Military Chat

Hi everyone,
I work for a charity shop and whilst looking through the donations we found a box of stockings. When we opened the box a letter was inside and it is from a Captain Jonathan Blow, Coldstream guards liaison officer, 244 wing, Desert airforce, CMF.
It was written Christmas 1944.
We would like to return it to the family as I can imagine it would be a nice piece of family history.
I hope someone out there will recognize this man and get in touch with me soon.
Thank you.
Jenny.

Unfortunately WW2 records won't be on line. In this instance they will still be with the Coldstream Guards and would cost £30 to access.

Searching births for Jonathan Blow in England & Wales 1915 +/- 20 gives one result.

JONATHAN O T
Last name BLOW
Birth year 1920
Birth quarter 2
Registration month -
Mother's last name TOLEMACHE
District WHEATENHURST
County Gloucestershire
Country England
Volume 6A
Page 745

If it is the same person, someone by that name married in 1962 in the City of London to a Ms De Silva
No deaths showing to 2006 in England/Wales

Not seeing any Blow/Tolemache marriages or other children :-0

Found his death on Ancestry - the other results were from Findmypast

Johnathan Oliver T Blow
Birth Date: 15 Aug 1919
Date of Registration: Dec 1977
Age at Death: 58
Registration district: Stroud
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 22
Page: 0140

Probate
Jonathan Oliver Tollemache Blow
Death Date: 22 Nov 1977
Death Place: Stroud Glos
Probate Date: 2 Mar 1978
Registry: Oxford

Of Hilles Stroud Glos.
As the death is after 1966, Executers are not named on the Probate Calendar

There are 3 Blow/Silva (not De Silva or Desilva) births in Stroud which could well be their children. Strangely, when viewed, the results do come up as mmn De Silva (FMP)

1963, 1965 & 1966

Will send by PM

Possible address for 1965 child found - sent by PM.
Also article about the older son. He seems to be a high-flyer who covers his tracks!

Contact details found for the daughter. She is also on Facebook and has her own company website.

Probable leads for contact details now sent for all 3 children.
As of 2015, their mother was living in Sri Lanka

These were his parents (they married at St Paul's Cathedral!- as did other members of his family):

name(s) DETMAR J BLOW
Marriage quarter 4
Marriage year 1910
Spouse: WINIFRED G TOLLEMACHE
District LONDON CITY
County London
Country England
Volume 1C Page 41

Very well connected family- quite a few mentions in the newspapers.

Gloucester Citizen - Thursday 01 May 1941

Officer Fined £50 For Theft
Unsusual secrecy was observed when Second Lieutenant Jonathan Oliver Tollemache Blow (21) was fined £50 with 2 guineas costs for stealing a basket containing 2lb of mushrooms from a Leeds railway station. The name of his regiment was not disclosed and the police refused to disclose his address....
-------------------------------------------------------

Just googling Jonathan's full name brings up quite a bit. From family tree info and various articles it seems he tragically took his own life in 1977.

There is more on his family here:
WHO was Jonathan Oliver Tollemache Blow?
http://www.helgasfolly.com/history.htm

and here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/19/the-amazing-life-of-helga-blow-sri-lanka-s-last-great-eccentric.html
----------------------------------------------

Full name and service number appear in the Supplement to the London Gazette 1940:
Coldstream Guard's
Jonathan Oliver Tollemache BLOW (124548)

The daughter in particular has quite a high public profile. Although she'd probably would welcome her name added to the thread, we unfortunately have to abide by the sites T&C.

Jenny, do you know who the letter was addressed to and if the stockings were donated in Stroud? Jonathan didnt marry for another 2 decades. Might the addressee's family be more interested in the letter than the Blow's?

(Jenny hasn't yet opened the PMs).

Hi, thanks to all of you for looking up so much, very appreciated.
I am passing the info over to my regional manager as he now has it in his possession for safe keeping.
I have asked him to look up who Jonathan was sending the letter to, hopefully there is a name.
Again thanks for the help, I will let you know if we find out.
Jenny.

Jenny has spoken to the daughter who is thrilled. She knows very little about her father during the war years. She also confirmed that she knew of the addressee.
A happy outcome.

Thanks for the update Detective- a happy ending.