231421 Pte. Handel Richard Blackmore British Army No. 9 Casualty Clearing Station Royal Army Medical Corps from:Failsworth, Lancashire Handel Richard Blackmore was born on Monday 21st November 1887 at 44 Drury Lane, Chadderton, Lancashire. He was the son of Walter Henry and Lydia Rachel Blackmore (née Farvis), brother to William Walter Blackmore, and first cousin once removed to Frederick Charles Blackmore and second cousin to Frank Wesley Blackmore. As a boy he had worked as a Cotton Mule Piecer (they had to lean over the spinning-machine to repair the broken threads) and later as a Cotton Spinner Operative. In 1911 Handel was living with his widowed mother Lydia at 750 Oldham Road, Failsworth, Lancashire.
During the war, Handel was assigned to the Royal Army Medical Corps as Private 42554 and was sent to France on 23rd December 1914. Unfortunately Handel's service papers were burnt in the WWII Blitz but based upon other soldiers' service numbers which appear in the same sequence it is fairly safe to assume that Handel enlisted on 23rd October 1914 and served in No.9 Casualty Clearing Station.
The unit left Southampton on 21st December 1914 on board the SS Georgian that arrived at Le Havre at 3 a.m. Handel served with No. 9 Casualty Clearing Station at Lycée, St. Omer and Lillers. Along with No. 4 Casualty Clearing Station, No. 9 left for Italy on 1st November as part of the Third Army, British Expeditionary Force.
Handel Richard Blackmore survived the war and was subsequently discharged on 17th March 1919 but placed in 'Z' reserve in case the war should recommence. After the war he worked as a self-employed Draper and died in June 1966 in Middleton, Lancashire fifteen months after his wife Ada had passed away.
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