3rd/5th Bedfords at Windsor

Windsor Great Park by Martin Morgenstern

Sunday 29^th August: The following is from one of the Battalion members: “This Battalion, which, it will be remembered, was formed as a result of the Recruiting March held last June under the aegis of Major Orlebar, who is now in command, is at present encamped at Bears Rail, Windsor Great Camp. We left Bedford on August 9th and after about two-and-a-half hours’ run were landed safe and sound at Windsor”.

“Our camp is situate about two-thirds of the way along the Long Drive, or as we call it, the “Three Mile Walk”. One end is crowned by a gigantic equestrian statue of King George III and our home; the other is graced by the towering walls of Windsor Castle, the home of our King George”.

“Our main purpose, of course, is to train and send out drafts to fill up those much regretted but unfortunately essential gaps that occur in our first line, the 1st/5th, now fighting hard out at Suvla in Gallipoli”.

“Tent life we find is very jolly, and a great change from the billet era of our previous existence. We are not without some of the luxuries of life either, as a maternal Government has arranged such items as shower baths and floor boards for our tents”.

“Members of the Royal Family constantly visit our lines, even HRH Prince of Wales, home on leave from the front(1). We have frequent calls from battle-planes which come careering madly round the Castle, over the Camp and away again before we have got the stiffness out of our necks”.

“While I think of it, we are all anxious that amongst our forthcoming recruits we should have some good footballers and cricketers; we’re keen to play and beat the Essex, Northants, Hertfords, RAMC(2), ASC(3) etc. who are all here in Camp with us, not to mention the Guards”.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 27th August 1915

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(1) The future Edward VIII, he joined the Grenadier Guards in August 1914 but was not allowed by Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, to serve in the front line. He still managed to win a Military Cross in 1916. This later made him popular amongst Great War veterans.

(2) Royal Army Medical Corps

(3) Army Service Corps

2nd Battalion at Aubers Ridge

Monday 10th May 1915: We understand from the adjutant that the 2nd Bedfords, in reserve for the attack on Aubers yesterday are under orders from IV Corps commander, General Rawlinson, to move at short notice. Yesterday’s attacks by 1st and 8th Divisions and the Meerut Division of the Indian Army were not all that had been hoped. We believe that the southern attack has not made progress and has cost many lives because, if scattered reports reaching us are to be believed, the artillery failed to cut the German barbed wire in front of their trenches or do much damage to the machine-gunners who were giving our units casualties even as they climbed out of their trenches.

The attack from the north, which 2nd Bedfords were to exploit if successful, was undertaken by 8th Division. It met with more success as no man’s land at this point was quite narrow though many British guns seemed to drop their shells short, on our own front line and our men going forward. We believe that some of the 8th Division captured parts of the German front line. It is disappointing to learn that those men who had reached the German front line have been ordered to withdraw as they cannot be supported.

It looks as if both attacks have met with less success than was desired. Following the success at Neuve-Chapelle in March this must be disappointing to our men and their commanders. Nevertheless, it is understood that the French have captured Vimy Ridge to the south so perhaps the sacrifice of our boys helped in this effort by diverting German reinforcements(2).

Any hope that more attacks today or tomorrow will snatch victory from the hands of frustration seems unlikely. The adjutant tells us that word in the trenches is that there is little or no artillery ammunition left and without artillery support any attack is doomed to failure. Thus, it seems, must end the Battle of Aubers Ridge(3).

Source: X550/2/wd

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(1)  1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment was in the first wave of the 1st Division attack and 2nd Battalion in the first wave of the 8th Division attack. 1st Battalion lost 560 dead and wounded, more than any other unit attacking that day. 2nd Battalion lost 426. Total British casualties were around 11,000.

(2)  The Battle of Aubers Ridge was a complete failure and seems to have had no bearing on French success, itself limited, further south.

(3)  British industry at this point in the war was just not geared up to produce the large number of shells necessary for large scale offensive operations. To make matters worse, Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener had ordered significant stockpiles of shells to be diverted for the forthcoming operations

Pig Sticking and the Hazards of Flying

Private Harry Parker

Saturday 13th February 1915: Private Harry Parker, currently serving with the 3rd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment at Languard Camp near Felixstowe has seen service overseas with the 1st Battalion. He has been speaking with one of our correspondents.

"I killed quite a number of Germans. At Ypres I was in two bayonet charges and at la Bassée in another one. At the latter place we were shelled out of the trenches  and although we made three charges to retake them we were not successful(1). Of course, such charges can be made only at night and you might be within a few feet of a German. It is bayonet for bayonet then and if you don't get your man he will have you!"

"As early as the retirement from Mons I got two slight wounds in the legs and more recently I was wounded in the hand at la Bassée in one battle about midnight. In addition to that I had got frost-bitten feet and had to be taken from the trench on a stretcher".

"We can never safely venture into the open to take German prisoners. If they show a white flag it means treachery more often than not. I saw from a distance the 'white flag business' played on the Northamptons. We were on their right and saw them cut up, but were too fully occupied ourselves to go to their assistance"(2).

"We cannot tell how the general thing is going on as we are limited to our own range of vision".

"Conditions now are a great deal better. At the first we had to stay in the trenches as long as 21 days at a time. But now only three days and three nights are necessary. That is quite bad enough when you are up to your knees in mud and water. A 'Jack Johnson' is like an iron foundry coming along!(3) The French howitzers seem quite as powerful. They are like tree trunks flying through the air".

"It is nothing unusual to see soldiers in their spare moments charging with bayonets the pigs in the farmyard. Once he is got to bay, the porker is stuck and a piece is sliced from it and cooked, the remainder being left. The peasants who are plucky enough to keep to their homes within the war zone sometimes walk around after the scraps".

"I saw an English airman chase a German and fetch him down and I have seen one of our own brought to the ground. The pilot and his passenger were dropping smoke bombs and revealing the enemy's position. The Germans fired on it and the aeroplane made a dive towards the earth. Just before it touched one of them fell out and the machine was soon one mass of flames".

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 5th March 1915

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(1) 13th October 1914.

(2) This may have been in late November 1914 when the 5th Division was in the line with the 8th Division, which included 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

(3) A 150mm shell which burst with a lot of black smoke, Johnson, an African American, was world heavyweight boxing champion.