Clifton Road, Shefford [Z1306/101/5/3]
Thursday 1st July: A letter received by the Vicar of Bromham from Bombadier H Waller, Royal Horse Artillery, says: “I should like to tell you what a grand lot of fellows our County Regiment are. We have supported the (the 2nd Bedfords) from the awful days of October at Ypres up to now; they have always been picked for the most difficult work and have always covered themselves with glory”. Previous to mobilization Gunner Waller was butler to Mr. W. H. Allen of Bromham House
“Private A Breed, 1st Bedfords, writes home to Shefford: “I am longing for the time to come when I shall be able to come home Clifton Road, Shefford. I have had quite enough of it and so have all my chums. Still we are here to do our duty and our duty will be done. I think the Germans must be nearing the finish. They have tried all the fakes they can to kill us and to save their own men but it has not come off as they expected, They are now trying to blow us out of our trenches by coming under the ground, because they dare not come on the top to blow us out. But they are often caught napping in that, for we have got some good handy men. For my 23rd birthday I was in the trenches near the hill [Hill 60]. Still, I was glad to see it, for a good many men out here will never see another. It was this day the Germans tried to blow us up, but it did not take much effect on us, as they did not get far enough, though they tried hard. They exploded two mines, but no good – too short both times, although it killed two of our RE(1) men. It is very quiet here now. It seems as though there is no war on”.
Lieutenant Pope of the Bedfordshire Regiment is one of a number of officers who are prisoners of war at Danholm, a camp which consists of two small islands (connected by a bridge) between Stralsund and the island of Rugen in the Baltic. The British officers who are at this camp were sent there from Mainz about six weeks ago and are stated to find their island camp much more agreeable than their former quarters.
Of the Bedfordshire Regiment, 180 men are known to be prisoners-of-war in Germany. They are receiving fortnightly parcels of necessaries and comforts, provided by subscriptions, organised by a Bedfordshire Committee, of which Miss Gurney of Henlow is Honorary Secretary(2)
Source: Bedfordshire Times 9th July 1915
(1) Royal Engineers
(2) The 1st Battalion had been at the front since August and the 2nd Battalion since October 1914 – a total of 22 months so about 8 men per battalion per month had become prisoner.
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