Pte 50088 Giles Blezard

• Age: 22
• From: Darwen, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 28th June 1917
• Commemorated at: Perth Cem Zillebeke
  Panel Ref: II.B.8

Giles was born in Darwen on the 05^th December 1894 and baptised on the 07th March, 1895 at St John the Evangelist, Church Of England, Over Darwen. He was the son of John and Susannah Blezard, of Darwen, Lancs. He was the eldest of five children: siblings William, Elsie, Alice, and Annie.

The 1901 Census finds the family are living at 40 Albert Street, Lytham. His father, John, 32 years old born oin Slaidburn, Yorkshire and is a carter of coal and a furniture remover, his mother, Susannah is 29 years old and was born in Rimmington. Giles is 6 years old and has two siblings in the household; William aged 4 and Hannah aged 2. 

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 56 Marsh Lane, Darwen, Lancashire. His father,  John, is aged 43, now shown as born in Newton, Yorkshire in 1868 and is a carter working for a farmer, his mother, Susannah, is aged 39, born in 1872 in Gisburne, Yorkshire and has no occupation listed. They have been married for 18 years and have had eight children of which three had died. THose declared in the household are: Giles aged 16 is a horseman for a railway carrier, William aged 14, born 1897 is a cotton mill weaver, Elsie aged 9, born 1902 and Alice aged 7, born 1904 are at school and Annie born 1911. Giles, William and Annie were born in Darwen and Elsie and Alice both born in Lytham.

Before the outbreak of the he was a horseman for a railway carrier.

He married Hannah Taylor in the first quarter of 1916. Their daughter Annie was born in the third quarter of the same year. 

Giles was serving with the 20th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 50088 when he was killed in action on 28th June 1917 aged 22. He now rests at Perth Cemetery (China Wall) in Belgium where his headstone bears the epitaph:

“THE BUGLE WAS SOUNDED HE ANSWERED THE CALL TO FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY’S JUST CAUSE”

The cemetery was begun by French troops in November 1914 (the French graves were removed after the Armistice) and adopted by the 2nd Scottish Rifles in June 1917. It was called Perth (as the predecessors of the 2nd Scottish Rifles were raised in Perth), China Wall (from the communication trench known as the Great Wall of China), or Halfway House Cemetery. The cemetery was used for front line burials until October 1917 and contained 130 graves. It was not used again until after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries around Ypres.  There are now 1,426 WW1 Commonwealth burials in the cemetery.

Giles is commemorated on the Memorial at Holy Trinity Church Memorial, which is now situated at St Peter's Church, Church Street, Darwen.

His widow, Hannah, never remarried, and died in 1969. 

We currently have no further information on Giles Blezard, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.