Theodore George Henry Blinko

 

Known as George

1923-1984

Father Nm: Harry George Blinko 1894-1961. born Bardon Hill, Leics- died High Wycombe

Mother Nm: Lizzie Ing 1899-1928 High Wycombe.

Marriage Dt: Jun 1945, Bilston Staffs.

K comments:

Kin:

In WW1 father George Harry Blinko served with the Oxon and Bucks Regiment in France and the Balkans and was discharged suffering from Malaria. Uncle Albert Stanley served with the Cheshire Regiment Signals Company.

In WW2 brother Keith Robert served in the Engineers in the Ports of the UK. Uncle Alec Blinko was captured by the Japanese at Singapore and died while in captivity. Cousin Kenneth George served in WW2 in Royal Signals.

Post War Service brother Reginald John and cousin George Alec served in Palestine. Other cousins Ron Blinko and Gordon Blinko served.

Spouse comments: Kathleen Betty Matthews 1924-1999. Tipton Staffs-High Wycombe.

Children Roger George Blinko 1946, Lynn Marie Blinko 1955

(Research):

Oldest Known Ancestor: William Blincow 1702 Stoke Lyne.

Birth

7 Mar 1923 in Tower St. Terriers

Before the War

George attended Spring Gardens Primary, the newly built Terriers Primary School and later Hatters Lane Secondary School.

1939 Census

42 Chadwick St. Terriers, High Wycombe. George Age 16 a Springmaker Chairs his two brother’s details are not shown

 

WW2

 

Blinko Theodore George H., 1923, Private, 5391704, 31st Airborne Oxford and Bucks regiment, 21st Independent Parachute Company,  Airborne Division, Corps of Royal Military Police.

1940-41

• Enlisted probably underage. George it seems was with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Regiment and for some of the time with the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade. The 31st Ind. Bde. was drafted into a new infantry battalion the ‘Glider Infantry’, unlike the Paratroopers who had volunteered for their duties these men had not. The idea for the Glider Infantry was that a wooden glider plane with 25 men aboard be towed to the combat zone and dropped gradually onto that zone. The plane used was the Airspeed Horsa shown below.

  

   

• 14 March. Service book entry medical records seems to say Attached and is taken to mean he joined the Army on this date . His birthdate of 7 March 1923 meant he was 18years and 7days old enough to join up.

  

1942

• 1942 George would have been still with the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade of the OBLI.
  Note: In July 1942 the 21st Independent Parachute Company was founded at Larkhill Barracks overlooking Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. The leaders of the Regiment set about raising a company of hand-picked volunteers drawn from the Parachute Regiment and, initially, men who had applied to undergo training for the Glider Pilot Regiment but had been turned away due to the overwhelming demand. The role of the Pathfinder was to arrive at the drop zones half an hour in advance of the main body of airborne troops in order to set up beacons to pin-point the dropping area for the advancing aircraft, to clear any obstacles from the zone that would impede the gliders, and also to lightly secure the immediate area from enemy interference. By the end of 1942, the 21st Ind. was a force of 60 paratroopers

1943

• He did not take part in the drop into Sicily by the 21st Ind. on the 13/14th of July 1943. (Although he did tell me he had erroneously been granted the Italy Star medal in recognition of this action).
• The testing for suitability was very tough and carried out at RAF Ringway ( Ringway, Cheshire, England, near Manchester).
  Note This from a history of the unit “As such its men had to be of the very highest standard, physically and psychologically, yet this pedigree was by no means assured after Lander had selected them, for thereafter they had to undergo rigorous tests to prove that they were up to the task. The two-week course was designed to separate the unworthy and to harden and prepare those who would go the distance. The tests ran from six in the morning until six at night and included a 10-mile march in full battle kit to be accomplished in two hours, and a taxing obstacle course to be completed under machine-gun fire, with tough psychological tests immediately imposed at the end of such exercises. There was no second chance and any kind of failure saw the candidate immediately returned to their former unit, however, those who were accepted felt that to have passed such intense scrutiny made them rather special, and as a consequence, there was a tremendous sense of camaraderie within the Company.” As such its men had to be of the very highest standard, physically and psychologically.

1944

• January- September. Arnhem Preparation for the Operation Market Garden was carried out and the Company assembled at Fairford when the time came for action in September.
• June. George was given leave to marry Betty Matthews at Bilston, Staffs.
• July. Married to Betty Matthews in Bilston in a Civil Ceremony George in his Paras uniform.

  

• 17th September.

  

  

  

  George with Platoon1 of 21st Ind. Pathfinders and as such these men were tasked with creating the forward landing zones for the main airborne force  (these zones are marked on the map of Arnhem Area below). “At 12:40, the first British troops were dropped near Arnhem from twelve Stirlings of 190 and 620 Squadrons; these were the one hundred and eighty-six pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company. A platoon landed on each of the three drop and landing zones to lightly secure them against enemy action, of which there was very little, and activate their Eureka beacons to guide the approaching airborne armada to their correct zones. The Company carried out both of these functions smoothly and efficiently, their only casualties being two men hurt as a result of heavy landings”.These zones designated DZs and LSs for the first lift. George’s platoon of the 21st marked the abortive landing site for the Polish gliders, who landed amid the battle under heavy fire.

  

  This from Christopher Hibbert’s book The Battle for Arnhem highlights the moment of landing. Of the two shots that were heard, I wonder if one was  George Blinko’s Bren gun going off.

• Sunday, 17th September. While George had trained methodically for his drop as always things can go wrong and as this statement shows;” On landing his Sten Gun hit the ground and accidentally fired, the bullet wounded Pte Blinko in the arm, breaking a bone. After initial treatment by the Platoon’s medical orderly, he was transported or walked to the Company HQ a farm called REI JERS CAMP. This farm and its surrounding fields had been the Landing Zone ’S” (see map above) for the many Gliders that landed carry troops.

  

• Monday 18th September. George being treated at the “REIJERS CAMP” was on the move after German air bombardment to new HQ location at Halt Oosterbeek Hoig” which was a stop on the main rail line into Arnhem.
  Note: Meanwhile the 21st went about its allotted tasks. “Platoons moved out during the morning to mark D.Z. and L.Z’s for the second lift. No.1 Platoon to L.Z. “L”, No.2 Platoon to L.Z.”X” and No.3 Platoon to D.Z.”Y”. H.Q. remained on “S” to supply aids. Enemy opposition was encountered in all landing areas and Platoons had stiff fighting to drive the enemy back and to hold them whilst the second lift landed, also having to put out ground aids under fire. The difficulties were aggravated by the lift being delayed some three hours. The enemy was however kept in check and the lift landed with comparatively few casualties. Company H.Q. was heavily attacked by M.E.109s. The Company rendezvoused at 1800 hrs at the Farm and moved at 1900 hrs to take up new positions in the area of HALT OOSTERBEEK HOIG, up to this time we had had only one casualty, Cpl Jones who had been killed. The move was carried out without opposition in the dark and the new position was established by 2300 hrs. The night was uneventful.
• Tuesday 19th September. “During the afternoon the enemy started a movement on the Company position and I decided to take up a new position on some high ground overlooking the previous one, which gave us a field of fire of approximately 150 yards and forced the enemy to attack uphill across a road with wire fencing. The Company dug into the ground of a house called OMMERSHOL”.
  • Note: It’s known that George was free until the 24th of September see POW May 1945 report below.
  • Wednesday 20th September. It’s likely that George was taken along with most of his Companies wounded to an RAMC dressing station at Hotel Schoonord. We can assume he stayed in the Hotel Schoonord until Sunday the 24th of September when the walking wounded were taken to the Elisabeth Hospital in German territory and subsequently became a POW.

  

   

• The Main Dressing Station at the Schoonord Hotel on the Oosterbeek crossroads, close to the 1st Airborne Division HQ, This building became part of the front line and as such in the line of fire frequently. My Dad told me of being holed up in a building when tanks were firing shells into it. A colleague took a direct hit which from the way he told it was still years later traumatic to recall. This aligns with the situation as described by Major General R E Urquhart CB DSO whose book Arnhem details his recall of the failed operation.
  This from Urquhart’s book on Arnhem describes the story of the overrunning of the Hotel Schoonord from his perspective. “Roberts went off and was presently tended by Graeme Warrack, who was having a hectic time. During the early mortar struck Divisional HQ, an American wireless operator was badly hurt in the stomach and Warrack had personally conveyed him to the dressing station at the Hotel Schoonhord, and then found himself in the midst of a battle. It was turning out to be that sort of operation. Mortar bombs fell among the medical transport, a Dutch civilian car was hit on the road, and a six-pounder was contesting the issue with a German self-propelled gun. A few minutes later, Warrack heard German orders being given in the street. He ripped off his badges of rank and went upstairs to tend the wounded. Soon, those who could walk were marched off with some RAMC personnel Then the dressing station got a direct hit, and Warrack and others found themselves removing wounded men who had now been wounded a second time. As the dust began to settle, two more shells crashed into the building, which later was festooned with Red Cross flags with a particularly large one on the roof A German officer called to inquire about the German wounded being treated there, one of whom, a young Nazi, refused treatment for a shattered knee for four hours until the pain became too great and he consented to the British tending him.”
  This is about the time that George was led away as a POW. “Throughout this day, wounded were fIlling the dressing stations. There now began a remarkable situation as officers and men went for attention to a dressing station guarded by Germans and then returned to their own lines to continue the fight. This strange state of affairs was to exist for days. On this fateful Wednesday, however, some of the walking wounded were taken away as prisoners.
  (Ref Urquhart, R. E.. Arnhem, Pen and Sword, 2011).
• Friday, 22nd September. The Hotel became the HQ of the RAMC under Colonel Graeme Warrack.

  

• Sunday, 24th September. Elisabeth Hospital. From story by medical Orderly David Jebbit “By Sunday the 24th (having held out since their arrival on the 17th) the wounded numbered over 1,200. Medical teams were working under horrendous conditions and the hotel was targeted several times with mortars”.Colonel Graeme Warrack sought a ceasefire to evacuate the wounded as the situation had become dire (the 1st Airborne were to retreat across the Rhine) Col.War- rack negotiated with German High Command and a ceasefire was put in place with enough time for George and all the walking wounded to walk 5km to the Elisabeth Hospital and be taken care of by Dutch medical staff in albeit in German territory. He was now effectively a POW. (The Medical (RAMC) personnel at Hotel Schoonord were escorted away from the battlefront to a POW Camp.
• 25-26th September. George is admitted to “Airborne Hospital” at Apeldoorn. From Paradata “After Operation Berlin on the night of 25-26 September 1944, numerous Airborne casualties were left behind in the Arnhem area, along with the majority of the Airborne medics not already captured. Most of the wounded were moved from the Airborne MDS’s at the Schoonoord Hotel, de Tafelberg, and St Elizabeth’s Hospital to Apeldoorn on 26 September, boosting casualty numbers to about 2,000. Nevertheless, despite ‘rough and ready’ food and conditions and supply shortages, the Hospital was functioning effectively when Divisional ADMS Col Graeme Warrack arrived at around 1900 hrs on 26 September, who subsequently assumed command.

• 26th September George a ‘walking wounded’ was deemed fit to transport to POW camp and most likely was transported by rail truck which took two days to get to Stalag X1B Fallingbostel a trip of about 325 km. German cattle trucks were the transport used and apparently, 120 men escaped outside the Apeldoorn hospital while being held in these trucks for several hours before embarking. Some accounts exist from colleagues of George that highlight the deprivation and harshness of the treatment the POW’s suffered. (see Appendix).
  Summary of the 17th-27th September events.
• 17th. Landed and wounded at Reijers Farm, 18th. Coy HQ Halte Oosterbeek Hoig, 19th. Ommershol HQ, 20th. Hotel Schoonord Dressing Station, 24th. walked to Elisabeth Hospital, 25th. taken to Apeldoorn Hospital and 26th. transported to Stalag X1B.

PRISONER OF WAR

• 28th September. George reports this is when he arrived at Fallingbostel. It was about this time that 400 Paratroopers arrived at their final destination in Prussia at Fallingbostel and Stalag X1 B POW Camp. “Included amongst them was incomparable. RSM, John Lord, ex Grenadier guards attached to the paras, RSM Lord took the conditions in Stalag XIB on as a personal challenge and starting with the men of the parachute regiment set out to change the state of the camp. He insisted that his men should wash and shave daily as if they were in barracks-also they should salute German officers. He also demanded the men take some form of exercise daily.”
• George told me there was little good food mostly potato soup, and that he was employed in a Sugar Beet Factory nearby to the Prison Camp and so this supplemented his diet. The sugar may have kept him alive but rotted his teeth (they were mostly removed soon after the war).
• From Stalag X1 B History; “In February 1945 both camps XIB and XID/357 were in a deplorable state-a lack of food-medical supplies and the influx of ”BATTLE OF THE BULGE” American POW’s ….was becoming a massive problem. Tents were erected for the accommodation of the new- er POWs.”
• 11 November. George later reported the very bad treatment that a colleague had received at the hands of his German wardens, Pte John Morris injured while working was left untreated in his billets and died on this day of his injuries. This obviously affected my Dad greatly as the death was due to a total lack of care. Pte John Morris is buried at the Hanover War Cemetery plot 15 G.

• 

• George spent the rest of 1944 including Christmas in Stalag 11B.

1945

• 7th January- 22nd March. George is moved from Stalag X1B Fallingbostel to Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, 52 kilometres south of Berlin.
• 26th March-22nd April 1945. George moved again this time to Stalag X1A. which was located just to the east of the village of Altengrabow and in the south of Dörnitz in Saxony-Anhalt, about 90 km south-west of Berlin.
• 22nd April. George gives this as the last date for his imprisonment at Stalag X1 A Altengrabow. Note in 1993 a Les Hughes in documenting a special allied operation in April indicates that concern about the welfare of allied POW’s was rising and news that POW’s were on the move on the 23rd April cause them to implement an airdrop to try and relate the camps POW’s, George may well be taken away from the camp on the 23rd in which case he missed this drama outlined here. “On 25 April 1945, one of the last airborne operations of the ETO, code-named ‘Operation Violet’, took place. Six teams composed of officers and men of Commonwealth, French and United States armed services and under the command of Major Worrall were to be dropped near the camp to assure the protection of the PoWs, to assess the humanitarian need of the PoWs and to ensure a peaceful handover of the camp into Allied authority. However, the teams were scattered during the drop and all members were soon captured and transferred to the Altengrabow camp. There, the new PoWs urged the Camp Commandant, Col. Ochernal to cooperate and a radio link between the camp and SHAEF, then SAARF Headquarters was established.[4]
• “On 2 May Worrall received word from SAARF Headquarters that Col. Ochernal had struck an agreement with the Commander of the American 83rd Infantry Division, MG Robert Macon, then headquartered at Zerbst: Macon would provide the trucks necessary to begin the evacuation of POWs to Zerbst, and Ochernal would provide safe conduct for travel.”[4]
  “On 3 May seventy trucks loaded with rations and thirty ambulances complete with medical teams arrived at Altengrabow to a tumultuous greeting from the POW. Also in attendance were some forty war correspondents attached to the American Ninth Army who was shepherded by an enthusiastic Public Relations Officer eager to see the liberation of the camp portrayed as an all-American show. The evacuation proceeded with the American, British, French, and Belgian POWs being evacuated first. The Americans had promised to provide a twice-daily shuttle service until all of the Western POWs were evacuated. On the afternoon of 4 May, the Russian Army arrived at the camp, and the atmosphere changed considerably.” The Russian refused to allow Polish prisoners to leave and gave the allied commanders immediate notice to leave the camp. The fate of the Polish prisoners was taken out of Allied hands.
  It would seem that George was either intercepted by allied forces while in transit under German troops or had somehow gotten a reparation agreement from the German Government. In any event, it’s not long before George is asked to complete a POW report, which he did on the 4th of May 1945.
• Key pieces of evidence in this one page, his date and place of capture, and the POW camps he was to go to.
  Page 3 of the report adds more information and some insight into the conditions of the work he was made to do and the total lack of medical treatment at the camp.

1946

• January. After repatriation from being a POW in Germany, George presumably was granted some leave, George was selected to join the Corps of Royal Military Police. The period served was short, as in 1946 he was demobilised.

  

   

Commentary

George was my Dad and yet I feel he was somehow unable to communicate with me about the war and his feelings in general. I do know that when I was 4-5 years he had nightmares about the parachute drops. He rarely ever spoke about the war, a few details that I remember I have included but it was a surprise to me some 70 years later to discover more details about his bravery and the terrible things he witnessed such as the deliberate fatal neglect of a fellow comrade by the German captors. He was a quiet and humble man, he didn’t even request his own medals which might tell you something about him and his feelings re the war. The medals are now with one of his great-grandsons and I hope that he respects all the brave men who fought for the freedom that our family enjoy today.

Medals

Sources

1. Personnel records
2. Army Service book as pdfs
3. Roger Blinko and family records
4. The Battle for Arnhem by Christopher Hibbert
5. Pegasus Archives – http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/war_IndCoy.htm
6. Researcher Wendy George
7. Oxford and Buckinghamshire Regiment History
8. Leading The Way To Arnhem by Gijbels, P. & Truesdale, D
9. David Jebbit Medical Orderly 181st Field Ambulance account of the capture of Hotel Schoonord.
10. Arnhem Resources
11. David Jebbit Medical Orderly 181st Field Ambulance RAMC his story.
12. Fallingbostel Military Museum
13. ‘Arnhem’ by Major General R E Urquhart MB DSO
14. ‘Arnhem, nine days of battle’ by Chris Brown.
15. POW Report by George Blinko 4th May 1945.
16. The Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force (SAARF) by Les Hughes 1993.

A special note of thanks to Paul Pariso a dedicated researcher in the Paras at Arnhem he corrected some of the original research and then provided several ‘named’ photos which hopefully help others keen on this period of history.

Gallery