Gongs and Mosquitos

Wednesday 12 June 1918

The 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is in Palestine, not far from Jaffa. Yesterday the commanding officer left the battalion on an extended tour of inspection of the Schools of Instruction, clearly his training methods are held in high esteem and High Command are hoping he can provide valuable insights to update the instruction given to the officers and men of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force as the army is still known.He is replaced by the second-in-command, Major C. R. James MC.

At 6 o'clock last night as the day cooled into evening Military Cross ribbons were presented to Second Lieutenants Gooderham and Mayers and a Military Medal ribbon to Private Pennycock by the General Officer Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Division, Major General Sir Steuart W Hare.

The adjutant also mentioned that the "usual anti-mosquito work" was carried on - eradicating or spraying the small pools in which these potentially deadly pests breed.

Source: X550/6/8

Awards

Monday 3rd June 1918

For the last few days 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (now two-thirds 7th Battalion) has been at Henencourt Wood, west of Albert. They are the counter-attack battalion in brigade reserve. This area is familiar to the old 7th Battalion hands as they have been here for some weeks but it is new to the 2nd Battalion men.

Today it was been learned that Second Lieutenant P A Page has been awarded the Military Cross, whilst Military Medals have been awarded to Privates F Scripps, F White, A Coles and J Fretwell. On asking which battalions these men had been in prior to amalgamation I was told firmly that they are now all in 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and that is all that matters.

Source: X550/3/wd

Scores of Tanks

Monday 19th November 1917

The adjutant of the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment tells us that Military Medals have been awarded to the following men for gallantry in action:

• 12282 Sergeant N C Scruby(1);
• 22008 Sergeant A J Turner;
• 8179 Corporal J Mason;
• 30292 Private G Ruggles;
• 23499 Private G A Holdom;
• 40629 Private C Cooper

The 8th Battalion are in the trenches at Fifteen Ravine near Gouzeaucourt. In the last hour they have, however, been moving forward to the front line. The adjutant was somewhat terse in his telegram but did mention seeing “scores of tanks”.

Sources: X550/5/3; X550/9/1

(1) Sergeant Norman Scruby MM died on 27th April 1921 aged 34, presumably of wounds

Ninety First Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Monday 29th October 1917

The 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is about to enter the fray here at Ypres. The adjutant has wired to tell us that it moved up to the front line this afternoon, about a mile south-east of Poelcapelle and expects to attack at dawn.

2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, is at Chinese Wall, behind the lines near Ypres. Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter Weston KCB, DOS, commander-in-chief of VIII Corps has presented medals at a parade just west of Wytschaete. Distinguished Conduct Medal ribbons were presented to Acting Sergeant F Selby and Sergeant P Compton while a Military Medal ribbon was presented to Private R Baggott(1)

.

6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is training at Westouter. Today one other rank was killed and four wounded when the enemy dropped a bomb from an aircraft. It exploded inside B Company Officers’ Mess and wounded Second Lieutenants B W Wright, A Waller, Artabor and J Blanksby.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/7/1

(1) Percy Compton would be killed on 21st September 1918 as a Company Sergeant Major, having no known grave he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial. 

Eighty Seventh Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Thursday 25th October 1917

The adjutant of the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, which is in support at Stirling Castle near Hooge, reports that they have been shelled at intervals throughout the day. A victim of this has been Second Lieutenant A E Croockewit who has been severely wounded and Second Lieutenant L J Hobson somewhat less so(1).

A number of men from the 6th Battalion have been awarded the Military Medal: Lance Corporal L Orpin, Lance Corporal F Lee, Lance Corporal R Grubb, Lance Corporal W Wright and Private B Smith.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/7/1

(1) Alexander Edward Croockewit died on 26th October and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, he was 31 and came from Dover [Kent] but had been educated at Bedford School. Hobson seems to have survived the war.

Seventy Fifth Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Saturday 13th October 1917

After the exertions yesterday we have all been waiting to see if the enemy tries any counter-attacks but none have so far developed. It has been very wet again with nearly half an inch of rain and temperatures of about 52 degrees(1).

It must be a good deal warmer in Palestine. We have heard that yesterday 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment went on a route-march near Gaza and then practised making an attack. The adjutant commented that everyone is expecting another attempt to take Gaza in the next few days or weeks(2). At five o’clock yesterday evening the General -Officer-Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Division, Major-General Sir Steuart W Hare, presented a Military Medal to Private Edgar Else.

Source: X550/6/8

(1) 11°C

(2) The Third Battle of Gaza would begin on 1st November and last two days.

Fifty First Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Wednesday 19th September 1917

Today the 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, has moved back from the front line near Klein Zillebeke to RE Farm, where it was inspected by the Brigadier. Later the Brigade Major of 112th Brigade addressed the Battalion as follows: "The Brigade Commander desires me to inform you that he was more than satisfied with the splendid turnout of your battalion on parade this morning. The cleanliness of every article of kit as well as the general turnout spoke well for the organisation within your battalion and was a credit to all concerned. It gave the Brigade Commander very great pleasure to see such a fine parade and he feels confident that in any possible offensive operations, your battalion will continue to show as it has in the past that good interior economy and organisation are half the battle."

The Battalion also heard today that 10551 Corporal S W Sawford has been awarded the Military Medal.

Sources: X550/7/1

Forty Ninth Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Monday 17th September 1917

Those cheery slackers, as the adjutant called them, the 7th Bedfords have been idling at the sea again today. This time, the other five officers and two hundred other ranks. Have enjoyed themselves at Dunkirk. One bar to the Military Medal and twenty nine other Military medals have been issued for bravery shown between 9th and 16th August. One of the recipients is Private George Deacon of 34 Turnpike Road, Husborne Crawley, known personally to your correspondent. George is a stolid but self-effacing man and played down his award as “being dished out with the rations”, others in his Battalion tell a different story.

34 Turnpike Road, Husborne Crawley

Here at Ypres the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions have gone into the line for the first time in this offensive, taking the place of 47th (1st/2nd London) Division. The replacement of this one division with new divisions suggests, to some of the older hands out here, that something special is being planned in this sector.

Source: X550/8/1

Medals and Gassing

Tuesday 24th July 1917

The adjutant of the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, tells me that three officers and three other ranks have been decorated. Military Crosses have been allotted to Captain H A W Pearse, Second Lieutenant P D Sisley and Second Lieutenant A S Trotter. Meanwhile 8721 Sergeant R T C Lansbury and 10055 Sergeant Puddiphatt have been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and 28207 Sergeant Sinclair a bar to his Military Medal(1).

Captain Pearse [X550/1/81]

The adjutant of the 1st/5th Battalion has wired to say that “gongs” have been handed out there, too. Nineteen Military Medals have been given to members of the recent raiding party at Umbrella Hill, sixteen of them being members of the Bedfords.

Second Lieutenant Sisley [X550/1/82]

Yesterday the 6th Battalion, in the front line near Kemmel, was gassed. Today there have been five more gas casualties as well as one man wounded and one killed by other means. Three officers have arrived as reinfocrements.

Source: X550/2/5; X550/6/8; X550/7/1

(1) Company Sergeant Major R T Lansbury DCM, MM would be killed in action on 20th July 1918. Sergeant J Sinclair DCM, MM would die near Ypres on 12th November 1917.

1st Battalion Awards

Saturday 14th July 1917

This afternoon Major-General R B Stephens, General Officer Commanding 5th Division, presented medal ribbons to the 1st Battalion for recent actions. Captain W S Chirnside was awarded a bar to his Military Cross for gallantry at la Coulotte on 23rd April. The following other ranks were awarded the Military Medal for their actions at Oppy on 29th June: 7175 Sergeant A Faulder (a bar to his Military Medal); 43038 Private F Dighton; 20337 Private W Clarke; 10196 Sergeant H Hill; 430239 Private L King; 10238 Sergeant D Stone; 8311 Sergeant M Norman; 8253 Corporal G.Flott (since promoted to Sergeant); 10667 Private J W Houston.

The following were presented with parchment cards by General Stephens for gallant conduct: 10052 Sergeant G E Neale; 17425 Lance Corporal Cox; 12365 Lance Corporal Price; 20374 Sergeant C Humphries(1)

Source: X550/2/5

(1) Sergeant George Edward Neale would die on 6th November 1918; Corporal A Cox would die on 23rd October 1918

Comparing Arras with the Somme

Second Lieutenant Aldridge [X550/1/81]

Sunday 1st July 1917

Today marks the first anniversary of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme in which our local battalions distinguished themselves. One of those Battalions was 2nd Battalion which was to the fore in attacks on Trônes Wood and Guillemont in July and at Gird Trench in October.

The Battalion is currently at English Wood behind the lines near Ypres. The adjutant mentioned to me today that 9675 Lance-Sergeant G Wilson, now attached to to 33rd Trench Mortar Battery, has been awarded the Military Medal and three men have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal - 5846 Lance-Sergeant F Selby and 6095 Private J Harris, the third recipient is more unusual - 6229 Company Sergeant Major A F Aldridge who has now been promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Battalion.

Chatting with fellow correspondents the subject of the Somme was raised and it was compared with the recent Battle of Arras. Though the Somme was longer and so bloodier, memory fades and the more recent fatalities are fresher in our minds. We reckoned that the recent battle was, at times, more ferocious than the Somme and the fighting, perhaps, harder, which probably shows that the enemy are more desperate and their position more perilous(1)

Source: X550/3/WD

(1) There were roughly 420,000 British and Imperial casualties on the Somme spread over 141 days, an average of 2,978 per day. At Arras 158,000 casualties were spread over 38 days, an average of 4,150 per day. The forthcoming Third Battle of Ypres would see 260,000 casualties over 103 days, an average of 2,525 per day, thus suggesting that the somewhat forgotten Battle of Arras, wedged as it is between the Somme and Passchendaele was by far the worst in terms of the actual fighting.

6th Battalion News

Saturday 30th June 1917

6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, is currently the battalion in divisional reserve at Kemmel south of Ypres. During the month their strength has been augmented significantly, from 709 other ranks to 935. The reinforcements make good the casualties suffered in April at Monchy-le-Preux and Greenland Hill when the regiment was reduced to less than sixty unwounded men

During the past month a number of decorations have been received. Five Military Crosses, two Distinguished Conduct Medals, one bar to a Military Medal and twenty-one Military Medals all attest to the gallantry shown in the attacks in April and the raid on 26th May. As June has been spent resting and training there have been no casualties.  

Source: X550/7/1

A Raid by 2nd Battalion

Tuesday 5th June 1917

The adjutant of 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, informed me of a raid the Battalion undertook from 1.30 this morning on enemy positions at Observatory Ridge near Ypres marked on the map above. The object was to secure identification of the enemy units.

Second Lieutenant K C J Jones [X550/1/82]

The raid was undertaken by Second Lieutenant K C J Jones and twenty-four other ranks. The adjutant remarked: “The raid was quite successful, the party leaving our Trenches at 1.30 a.m. and returning at 1.37 a.m. with one prisoner, an N.C.O. of No.5 Company, 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment, of 119th Division. His name was Neumann”. In the operation four men were wounded, only one of them seriously. As a reward Second Lieutenant Jones and two of his men, 33034 Corporal C Jeeves and 202669 Private H Medcraft were awarded ten days’ leave in England. In addition Jones is to receive the Military Cross, Jeeves and 9214 Acting Lance Corporal H Preston the Military Medal(1).

Source: X550/3/WD

(1) Harry Morris Medcraft, aged 24, from 19 Saint Leonard’s Avenue, Bedford, would be killed on 23rd June and is buried at Dickebusch New Military Cemetery Extension

8th Battalion Decorations

Lieutenant Holbrook

Saturday 23rd December 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

The adjutant of the 8th Battalion told me this morning that the Corps Commander presented Military Cross ribbons to Captain J E Black, Royal Army Medical Corps, the Medical Officer and Lieutenant W J Holbrook. He also presented Military Medal ribbons to Privates Aston, Nottingham and Thurgrove.

Source: X550/9/1

Where is Montenegro?

Second Lieutenant Norrish

Sunday 17th December 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

One of our allies in this war is the little known Kingdom of Montegenro in the Balkans(1). Little known it may be but it knows of our struggles in France. The adjutant of the 1st Battalion told me on the telephone this morning that a number of Montenegran orders and medals were dished out to deserving cases at a Church Parade in the Municipal Theatre at Béthune by General-Officer-Commanding 1st Army, Sir Henry Horne. Brigadier-General M Turner CB, commanding 15th Infantry Brigade received the Order of Danilo 2nd Class.

Perhaps of more interest to the Battalion was the issue of the Distinguished Service Medal to Private H W Fish, late of the 7th Bedfords and of the Military Cross to Second Lieutenant S Norrish. In addition the Miliary Medal has been given to Corporal McHugh and Private Cross.

Source: X550/2/5

More Decorations for the Second Battalion

Saturday 9th December 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

The 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is once more in the front line just north of the Somme battlefield at Berles-au-Bois. Your correspondent managed to catch a lift in a supply lorry and paid them a visit this morning. It has been a wet, miserable day and I saw at first hand the sloppy mess the rear trenches have become and assume that the same is true in the front line.

At Battalion Headquarters, in one of the reserve trenches I was given the good news that more men have been honoured for the gallantry they displayed at times during the year. The men honoured with the Military Medal are:

• 9009 Company Quarter Master Sergeant H Maidment
• 9606 Sergeant R Foster
• 9544 Sergeant E Pepper
• 9283 Sergeant J Wheeler
• 6891 Sergeant G Grant
• 8838 Sergeant A Laycock
• 7414 Lance Corporal H Hayes
• 16498 Private F Excell
• 19575 Private S Godsall
• 10181 Private G Scrivener

Sergeant Wheeler and Sergeant Grant were both wounded during the Somme battles. The awards to Sergeant Laycock and Lance Corporal Hayes are particularly poignant. The former was killed in action on 29th June, visiting Lewis gun sections in the front line and the latter died on 13th October of wounds received in the attack on Gird Trench near Eaucourt-l’Abbaye the previous day(1)

Source: X550/3/wd

(1) Sergeant Laycock is buried at Cérisy-Gailly Military Cemetery and Lance Corporal Hayes at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-l’Abbé

Decorations for the Seventh Bedfords

Thursday 30th November 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Captain Bridcutt tells me that some offciers and men of the 7th Bedfords have received decorations for their actions on the Somme. The following officers have received the Military Cross:

• Captain L H Keep
• Captain W J W Colley
• Lieut. D S H Keep
• Captain J W Turner of the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Battalion’s Medical Officer
• Second Lieutenant H A Reaney

These men have received the Distinguished Conduct Medal:

• 3/8402 Regimental Sergeant Major F Antliffe
• 16176 Company Sergeant Major R M Brand
• 6466 Company Sergeant Major Charles Hall
• 43340 Sergeant A Wyatt
• 15080 Lance Corporal W Harris
• 16540 Private G Goldhawk

The following men have received the Military Medal:

• 14626 Lance Sergeant A Turville
• 15318 Private A Pratt
• 17423 Private W Crawley

Source: X550/8/1

Second Battalion Decorations

Tuesday 21st November 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

The adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, at Berles-au-Bois just north of the Somme battlefield, has reported that the following men have received the Military Medal:

• 5846 Lance Sergeant F Selby (a bar to his existing MM)
• 9509 Sergeant J Allen
• 9138 Lance Corporal G Eley(1)
• 18589 Lance Corporal T Pearce(2)

(1) Lance Corporal George Eley died of wounds on 9th April 1917 and is buried at Bucquoy Road Cemetery, Ficheux

(2) Private Thomas Pearce was killed in action on 23rd October 1918 and is also buried at Bucquoy Road Cemetery

Casualties and Awards

Sunday 19th November 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today the battlefield on the Somme is as quiet as we have heard it during the last five months or more. There is no sustained barrage anywhere that we can hear, just occasional muffled reports from rifles or the occasional chatter of machine guns, brief and widely spaced. There is a rumour in the army that the bad weather and the approach of winter mean that the battle is likely to have come to an end, probably to be taken up again in the Spring.

Readers might be interested in news from 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, which exemplifies a battalion’s tour in the front line when no attack is made. The adjutant, Captain Bridcutt, has sent me a list of named of those who have become casualties in the last few days:

• 28991 Lance Corporal Robert Dungay, A Company, killed 16-11-16;
• 15760 Private Arthur Turney, A Company, killed 16-11-16
• 40532 Private Walter Ward, A Company, killed 16-11-16
• 40506 Private Frederick Charles Osborne, A Company, killed 16-11-16
• 40508 Private Herbert William Thompson, A Company, killed 16-11-16
• 40535 Private Amos Hickmore, B Company, killed 16-11-16
• 16524 Private Nathan Cain, C Company, killed 15-11-16
• 29774 Private Herbert Rolfe Halls, C Company, killed 14-11-16
• 43309 Private Robert Marshall Johnson, C Company, died of wounds 15-11-16
• 27348 Private William Charles Pitts, B Company, missing 16-11-16
• 29786 Private J W Moore, A Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 28039 Private H Fuller, A Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 28084 Private Herbert Eric Berry, A Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 40501 Private J B Saunders, A Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 40519 Private F A Ovenden, A Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 14135 Corporal W Dean, B Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 10034 Private J Hammond, B Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 26234 Private G Bottomley, B Company, wounded 16-11-16
• 29793 Private G S Parker, C Company, wounded 15-11-16
• 18255 Private W G Ellis, C Company, wounded 15-11-16
• 29859 Private W North, C Company, wounded 15-11-16
• 15491 Private A Miles, C Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 4366 Private F H Hughes, C Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 27855 Private T Swain, C Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 3/8636 Lance Corporal J Holmes, D Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 3/7661 Lance Corporal R Smith, D Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 27627 Lance Corporal M Skevington, D Company, wounded 13-11-16
• 13581 Private A Dillingham, D Company, wounded 13-11-16
• 14854 Private W Hargford, D Company, wounded 17-11-16
• 29772 Private C Selsby, D Company, wounded 14-11-16
• still at duty Second Lieutenant L E Taylor, C Company, wounded 14-11-16
• 29796 Private Bertie Redding, killed, 15-11-16, C Company

The adjutant also tells me that the following mken have been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry:

• 15400 Company Quarter Master Sergeant A Fountain
• 12827 Private B F Silsby
• 15198 Private A Chandler
• 18176 Company Sergeant Major R M Brand
• 17642 Lance Corporal G S Clarke
• 15333 Pte G B Fuller

Day One Hundred and Nineteen on the Somme

Friday 27th October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

The adjutant of the 2nd Bedfords tells me that they are now in billets in the village of Mondicourt, well behind the lines. A draft of ten other ranks has joined them today. He also reported that Lance Corporal A Trowbridge has been awarded the Military Medal.

Source: X550/3/wd