4th Battalion Receives Reinforcements from 8th Battalion

Lieutenant-Colonel Thorpe [X550/1/82]

Thursday 7th February 1918

Lieutenant Colonel E I de S Thorpe DSO has joined 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in Italy as their commanding officer today. Meanwhile the disbandment of 8th Battalion got underway today as twelve officers and 299 other ranks marched from Lebucquière to Fremicourt whence buses took them to their new home - the 4th Battalion currently at Albuera Camp, Beaulencourt. The officers concerned are: Captain R B Knight; Captain N C F Nixon; Second Lieutenant R Bland; Second Lieutenant J W Bradfield; Second Lieutenant W H T Cottrill; Second Lieutenant R C Cowell; Second Lieutenant P W Everett DCM; Second Lieutenant H L Gudgeon; Second Lieutenant Hawkes MC; Second Lieutenant E Kinkead MC; Second Lieutenant Mallinson; Second Lieutenant Oakley and Second Lieutenant E C Webb(1)

Source: X550/2/5; X550/5/3; X550/9/1

(1) Captain Richard Brodnax Knight would die on 5th September and be buried at Saint-Sever Cemetery, Rouen; Captain Noel Charles Frederick Nixon would be killed on 24th March and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial; Second Lieutenant Ernest Charles Webb would die on 17th February and be buried at Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt; 

8th Battalion Begins to Disband

Tuesday 5th February 1918

Major Allason has taken command of 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel P R Worrall has proceeded to assume command of 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, part of 14th Brigade of 5th Division.

 At Lebucquière near Bapaume the 8th Battalion has begun the mournful process of disbandment. Thirteen officers and four hundred other ranks are to be sent off to reinforce the 4th Battalion. To mark this the officers are holding a farewell dinner this evening. The adjutant noted the absurdity that Second Lieutenant Everett DCM and 36 other ranks joined the battalion during the course of the day from the Brigade Pioneer Company!

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/9/1

Another Full Day for the 1st Battalion

Wednesday 30th May 1917

Just because 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, is in billets it does not mean they are idle. They have been finding working parties doing such things as road and railway construction and maintenance. They have also been drilling and practising other aspects of military skill. For example, at two o’clock this afternoon officers and non-commissioned officers have been trained in bayonet fighting. It is true every officer carries a pistol but they all use a rifle too, which is a far more effective weapon, more accurate and with a longer range. It is also more effective at close quarters on account of its bayonet - I know of no officer who still carries a sword into battle. Moreover, using a rifle does not distinguish an officer to the enemy, as using a pistol or a sword does and this means they are less likely to get picked-off by enemy marksmen, to the detriment of the men they lead.

As well as this activity, Lieutenant Hansen and one sergeant per company have spent the day reconnoitring No man’s land and the enemy positions east of Willerval, itself north-east of Arras. Second Lieutenant Everett and two other ranks have been to Wailly, south-west of Arras to see a display by tanks. These weapons are potential war-winners, certainly potential battle-winners, though it is fair to say that their performance is not always equal to their promise as they can be mechanically temperamental and they are difficult to operate - being inside a huge tin box, as hot as a furnace and as loud as a factory is a very disconcerting pastime and leads to officers commanding them becoming disorientated and losing their way. Nevertheless, tank design and the army’s understanding of how best to use them has come on leaps and bounds since they were first used only just over eight months ago and demonstrations like this are designed to help infantry units work out the best ways of co-operating with them to benefit the attack.

To round off  the day there was a football match. The Battalion played 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, winning by two goals to one.

Source: X550/2/5

Awards and Diplomatic Relations

Captain Willans [X550/1/82]

Sunday 4th February 1917 from our correspondent in the field

We have heard today that yesterday the United States of America broke off diplomatic relations with Germany following Germany’s declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare on Thursday. This news is something of a tonic for the boys at the front as it is seen as a prelude to an declaration of war, with all that entails for new armies on the Western Front.

Today in the theatre at Béthune Sir R B Haking, commander-in-chief of XI Corps presented awards to a number of officers including Military Crosses for Captain H Willans, Captain O A R Beale and Second Lieutenant H S Everett of the 1st Bedfords.

Meanwhile the 4th Battalion, in the front line north of the River Ancre has suffered more casualties. Four men have been killed, one has died of wounds and fifteen have been wounded. Remarkably this is the same “butcher’s bill” as that suffered on 31st January.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/5/3

Day Sixty One on the Somme

Lieutenant H F Graves

Wednesday 30th August 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

As 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment contemplates going into action near Guillemont sometime in the near future, the adjutant has contacted me with the names of new officers who have joined the battalion during August to take the places of those who have fallen in the fight. The officers are:

• Second Lieutenant E. A. Hague (joined on 14th August)
• Second Lieutenant P. A. Gibbons (joined on 14th August)
• Lieutenant H. F. Graves (joined on 15th August)
• Second Lieutenant H. C. Covell (joined on 15th August)
• Second Lieutenant  V. S. Sanders (joined on 16th August)(1)
• Second Lieutenant J. H. Banyard (joined on 18th August)(2)
• Second Lieutenant D. A. Lardner (joined on 18th August)
• Second Lieutenant H. J. Everett (joined on 18th August)
• Second Lieutenant A. J. Howard (joined on 27th August)(4)
• Second Lieutenant P. G. Smith (joined on 27th August)

Second Lieutenant Addison Howard

Sources: X550/2/5

(1) Vincent Stanton Sanders, from Hornsey [Middlesex], would be killed on 4th September, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

(2) James Hirst Banyard would be killed on 3rd September, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

(3) Dion Albert Lardner, from Streatham [London], would be killed on 4th September, he is commemorated in the Thiepval Memorial.

(4) Addison James Howard, from Kempston Grange, would be killed on 4th September and is buried at Guillemont Road Cemetery; Addison Howard Park in Kempston was given to the people of Kempston and dedicated to his memory by his mother in 1937, having formed the grounds of Kempston Grange.