Field Marshal French Resigns

Sir John French

Saturday 18th December 1915: News from the Front today is all of the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir John French. This officer has led the BEF since the beginning of the war following distinguished service in the Sudan in 1884-1885 and in the Second Boer War. He has been replaced by General Sir Douglas Haig, commander of 1st Army(1). Sir John has released the following statement:

"In relinquishing the Command of the British Army in France I wish to express to the Officers, NCOs and Men, with whom I have been so closely associated during the last sixteen months my heartfelt sorrow in parting with them before the campaign in which we have been so long engaged together, has been brought to a victorious conclusion. I have however, the firmest conviction that such a glorious ending to their splendid and heroic efforts is not far distant, and I shall watch their progress towards this final goal with intense interest, but in the most confident hope. The success so far attained has been due to the indomitable spirit, dogged tenacity which knows no defeat, and the heroic courage so abundantly displayed by the rank and file of the splendid Army which it will ever remain the pride and glory of my life to have commanded during over sixteen months of incessant fighting. Regulars and Territorials, Old Army and New Army have ever shown these magnificent qualities in equal degree. From my heart I thank them. At this sad moment of parting my heart goes out to those who have received lifelong injury from wounds and think with sorrow of that great and glorious host of my beloved comrades who have made the greatest sacrifice of all by laying down their lives for their Country. In saying good-bye to the British Army in France I ask them once again to accept this expression of my deepest gratitude and heart-felt devotion towards them and my earnest good wishes for the glorious future which I feel to be achieved”.

Source: X550/3/wd

(1) French seems to have been effectively outmanoeuvred by the ambitious Haig, who had influence at court, into resigning. He was given a peerage as Viscount (later Earl) French of Ypres and made Commander-in-Chief Home Forces

Instructions to Commanding Officers

Saturday 13th November 1915: The adjutant of the 8th Bedfords tells us there was no attack yesterday. In fact the Battalion has been relieved and gone back to A Camp.

The 2nd Battalion adjutant has wired us the following memorandum from Field Marshal French to the commanding officers of all units on the Western Front.

1. The Army in France is entering upon a winter campaign in circumstances very different from those of a year ago. Then we were in great inferiority, both as regards numbers and munitions. Our position was necessarily defensive and sometimes precarious. We emerged successfully from a critical period because of the fine fighting qualities of officers and men in the front line, and it was because of the high fighting value of units that the Germans never achieved the moral ascendancy for which they hoped and which seemed warranted by their superiority in resources.

The situation as regards resources is now reversed. Whereas the enemy reached high-water mark in the early part of this year and has since been slowly but surely declining, our army has expanded very largely in numbers and the increase in munition supply has been relatively greater still.

Final success is therefore assured, and it will come the sooner if we succeed in maintaining the highest standard of efficiency in units.

2. With the expansion of the Army there has been a necessary reduction in the number of experienced officers and men in every unit. The efficiency of units has therefore become more than ever dependent upon the unremitting personal effort of commanding officers.

It is because your work is of such paramount importance to our success that I address this Memorandum personally to you, not by way of criticism, but to assure you that the importance of your task is fully understood and to guide you in your future efforts.

3. I wish you to believe that I realise fully the difficulties you have to contend with and the dangers and hardships to which you are often subjected. I know your work is uphill and that its results are often not apparent to you.

The material on which you have to work is often uninstructed and inexperienced, but it is young, keen and impressionable. Therefore, if worked on rightly, the best results can be expected.

4. The fighting value of the units is derived from three interdependent sources - training, discipline and moral [sic].

As regards training, you have ample data and instructions for guidance, and staffs of formations are available to advise and assist; but as regards discipline and moral you have to rely upon your own personal efforts. Experience has shown that if these are to be maintained at a high level among young officers and soldiers, special attention must be given to the following points: -

(i) A proper chain of command must be established and responsibility definitely fixed, so as to develop initiative and power of command.

(ii) Discipline must be applied rigorously among officers, slackness and incapacity must never be condoned.

(iii) Grumbling and uninformed criticism must be eliminated.

(iv) All leaders and particularly company and platoon commanders should be made to understand the vital importance of their duties, and that it is on their leading that success in battle chiefly depends once the attack is launched. It should be explained that, in battle, control is rarely possible and confusion inevitable, and that their initiative, courage and skill largely determine the fortunes of the day.

(v) The disastrous consequences of retirements must be insisted on.

(vi) The history and traditions of the regiment and the achievements of its members in this and in previous campaigns should be systematically taught.

(vii) Every opportunity for fostering a fighting spirit should be taken, the enemy must be harassed and his life made a burden.

(viii) The reasons for the war and the cause for which we are fighting must be explained. The Army exists and works with one object and one only, and that is to beat the Germans. All other considerations are subordinate to this.

5. We are undertaking the great task of creating a large Army while fighting a powerful and inscrupulous [sic] enemy. In this task nothing is more important than the practice and inculcation of the highest soldierly qualities. I am confident that I may rely on you to devote yourselves whole-heartedly to the development of these qualities in the splendid troops whom you have the honour to command.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/9/1

The Forgotten 6th Battalion

Saturday 6th November 1915: Corporal A W Nightingale of the 6th Battalion has spoken with us about the letter from a member of the 6th Battalion suggesting they had been forgotten by the press [22nd October]: “Forgotten? Surely not! And yet it seems so sometimes. We are one of the first regiments [sic] formed on mobilisation – i.e. most of our fellows came up during the month of August 1914 and when we read in the paper we get out here occasionally in the fighting line, of what is being done for those lucky fellows in newly-formed battalions we wonder why we have been allowed to miss these little marks of appreciation on the part of our fellow town and countrymen”.

“Not that we are in any way forgotten by the Military Authorities. On the contrary, everything has been and is being done to make our life as enjoyable as possible. It is difficult, no doubt, for the people at home to conceive a correct notion of what life out here is like but I can assure you it has its variations. At one time you find yourself knee-deep in mud and water with the rain drizzling down upon you in the trenches, at another time you are resting, or rather working a mile or so behind the actual fighting line, with occasional football matches and such amusements between times to take away the monotony and gloom which comes into our lives through continuous separation from our home life in the old country”.

“Nor are we without pride in our own achievements. We have been the recipients of congratulations from H M King George and also from Lord Kitchener and General French on the splendid way we are carrying out our share in this conflict, and other expressions of praise which are no less gratifying to us, and help to stimulate our efforts to prove a valuable link in the line which has proved itself to be up to the present unbreakable”.

“You would not find a more cheery set of fellows than there are in our battalion if you searched the whole of the allied armies through. I cannot say much about the German temperament, and I guess ‘uns suffers from an abrupt change of feeling when we meet, but they appear to be much more fed up than the German Emperor would care to acknowledge. If you could for a moment take a glance at our fellows in their fur jackets you would smile. Wrapped up in these they look like Eskimos, but withal they are a happy band of pilgrims and are making good progress, which is appropriate for representatives of Bunyan’s famous haunts”.

“We have started on our “leave” programme and with the proverbial patience of Job we shall all hope to get away home before our children’s children are obliged through old age to come and meet us in bath chairs and crutches. I hope that when you are thinking of the newly formed battalions of the Bedfordshire and other regiments you will spare a thought for those of us who have already tasted the glories of “warfare”.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 22nd November 1915

A Message from the King

Saturday 2nd October 1915: We have heard that on 30th September His Majesty King George V sent the following message to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir John French: “I heartily congratulate you and all ranks of my Army under your command upon the success which has attended their gallant efforts since the commencement of the combined attack. I recognise that this strenuous and determined fighting is but the prelude to greater deeds and further victories. I trust the sick and wounded are doing well”.

As this is the first offensive on such a scale that the army has launched in this war, His Majesty no doubt felt compelled to acknowledge such success as it has had. It is true that it has not achieved the breakthrough which had been hoped for but some progress has been made and the Germans have been given a taste of their own medicine, being on the receiving end of the poisoned gas they introduced into this war.

We understand that Sir John replied to His Majesty yesterday thus: “Your Majesty's Forces in France are deeply grateful for your Majesty's most gracious message. There is no sacrifice the troops are not prepared to make to uphold the honour and traditions of Your Majesty's Army and to secure final and complete victory”.

Source: X550/3/wd

News from Lieutenant Hargreaves

Monday 28th June 1915: Readers will recall that we mentioned on 5th June that the prospective Unionist candidate for Bedford, Lieutenant Hargreaves has gone to the Front with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry. He has contacted us today: “We are getting very little news, but a bulletin about the war is sent round with regimental orders”.

“I am quite comfortable in every way myself, but should be glad if there were more to do. The men are all very pleased to be in France and they enjoy the picnicking in the open as a change from ten months in billets. We are under a first-class brigadier and brigade with two good cavalry regiments(1) and, no doubt we shall see plenty of fighting before we finish”.

“This country is not good for either drilling or manoeuvring and compares very unfavourably in both respects with the country around Stansted. We were inspected, together with the rest of the Brigade by Sir John French(2) yesterday. The regiment turned out very smart. It has come on marvellously since we left Hatfield and should, I think, do well whenever it is called upon. Most of the officers of the squadron sleep in a barn. Holmes and I have made friends with an old couple, who have given us a room at their farm, and a big tub to bath in. We therefore live in the lap of luxury”.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 25th June 1915

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(1) 15th (King’s) Hussars and 19th (Queen Alexandra’a Own Royal) Hussars – together they formed 9th Cavalry Brigade.

(2) Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force.

In Honour of the Bedfords

The Corn Exchange [Z1306/10/58/15]

Friday 14th May 1915: There has been a feeling in the town of late that the glorious deeds of the Bedfordshire Regiment at the Front since the outbreak of war have not received that measure of appreciative recognition by the general public which has been deserved. Hundreds of the men have come home wounded and sick from the trenches, have recovered their health and strength in our midst, and have returned, silently and almost unnoticed, to take up once again the grim work of war.

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 and North-Western Railway Station. It is sincerely to be hoped that as many as possible of the townspeople will be along the route of march to give the lads of this gallant Regiment as encouraging a send-off as possible.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 14th May 1915

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(1) Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force

Accidents Happen

Sir Thompson Capper

Thursday 22nd April 1915: The 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment has heard, with regret, that its divisional commander, Major-General Sir Thompson Capper, K.C.M.G. C.B. D.S.O. has had to resign the command of the 7th Division. He was badly injured earlier this month when he was struck on the shoulder by shrapnel from an improvised “jam-tin bomb” during a demonstration behind the lines. Sir Thompson, who is 51, has been unable to recover within a certain period of time he was allowed and has been replaced by Major-General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough, formerly commander of 2nd Cavalry Division. General Capper: “desires to express his extreme sorrow and regret at having to part with his gallant comrades of 7th Division with whom he has been and whose fortunes he has shared since the formation of the Division in August last. General Capper has the assurance of the Commander-in-Chief that he will be again employed as soon as fit.  He hardly dares to hope that he may be able to get back to the 7th Division. But if that cannot be, he hopes at least that he may be permitted to fight as near the 7th Division as circumstances will allow. General Capper knows the Division will continue to fight with that stubborn nobility that has always marked its conduct in the past”.

Meanwhile Lance Corporal W. Lee of the 1st Battalion, who was in the thick of it at Hill 60 over the last few days has told us: “But we stuck to it and repulsed the Germans three times in one night, but at what a cost. I went into it with eleven men in my section and I was the only one who answered his name at roll call next morning, I am sorry to say. Perhaps you have heard that Nibby Keech’s brother got killed(1). He died fighting like a hero. It was the hottest time I have had since I have been out here, as General French said when he came to congratulate the Bedfords on the fine stand they made. He said the Germans made the hottest counter-attack they had ever made since the start of the war, and he couldn’t express his thanks enough for what we had done. Several of my mates were wounded, but I hope to have my revenge some day for the. There’s one thing more. I have to say – that is, Bedfordshire ought to be proud of the boys out here as they are doing some excellent work, as good as any regiment in the British Army”.

Source: X550/3/wd; Bedfordshire Times 23rd April 1915

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(1) 8683 Private William Keech from Goldington, killed on 19th April and commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial

Praise for the 2nd Battalion

Sir Henry Rawlinson

Thursday 15th April 1915: The adjutant of 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, tells us that the battalion has received a communication from IV Corps Headquarters regarding the inspection by Sir John French which they underwent on 12th of this month. Apparently the corps commander (Sir Henry Rawlinson) was very pleased with the turnout of each of the four battalions of 21st Infantry Brigade which he thought was: “… very creditable. The smart handling of arms and steadiness in the ranks was particularly satisfactory and he desires this may be brought to the notice of all concerned".

Source: X550/3/wd

Sir John French Addresses the 2nd Bedfords

Sir John French

Monday 12th April 1915: Today Field Marshal Sir John French GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force addressed the 21st Infantry Brigade at 3.30 pm just outside the French town of Estaires. He spoke to each of the four battalions comprising the brigade in turn and spoke to the 24 officers and 779 men of 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment as below.

“Men of Bedfordshire – I have come here today to tell you how much indebted I am to you for your recent work. I know what you have done. I know the losses you have suffered. I need not go into the detail of the part you played in the three days’ battle at Neuve Chapelle. But I know no other battalion pushed forward with more gallantry than you did”.

“In the first place you have won ground which will be invaluable in our future operations. You will realize – being intelligent men – that we are fighting the Germans on two fronts. In these attacks it is not so much the ground we gain but the fact that we tie the enemy to the ground in front of us and prevent him sending troops against the Russians on the East and also enable the French to make successful attacks further South(1). In fact we all help each other. Besides being a gain in ground, it was a great moral gain. For you have shown the enemy that you can beat him whenever you chose and I know when the time comes you will do it again. I want every officer, non-commissioned officer and man of this Regiment to feel that I give them my personal thanks for the splendid work that they have done”.

Source: X550/3/wd

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(1) The Germans had just halted a hitherto successful Russian offensive against the Austrians in the Carpathians. French Marshal Joffre was planning an attack in Champagne

War Poetry

Friday 5th March 1915: Corporal W. J. Mayhew of 2nd Bedfords has sent us the following poem “My Little Wet Home in the Trench”. It is a parody of the popular ditty “My Little Grey Home in the West” and was no doubt appreciated by the censor:

My little wet home in the trench,
Where rain streams continually drench;
There’s a dead cow close by
With hoofs turned to the sky,
And it gives off a terrible stench.
On the ground in the place of the floor
There’s lots of wet mud and some straw,
And the J. J.’s they tear(1)
Through the rain-sodden air,
O’er my little wet home in the trench

There are snipers who keep on the go.
So you must keep your napper down low;
For the star shells at night
Make a deuce of a light,
And it causes the language to flow.
Bully and biscuits we chew,
And its weeks since we tasted a stew,
And the shells dropping there –
There’s no place to compare
To my little wet home in the trench 

Now the Germans were sure of success,
But now they are full of distress.
So French(2) gave them a wrench
And they could not entrench;
Then the B and the F(3) did the rest.
While the Germans were shelling Ypres
The Uhlans(4) they crept through the trees,
And to them we gave chase,
Like a marathon race,
From our little wet home in the trench

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 5th March 1915

(1) Jack Johnsons – named after the African-American world heavyweight boxing champion – they were German shells.

(2) Sir John French, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force

(3) the British and French, presumably

(4) German cavalry equipped with a lance and used for scouting.

The Retreat from Mons Continues

Sir John French

Friday 28th August 1914: Today the 1st Bedfords continued their march through Noyon to the town of Pontoise-lès-Noyon, a distance of twenty five miles. Our contact stated: “Nothing much happened during the day, as we were going hard all the time, being sometimes held up by transport. Outside one of the towns Sir John French stood at the side of the road and watched us go by”.

It is to be hoped that the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force took heart from the undiminished spirit of the men he watched, as our contact says: “Everyone in the best of spirits but tired and hungry. The heat was tremendous during the day and the dust appalling”.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/2/7.