Bro. Percy Blinman Memorial Dedication

Infantryman Lance Corporal Percy Blinman of the 1/6 Gloucestershire Regiment lost his life in WW1 at The Battle of the Somme on 23 July 1916, aged 27 years. Percy was involved in what proved to be a near suicidal attack near Pozieres. They advanced to within 70 yards of their objective but were then cut down by heavy machine-gun fire from the German trenches. Initially Percy was posted as “missing,” but in May 1917 it was confirmed to his parents that he had been killed in the action. He lies interned in Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle, in France. 

The year before he was killed Percy became a member of Connaught Freemasons Lodge in Midsomer Norton, joining his father Harry Thomas Blinman, and brother Francis Kingston Blinman, both of whom are Past Masters of the Lodge.

On Friday 23 July, the anniversary of his death, the Connaught Brethren honoured Bro. Percy with a memorial to his memory in the Masonic Hall. The memorial was unveiled by Wing Commander Geoff Wilson, President of the Midsomer Norton and Radstock Branch of the Royal British Legion in the presence of the Branch’s Standard Bearer, Max Feeney, following which Branch Chairman Martin Feeney laid a posy of red poppies in front of the memorial. The memorial was then dedicated by Father Tony Wilds.

Charity being one of the main principles of Freemasonry, donations of £1,000 from Connaught Lodge and £300 from the Somerset Masonic Charities were presented to the Branch’s President and Chairman respectively. Lodge Secretary W. Bro. Tony Cooper then gave a short history of Connaught Lodge and the Blinman family.

As well as several members of the Royal British Legion and their wives, the ceremony was attended by Lynda Robertson, Mayor of Midsomer Norton Town Council; Geoff Fuller, Chairman Westfield Parish Council, and Farrington Gurney Parish Council Chairman Mike Hedges, as in the early 1900s the Blinman family were prominent farmers and auctioneers in the Farrington Gurney area.