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Sapper Charles Henry Claude "Claude" Blackmore
British Army 150th Field Company Royal Engineers
from:East Down, Devon
(d.30th Sep 1918)
Charles Henry Claude Blackmore was the son of Frederick Charles and Alice Blackmore who were farmers. He was one of 9 children. He served as a Sapper in the 150th Company Royal Engineers in both France and Belgium. He died of his wounds on the 30th September 1918 at a clearing station near Ypres and is buried in Haringhe Cemetery, Bandaghem, Belgium. He was was 22 years old.
All through my childhood he was spoken of, by my Grandmother Melvina Annie Blanche Manning (nee Blackmore), as he was her much loved younger brother. All his sisters had a poster-sized framed photograph of him on their walls. They were very proud of him but also very sad that he died so young. As far as I know no one ever managed to find out where he was buried.
Last year I started looking for him and had great difficulty as there seemed to be no trace of him. This was probably because we were looking in records for Claude Blackmore the name he preferred to be known as, and not the correct name he enlisted by.
Having discovered our mistake it was relatively plain sailing after this and in May 2015 my husband and I travelled to Belgium to visit his grave at the Military Cemetery of Haringhe in Belgium. It was a very moving experience and one none of us will forget.
