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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Richard Warren Blanchard

In memory of:

Ordinary Seaman Richard Warren Blanchard

January 17, 1942

Military Service


Service Number:

LT/JX 220896

Age:

25

Force:

Navy

Unit:

Royal Naval Patrol Service

Division:

H.M. Trawler Simpson.

Additional Information


Born:

May 20, 1916
McIver's, Bay of Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador

Son of Charles Edward and Dora Blanchard, of McIver's, Bay of Islands, Newfoundland. Brother of Clayton, Fisher, Elsie, Alexander, Foster and Gertude Blanchard.

Commemorated on Page 146 of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

LOWESTOFT (NORMANSTON DRIVE) CEMETERY
Suffolk, United Kingdom

Grave Reference:

Sec. 25. Grave 505 North

Location:

During the 1914-1918 War, Lowestoft was a trawler base with a Port Mine-sweeping Officer in command; and during the 1939-1945 War, was the central Depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service, which was developed from the pre-war Royal Naval Reserve Trawler Section. The cemetery was begun in 1885 and contains war graves of both world wars. The 1914-1918 burials are mainly in Plots 12, 13 and 14 on the western side. After the war, a Cross of Sacrifice was erected on an island site close to these plots, in honour of all the servicemen buried in the cemetery. Most of the 1939-1945 graves are in one or other of four War Graves Plots, three of which are in the western part of the cemetery and one to the east of the main entrance. The remainder are scattered in other parts of the cemetery. There are 95 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war. There are 122 burials of the 1939-1945 war commemorated in this site. Of these 11 are unidentified seamen of the Merchant Navy. There are 11 German war burials here and 2 non-war service burials.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Group photo– Charles and Dora Blanchard, parents of Richard Warren Blanchard.
  • Photo of Richard Warren Blanchard– Age 24
  • Photo of Richard Warren Blanchard
  • Group photo– Warren and and Agnes Bond, his fiancé from Morcambe, Lancaster, England. They were to be married on his next leave.
  • Group Photo– Warren (2nd from Right) and other shipmates in Lowestoft, England.  He was known as "Dick" to his shipmates.
  • Photo of Richard Warren Blanchard– On board HMS Simpson.  Warren is at top.
  • Group Photo– Warren (left) posing with his other shipmates
  • Post Card– Postcard sent to his parents encouraging them to allow his sister, Elsie to join the war.
  • Ship– Ships partrolling the seas off Lowestoft. Fishermen and trawlermen primarily formed the Royal Naval Patrol Service which was moblized in August of 1939. Lowestoft was heavily bombed during the war because of their engineering industry and their role as a naval base.  There is a memorial called Lowestoft Naval Memorial in Bella Vue Park. There are 2,385 names on the memorial.
  • Family Photo– Leading Seaman Edward (Ted) and his wife Margaret in Morecambe. Warren and Ted became friends and Warren spent his leave with his friend's family.On January 17, 1942, HMS Simpson was doing a patrol minesweep and was attacked by a German aircraft just outside base. Warren was killed and three were seriously injured. Leading Seaman Atkinson was terribly shaken as he wrote to Warren's parents.  Atkinson was transferred to another ship, Night Hawk, after Warren's death.
  • Family Photo– The Atkinson family - their son, Albert (Age 11) and Margaret's parents.
  • Original Marker– 1950
  • Grave Marker– Elsie visiting the grave of her brother in 1975.  Inscription reads: The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. The same inscription is on his father's headstone in McIver's Newfoundland.
  • Photo of Richard Warren Blanchard

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To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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