Rededication Captain Ernest Cecil Blencowe

Rededication Captain Ernest Cecil Blencowe - Zillebeke - 11/06/2025

Please find below some pictures of the rededication service which took place at Bedford House Cemetery on Wednesday 11 June 2025. The service was held for Captain Ernest Cecil Blencowe who untill now was buried there as an unknown soldier, but now has a new headstone with his name on. This after research had proven that he had been buried there all those years.

Ernest was born in Derby in 1881. He was the only son of Ernest Gottwaltz, a soap manufacturer, and Sarah Smee - sadly Sarah died just a few months after Eernest was born.

Ernest was educated at Sherborne School, leaving there in 1899 and moving to Londoen. From there he moved frequently between the UK, the United States and Canada throughout the early 20^th century.

In 1910, Ernest married Ellen Mary Blanche Edwards in Devon, and in 1913 they had a daughter - Eileen Winifred Blanche Blencowe, who was born in Budleigh Salterton.

Ernest joined the army at the outbreak of war, receiving his commission in September 1914. He also changed his name, dropping the Germanic sounding Gottwaltz for Blencowe to avoid problems should he be captured by the Germans.

Ernest was attached to 6^th Bn The Dorsetshire Regiment, and arrived in France in July 1915. With the Dorsetshires he was engaged in various actions on the Western Front, including holding lines around the south of the Ypres Salient. In early 1916, the regiment arrived on The Bluff - an area of unusual raised ground near the Ypres-Comines canal - which was fought over extensively throughout the war due to the strategic advantage it offered whoever controlled it.

Ernest lost his life in an action to try to wrest control of The Bluff back into the hands of the British in mid-February 1916. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for his actions during this period. His body was not recovered and following the war he was listed on the Menin Gate memoral to the missing.

In June 1921 the remains of an unknown British officer were recovered by a large spoil heap known as The Bluff. The remains bore buttons and badges identifying them as an officer of the Dorsetshire Regiment, but further identification proved impossible and the remains were reburied at Bedford House Cemetery, near Ypres. Recently, research has revealed the un-named officer to be Captain Ernest Blencowe and his grave was now rededicated accordingly.