Wednesday 26th
December 1917
BEDFORDSHIRE AT WAR: News from the Front Line Image (c) artist Hugh Byrne, Shop33 and SNAP
Showing posts with label Beds Regt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beds Regt. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
A Fourth Christmas at War
Sunday, 12 November 2017
Comparisons
Monday 12th
November 1917
It seems
clear, with winter drawing near and the weather worsening, that the Third
Battle of Ypres must be drawing to a close, of it has not actually done so,
especially now the all-important village of Passchendaele and its ridge have
been taken. Certainly there seems to be no urgency to troop movements following
the last attack on Saturday. This has led the gentlemen of the press corps to
compare the great offensive here with that which occurred in the second half of
last year on the Somme.
If the battle
has indeed come to an end after the attack of 10th November this battle, which
began on 31st July has lasted 103 days. The Somme began on 1st July and ended a
week later on 18th November, for a total of 141 days. The length of front has,
generally been shorter here, but the Somme was a joint attack by our own forces
and the French whereas this battle has been carried on solely by British and
Imperial forces.
It is
reckoned that the Somme saw an advance of six miles at its greatest extent. The
gains here have been less but still substantial. The most vexed issue, as
always, is the number of casualties, for which there may never be a completely
reliable number. Indeed, the numbers for the Somme are still in dispute, one
year on. In the end we each did our separate research, each estimated a figure
and found the average! We suggest 400,000 British and Empire and 200,000 french
casualties (dead, wounded, missing) on the Somme as opposed to 450,000 German.
We arrived at figures of about 250,000 for each side in this battle.
These figures
are, obviously, guesses and, it may be said, irresponsible guesses at that.
Each statistic is a man’s life. What is clear, however, is that this battle has
been less hungry of those men's lives. Given the awful conditions prevailing
for much of this battle and the fact that the enemy’s fortifications were of
longer standing than those on the Somme this shows that our army is becoming
more efficient and less destructive of its most precious resource.
I see from my notes that the battalions of the Bedfordshire Regiment involved suffered 1,281 deaths. By my best calculations, after speaking to the various adjutants, the Regiment has suffered something like 339 casualties during this battle, a reduction in the order of two-thirds. Of course, the Regiment was less heavily involved in this battle, the 8th Battalion, for example, playing no part. Nevertheless the numbers are remarkable.
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Join up Now!
Monday 31st
May 1915
For King and Country
MEN OF BEDFORD
Are you doing your duty?
It is the
Imperative Duty of EVERY Man to serve his Country at the present time, and
there is some duty everyone can perform
1. Are you of
Military age, physically fit, and not engaged on Government work? Then apply at
once at the Kempston Barracks and join H
M Regular or Territorial Forces
2. Are you of
Military age, and, through medical or other legitimate reasons unable to join
the Regular Forces? Then you can serve your country by joining the Bedford Volunteer Training Corps
3. Are you
over Military age? Then you can serve your country by joining the Bedford Volunteer Corps
4. Are you
between 16 and 19 years of age? Then you can serve your country and prepare
yourself for the Army by joining the Bedford
Volunteer Training Corps
Every Man can and should take his
part. There is no room for Slackers in the Country during the present crisis
Is Your Conscience
Clear?
IF NOT, JOIN NOW!
ENLIST IN THE REGULAR FORCES at Kempston Barracks any day
ENROL IN THE BEDFORD VOLUNTEER
TRAINING CORPS,
Mayor’s Parlour, Town Hall, Bedford on Tuesdays and Fridays between 6-7.
GOD SAVE THE KING!
Source: Bedfordshire Times 21st May
1915
Saturday, 30 May 2015
The Bedfords on Film
The Empire Cinema [Z1306/10/41/27]
Sunday 30th May 1915: In these days of the popular cinema, an explanation of the headline is unnecessary. The film itself, however, is worth a good deal of explanation, although when seen it explains itself(1).
The Bedfordshires have been filmed in order to illustrate the life in a service battalion. Pictures were taken at the Barracks, at the Ampthill Camp and in the grounds of Hinghingbrooke Castle in Huntingdon, and the three thousand feet of film exposed depict scenes of interest with a degree of success that reflects credit on that skilled operator, Mr. W. N. Blake. Although episodes such as boot inspection, drilling in Ampthill Park, serving out dinners etc. were taken on the 12th of this month, the complete film was shown privately at the end of the last week. It will be exhibited at the Empire at 3, 7 and 9(2) accompanied by rousing music and the appropriate applause of full houses.
Officers and men from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire figure in the production and spectators are able to see their relatives and friends at work without having to make a more or less long journey for that purpose. The film in in narrative form, if one may be allowed to use the expression, and shows the man enlisting, taking the oath of allegiance, drawing clothing and necessaries and being fitted for uniform until one day he emerges from the chrysalis into the glorious imago of the King’s uniform. Thereafter he is shown at work and play. On the Barracks Square he is drilled, and a day comes when he is one of the draft who answer to their names, receive their rations, a few words of cheer from the chaplain, and march off along the Kempston-road to the station, ready to go wherever duty to King and Country calls.
Excellent views of the training camp at Ampthill are shown. There are bayonet fighting, drawing dinners, boot inspecting, the Battalion forming and marching in mass headed by the Commanding Officer, the Duke of Bedford, Major F. A. Stevens (Second-in-Command) and Major Nelson (Adjutant) – all clearly and picturesquely recorded. Space does not permit of a detailed description, but all who feel a pride in our gallant men, and would see them at work in their interesting surroundings, should not miss this opportunity. Special matinée performances are arranged for the two days mentioned. We understand that Private Bentley, of the Bedfordshire Regiment, who has recently been awarded the DCM, will address a few words from the Empire stage each evening and at the Saturday matinée.
Source: Bedfordshire Times 21st May 1915
(1) Sadly the film does not seem to have survived
(2) The showings were on 21st and 22nd May. The Empire was at 27 Midland Road and was owned by Blake Brothers, it survived at least into the 1970s though by then its sole staple seems to have been X-rated adult films.
Thursday, 14 May 2015
In Honour of the Bedfords
The Corn Exchange [Z1306/10/58/15]
No regiment, as Sir John French(1) rightly said, has done better service than the Bedfordshires, and when the history of the Great War comes to be written, amongst its most noble pages will be the deathless record of our County Regiment. Much has been done privately, and the generosity of the public in subscribing to our own Tobacco Fund for Bedfordshire soldiers, has shown that the gallant lads at the Front have not been forgotten by those at home, but of public demonstration there has been none. The Borough Recreations Committee has made many efforts in this direction, but has experienced difficulty in getting in touch with the men as a body. However, this afternoon Mr. Machin has arranged for a high tea at the Corn Exchange to be given to those men of the Regiment who have returned from the Front, recovered from their injuries, and are about to leave for Landguard to proceed again to their duties in the battleline. The tea will be held at the Corn Exchange, and the Mayoress of Bedford (Mrs. Browning) will preside. An entertainment will be afterwards held, at which the Mayor and other prominent townsmen are expected to be present. The Recreations Committee hope to present each man with a pipe, tobacco and cigarettes.
Tomorrow these details, together with a draft of the Bedfordshires who have not yet been on foreign service, will leave for Landguard. A procession will be formed at the Barracks at 11.20 a.m. and, headed by the band, will proceed by way of Kempston-road, over the New Bridge , through Prebend-street and by way of Midland-road, Silver-street and High-street to the London
Source: Bedfordshire Times 14th May 1915
(1) Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force
Monday, 19 May 2014
A Brief History of the Bedfordshire Regiment
A Brief History of the Bedfordshire Regiment
A Brief History of the Bedfordshire Regiment The
regiment was raised in 1688. It was a regular Regiment of the Line and, being
the sixteenth raised, was numbered 16th Foot. At this time it was associated
with Buckinghamshire. The 14th Foot was associated with Bedfordshire and fought
at the Battle of Coruña in January 1809. That same year the colonels of the two
regiments decided to swap their county affiliations, the 14th Foot becoming
associated with Buckinghamshire and the 16th Foot with Bedfordshire.
The
regiment had a less than glorious service record in the century or so between
the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War as it was largely on garrison duty
and fought in no major battles. In his Goodbye
to All That Robert Graves states that in the army it was said that the
motto of the Regiment ought to be “Thou Shalt Not Kill”, but added that the
regiment was making a name for itself in the Great War
- 1688: 16th Foot raised as
- 1782: affiliated to Buckinghamshire;
- 1809: affiliation changes to Bedfordshire
(previously 14th Foot)
- 1858: a second battalion is raised
- 1881: officially named the Bedfordshire Regiment
In
1919 the regiment was renamed the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. This
was in recognition of the fact that as many men from Hertfordshire served in
the regiment as from Bedfordshire. A principal reason for this was that
Hertfordshire had no regular infantry regiment associated with the county. Two
rifle volunteer battalions had been formed in 1860, becoming the 1st and 2nd
(Hertfordshire) Volunteer Battalions, Bedfordshire Regiment in 1868. In 1908
one battalion became a Territorial Army unit as the Hertfordshire Regiment
(TA), thus a unit of part-time soldiers intended as home defence, though they
served on the Western Front with some distinction in World War One. As a
Territorial Army formation the Hertfordshire Regiment continued to exist even
after the renaming of the Bedfordshire Regiment as the Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire Regiment.
In
1958 the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was disbanded but its lineage
continued as 3rd Battalion, East Anglian Regiment, being amalgamated with the
Essex Regiment to form this battalion. Separate Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
(Territorial Army) battalions were merged in 1961 to form the Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire Regiment (TA).
In
1964 the East Anglian Regiment was renamed the Royal Anglian Regiment and in
1967 the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (TA) became 5th (Volunteer)
Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment. In 1992 the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian
Regiment was disbanded ending the Bedfordshire Regiment's history.
In
1995 D Company, 2nd Battalion was named Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire
Company but by then the lineage of the Bedfordshire Regiment had been lost. In
1996 the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion became 7th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal
Anglian Regiment and in 1999 the various
Territorial Army battalions were amalgamated as East of England Regiment
(Territorial Army). Then in 2006 the 3rd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment was
resurrected and the Essex Hertfordshire components of the Territorial Army
became E Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment. Thus there is,
officially, no Bedfordshire component to the current TA unit.
The
service record of the regiment is as follows:
- 1689-1697: service in
north-west
- 1701-1713: service in
north-west
- 1713-1740: northern
- 1740-1742: served as
marines during the War of Jenkins' Ear including the Battle of Cartegena
de
- 1742-1746: northern
- 1746-1749:
- 1749-1767:
- 1767-1781:
- 1782-1791:
- 1791-1796:
- 1796-1802:
- 1803-1815:
- 1815-1819:
- 1820-1840:
- 1841-1845:
- 1846-1857: Gibraltar,
The
service record of the 1st Battalion was as follows:
- 1858-1870:
- 1870-1890:
- 1890:
- 1891-1907:
- 1907-1908:
- 1908-1914:
- 1914-1917: Western
Front
- 1917-1918:
- 1918-1919: Western
Front
- 1920-1922:
- 1922-1925:
- 1925-1927:
- 192701929:
- 1929-1938:
- 1938-1942:
- 1942-1947:
- 1947-1950:
- 1951:
- 1952-1954:
- 1954-1956:
- 1856-1958:
The
service record of the 2nd Battalion was as follows:
- 1858-1861:
- 1861-1866:
- 1866-1869:
- 1869-1876:
- 1876-1891:
- 1891-1898:
- 1898-1900:
- 1900-1903:
- 1903-1907:
- 1907-1910:
- 1910-1912: Bermuda
- 1912-1914:
- 1914-1919: Western
Front
- 1919:
- 1919-1925:
- 1925-1926:
- 1926-1936:
- 1936-1938:
- 1938-1939:
- 1939-1940:
- 1940-1941:
- 1941-1943:
- 1943-1944:
- 1944-1947:
- 1947-1958:
The
service record of the 1st/5th, later 5th, Battalion was as follows:
- 1915: Gallipoli
- 1915-1919:
- 1939-1941:
- 1941-1942:
The
service record of the 4th Battalion was the Western Front 1916-1918 and 6th 7th
and 8th battalions was the Western Front from 1915 to 1918.
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