, and couldn't be done in London, still causes some bemusement in my family. I am guessing the chest wound is the entry wound and the wound on his back is where they operated on him. Thanks for the information, sounds like a guy who decided to live life to the full after that experience. Cheers

[Deasy]

And yes he got married in 1933.

[Hugh]

Nothing showing for Arctic Convoy that I can see.

That would be normal Marian, for information, you won’t find details of any Arctic service on genealogy sites.
Regards
Hugh

[Louis the fly]

Hi Hugh , I know absolutely nothing about you , only the many interesting replies and assistance to give to this site. Your research must have helped so many.
A special thanks also to Marian who will do everything possible in finding information to help an inquiry.

[Frederick Lacey]

Marriage.

Martin Blanchfield......Amy A Snell. Qrt. Oct-Nov-Dec. 1933. District. Falmouth. Cornwall. Vol.5c. Page.361.

F.

In case you havn't got

Amy Armstrong Blanchfield, Born. 15th July.1885. Died. June 1969. age at death 83 years. District. Falmouth. Cornwall. Vol.7a. Page.81

F>

[Deasy]

Thanks Frederick

[Ivan Cloherty]

The question is how do I figure out if he definitely was on the British Statesman during that convoy and whether those other ships you listed were also involved in convoys?

Thanks

Sometimes records are incomplete or have been lost. There were 87 Arctic convoys involving a total of 1400 MN vessels of which 85 were sunk by U-Boats or Aircraft, 16 escort vessels were also sunk, the MN was always the German's priority. The last Russian convoy was JW67 which left the Clyde on 12th May 1945 arriving in Russia on 20th May 1945, as always I stand to be corrected. Sources of information can be at variance with each other