A YOUNG " BLUE PUTTEE"

I trust I am not overdoing it with the military posts here?  This is the third such post.  (As my late mother-in-law would probably say "over egging the pudding"!)  Every 11th November we remember those who gave their lives in the pursuit of justice and freedom.  Some of us have personal reflections but mostly we remember them collectively.  As this year is the centenary of the official ending of WWI, in the days leading up to Armistice Day I want to tell a little of their personal stories so that we can see them as they were - ordinary people who did extraordinary deeds!  

Michael John Blyde was the son of John and Mary Blyde of 47 Fleming Street, St John's.  He enlisted at St John's on 5th September 1914, Regimental Number 280, one of the illustrious First Five Hundred.  His Attestation Papers tell us that this blue eyed single man was a  "Shoe Cutter"  earning $12 per week.  On 4th October Pte M J Blyde embarked St John's aboard the SS Florizel.

It was about a year before the Newfoundland Regiment was deployed.  In August 1915 word came that they were going to Suvla Bay in the Gallipoli Peninsula.  There they would join the 88th Brigade of the 29th Division of the British Army. Private Blyde was with his Regiment when they disembarked Alexandria on 1st September 1915.  Two weeks later they embarked for Gallipoli.  

280, Pte Michael John Blyde

Gallipoli was a Hell Hole with shells bursting all around. The first Newfoundland casualty came on 22nd September when 21 year old Pte Hugh McWirter was killed by a Turkish shell.  Pte Blyde would not be far behind his comrade. On 26 September 1915, 19 year old Pte Michael John Blyde was killed in action at Suvla, Gallipoli.  He rests there with seven other fallen Newfoundlanders in Hill 10 Cemetery.

Hill 10 Cemetery

Resting place of Pte Michael John Blyde

I am very grateful to my nephew for the use of his photos of Hill 10 Cemetery and Pte Blyde's grave.