More Attacks

Monday 29th April 1918

The composite battalion including 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment moved again this morning, to trenches south of Montreal Camp. They remained in these trenches from four o'clock this morning until about 9.30 when they moved forward by about six hundred yards. 

There has been heavy fighting all day between the Scherpenberg and Ypres. Word is that the enemy has been repulsed everywhere with heavy losses.

Source: X550/3/wd

Bombardment near Armentieres

Sunday 7th April 1918

Just before noon today the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment marched to Huddleston Camp near Ypres and took over two sections of the battle zone in case the next stage of the German attack takes place there. We are all still in the dark about where and when then next German onslaught will take place, we just all feel certain that they must try to deliver a knockout blow somewhere whilst they have numerical superiority and before the Americans arrive.

STOP PRESS: Just As I was about to file this short report news reached us that heavy artillery barrages are taking place to the north of us, between Armentieres and Festubert, where some of the great battles of 1915 took place. This may well answer the question of when the next enemy attack will take place and where.

Source: X550/3/wd

Straight to the Front Line

Lieutenant Hobbs [X550/1/81]

Tuesday 29th May 1917

Just after midnight 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, arrived by train at Ypres. They will have no rest, however, as tonight they are to go into the front line in front of the ruins of Zillebeke, south-east of Ypres. Lieutenant W Hobbs has taken over the duties of acting adjutant from Lieutenant L A L Fink.

Meanwhile, 1st Battalion, in billets, has been finding working parties and training. At 4 pm the commanding officer gave a lecture to all officers and non-commissioned officers on their duties. After tea there was a football match in which D Company took on the rest of the Battalion. The day was rounded off nicely by an open-air concert at 7.30.

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

News from the Battalions

Monday 28th May 1917

Yesterday, in Palestine, part of 1st/5th Battalion spent Whit Sunday by the sea. A and B Companies marched to the mouth of the Wadi Ghuzze and had an enjoyable time bathing in the Mediterranean. 2nd Battalion are now on their way to the ruins of Ypres by train from billets near Béthune. They will be billeted in the Infantry Barracks in the town with headquarters in the Ramparts

The 1st Battalion are at a concentration camp(1). Part of the battalion were out on working parties whilst the rest paraded for drill and other training from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm. After tea the final of the inter-platoon football match was held, being won by 13 Platoon of D Company.

Lieutenant Blanchard has been admitted to 15th Field Ambulance sick and Second Lieutenant Sharpin has taken over his duties as Transport Officer. The new adjutant is Lieutenant Millais, who has taken over from Second Lieutenant Kingdon, who has gone with five other ranks to XIII Corps Draft Training School where they will act as instructors. Finally the commanding officer, second-in-command and company commanders have attended a lecture at Écoivres on “Patrolling and Self-Defence”.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/3WD; X550/6/8

(1) simply meaning a camp where a number of units were concentrated, without any sinister meaning.

Military Cross for Conspicuous Bravery

Thursday 11th May 1916: The Old Boys of the Bedford Elementary Schools will be delighted to learn that one of their number, Regiment-Sergeant-Major Frederick Thurley, of the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was yesterday at Buckingham Palace, decorated by the King with the Military Cross, for good and conspicuous work during the First Battle of Ypres from October 18th to November 7th 1914. Sergeant-Major Thurley is a son of Sergeant F Thurley and Mrs Thurley of 18 Ampthill Street, Bedford and belongs to a very old Bedford Volunteer family. He was educated at the Ampthill Road Boys Elementary Schools, at Bedford, during the present headmastership of Mr J Baldwin and was for some time under the tuition of Mr Dan Price. Between fourteen and fifteen years ago, Thurley enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment and after the outbreak of war he went with his Regiment to France on October 4th 1914, where he was remained ever since. Sergeant-Major Thurley, who is of an unassuming nature, has always been a popular man with his comrades in the regiment and when it became known that he had been recommended for the Military Cross, he received the hearty congratulations of his many friends. Special leave was granted to Sergeant-Major Thurley this week and no one felt more proud of his visit to Buckingham Palace than his father and mother, both of whom accompanied him to the Palace gate and awaited his return after the decoration by His Majesty.

In order to avoid the small army of photographers outside the Palace, Thurley left by a side gate, where he rejoined his parents. They quickly returned to Saint Pancras Station and arrived at Bedford at 3.50 pm, when they were met by Mr Baldwin and several of Thurley’s old schoolmates and, needless to say, he received very warm congratulations.

As stated above, Sergeant-Major Thurley has several other members of his family serving their King and Country at the present time. His father, Sergeant F Thurley, is at present at Lowestoft acting as a Cook-Sergeant; he joined the Bedfordshire Rifles 34 years ago and has never left the Corps, which is now known as the 5th Bedfordshire Regiment (TF). Two of the latter’s sons are Private A Thurley and Stretcher-Bearer C Thurley, both of whom are in Egypt serving with the 1st/5th Beds Regiment.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 12th May 1916

Buried for Seven Days

Hockliffe about 1900 [Z1306/60/1]

Thursday 4th May 1916: Private W. Horley, a bomb thrower in the 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, is home convalescent. His is another hair-raising story resultant from the attack on the battalion on 19th April. He was in the trenches at Ypres when his trench was bombarded by the Germans and nearly demolished, a dug-out was shattered and several of his mates were buried. Horley, with others, removed the debris with their hands and got them out. One of them, a sergeant, was badly hurt, and as it was cold, Horley returned to the ruins to fetch his overcoat. At that moment a shell came over and finished the destruction of the dug-out and he was buried, pinned by the legs and wounded in the neck by shrapnel. The Germans took the trench and held it for two days, until it was retaken by then Bedfordshire Regiment and Shropshire Light Infantry. He endured this tomb for seven days when he was fortunate enough to attract the attention of a sergeant of the Buffs(1), who had him released. He was removed to the base hospital in a very exhausted condition and from thence brought to Saint John’s Wood Hospital, where he remained for four weeks. He is at home at Hockliffe on ten days’ leave and will then return to his regiment, with the hope of “getting his own back”. His confinement was really his salvation. Had he been in the trench when it fell he would have shared the fate of his comrades, who were either killed or taken prisoners

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 16th June 1916

(1) East Kent Regiment, 1st Battalion was in the same brigade as 8th Bedfords.

Keeping Up Morale

Ickwell maypole and war memorial

Monday 1st May 1916: Readers will remember that on 19th April the 8th Battalion lost part of their position on the canal bank near Ypres to a determined German attack, following a two hour bombardment, as it was reported at the time. The parts of the position which had been lost were retaken by another battalion two days later. The Battalion lost heavily in the attack and we have heard from one of the Battalion’s number, Private Archie Boness, from Biggleswade, who received a minor wound but is now back at the Front.

“We have been inspected by Sir Douglas Haig on 28th and also by the Army Corps Commander, who congratulated us on the Battalion’s steadiness and for holding on to the ground during recent operations. War, not half, and I wasn’t sorry to get a rest. They bombarded us all day and then came over at us, but they are no more forward for it. We are out of the trenches for a few days. It’s very hot here. They won’t want to waltz round the May-pole much at Ickwell if it’s like it is here”(1).

Source: Bedfordshire Times 12th May 1916

(1) Maypole dancing still takes place at Ickwell each May 1st. Archie Boness was killed in action on 15th September in a failed attack on the Quadrilateral near Morval on the Somme. He has no known grave.

8th Bedfords Suffer in a German Attack

20th April 1916: The toll of war has been particularly heavy latterly on the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.  They were manning front line trenches on the banks of the Ijser Canal near Ypres when the Germans began to bombard their position. After two hours of this the enemy attacked in force and gained a foothold in the Battalion’s trenches. Most of the position is still held and has been reinforced. Three officers – Captain Quilter, Second Lieutenant Cartwright and Second Lieutenant McMichael are reported killed, three more – Second Lieutenant Vipond, Second Lieutenant Player and Second Lieutenant Charles wounded and Second Lieutenant Squier is missing, presumed killed. 32 other ranks were killed, 97 are reported as missing believed killed and 65 are wounded(1). As the 8th Battalion has now been relieved it is hoped that a counterattack by another battalion will be successful in regaining the lost trenches(2).

We have heard details of the death of one of the men. Private Charles Ellingham from 25 Spring Place, Luton, was the youngest of six sons and his chum, Private J Bransome told us that the dug-out in which Private Ellingham was sheltering received a direct hit and was destroyed during the bombardment(3). In civilian life he was employed by sugar boilers Custance and Sons in Chapel Street.

Sources: X550/9/1; Luton News 11th May 1916

(1) In fact a considerable number of the 97 missing seem to have bene taken prisoner.

(2) 1st King’s Shropshire Light Infantry drove the Germans out of the Bedfords’ former trenches on 21st April.

(3) His body was never found and may still lie in the wrecked dug-out.

The Battles of Festubert and Ypres End

Saturday 29th May 1915: News from France is that the Battle of Festubert is at an end. General Rawlinson, commanding IV Corps, has called a halt to further attacks and is well pleased to have advanced by about a mile and a half and to have taken the village and held all gains in the course of the fortnight’s fighting. German counter-attacks now seem to have ended and so, presumably, the line will solidify at this point for the foreseeable future.

We understand from a source in high command that casualties have been severe, but an inevitable cost for such a victory. We understand that they break down as follows:

·       - 2nd Division (which includes 1st East Anglian Field Company, Royal Engineers): 582 killed; 3,845 wounded; 1,018 missing – total 5,445

·       - 7th Division (which includes 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment): 731 killed; 2,726 wounded; 666 missing – total 4,123

·     -  Meerut Division: 224 killed; 2,037 wounded; 260 missing – total 2,527

·     -  47th (2nd London) Division: 233 killed; 1,535 wounded; 597 missing – total 2,365

·     -  Canadian Division: 381 killed; 1,606 wounded; 217 missing – total 2,204

This gives a combined total of 2,151 killed, 11,749 wounded and 2,758 missing or 16,658 casualties in full. It is thought that the enemy have lost about 5,000 men including 800 prisoners-of-war.

The struggle around Ypres also seems to have ended. We have had our eyes fixed on Hill 60 where the 1st Bedfords fought so bravely but there have been German attacks in many places. Our forces hold a large salient, essentially a bulge like the mirror image of the letter C around the city of Ypres and the enemy has succeeded in pushing our lines back in places but nowhere have they achieved the coveted breakthrough. We seem to have suffered just under 60,000 casualties, our French allies about 18,000 and the Canadian troops, who then went on to fight at Festubert, around 6,000. It is believed that the enemy lost around 35,000 men(1).

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(1) Private Edward Warner of the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, would receive a posthumous Victoria Cross. Nine other VCs were awarded: Lance Sergeant D. W. Belcher (London Rifle Brigade); Captain E. D. Bellew (7th Battalion, British Columbia Regiment); Jemadar Mir Dast (55th Rifles, attached 57th Rifles, Ferozepore Brigade); Lance Corporal F. Fisher (13th Battalion, Royal Highlanders of Canada); Company Sergeant Major F. W. Hall (8th Battalion, Winnipeg Rifles); Private J. Lynn (2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers); 2nd Lieutenant W. B. Rhodes-Moorhouse (2nd Squadron, Royal Flying Corps); Captain F. A. C. Scrimger (Canadian Army Medical Service and 14th Battalion, Royal Montreal Regiment) and Corporal I. Smith (1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment).

Things to Do with Rabbit Wire

Wednesday 7th April 1915: The adjutant of 1st Bedfords tells us that the enemy shelled Ypres at about 8.30 a.m. The first howitzer shell smashed up house next to the Battalion Headquarters, the second smashed a house on other side of the headquarters, breaking the H. Q.'s windows and other shells broke up houses in the neighbourhood causing considerable casualties. He also tells us that they have just received word they are to move today from 28th Division back to 5th Division command, moving back to Reningelst, to the south-west of Ypres.

Meanwhile we have heard that Brigadier-General H. E. Watts, commanding 21st Infantry Brigade wishes experiments carried out on the lines set out below and the men practised in the use of wire netting to get over barbed wire entanglements. The system of crossing barbed wire entanglements by means of rabbit wire is as follows: - rolls of wire netting are thrown across the obstacle and form a species of bridge over which the men following can cross. Experiments go to show that it is quite easy for men to cross in this way. The wire netting forms a convenient bridge over the space between the strands, on which the men can place their feet. To obtain the best result it is advisable that the wire should not be cut at all. It does not matter whether the wire is taut or slack.

The length of netting will vary according to the width of the obstacle to be crossed, and is limited by the amount one man can conveniently carry. Thirty feet has been found by experiment to be the maximum an average man can carry and throw into position. This length would enable a depth of eight yards to nine yards to be bridged. Each length or roll has a wooden post or stay at each end to which the wire is fastened. The wire is then rolled tight thus placing one stay in the centre and one at the outside. The most suitable netting is the standard size of two feet six inches or three feet wide, with a one inch mesh.

On reaching the obstacle, the man carrying the roll holds it with both hands - with one hand he holds the outer stay and with the other, with a motion somewhat similar to "putting the shot" or "bowling" heaves the roll over the obstacle. By holding the outer stay the roll is thus caused to unwind as it flies through the air. The actual throwing requires a certain amount of practice in order to ensure its unfolding completely and reaching the other side. The wire must be thrown between the posts. Once it has fallen on to the entanglement it will not be possible in the heat of action to alter its position owing to the barbs on the entanglement. Men must, therefore, be well practised in order that they can ensure throwing it accurately at the first attempt.

Its chief use appears to me to be crossing of secondary lines of entanglements behind the first line of trenches which may be encountered by the further advance, and against which an accurate artillery fire cannot be brought to bear. It would also be most useful in crossing the first line, should the artillery fail to cut this.

Source: X550/3/wd

A Sandy Soldier at Ypres

Sandy Market Place [Z1306/99]

Tuesday 30th March 1915: 7163 Private Oscar Emery of B Company, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment is currently with his unit in the front line near Ypres. He tells us: “We are now doing 60 hours in the trenches instead of 48. The trenches are fairly good There are some old houses just behind the firing line, knocked down by German shells and we have used some of the wood to lay at the bottom of the trench to walk on. The Germans are not very far from us, only 100 yards, and you have to be careful, or they will soon have you down, but we are protected from them by barbed wire”.

“I feel anxious to have my revenge for my poor brother Wales. For, as I am in this trench, I can see his grave in a wood(1). The weather continues to be fine. We have given up our fur coats, so we have not quite so much to carry, but we still have to carry a blanket, a water proof sheet, and a pair of jack boots. I will never mind going brusselling again if I live to get through this lot”.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 16th April 1915

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(1) Private Walter Emery was killed in action with the same battalion repulsing a German attack on 7th November 1914. His grave has since been lost and he is commemorated on the le Touret Memorial to the missing.

The Sims at War

The Sims Brothers

Sunday 28th March 1915: The photograph reproduced above is of the brothers Sims, sons of Mr Alfred and Mrs Laura Sims of Albert-street, Bedford. When the war broke out five brothers were members of or joined His Majesty’s Forces and one, First-Class Stoker Alfred Sims, went down with the “Hawke” in September(1).

The soldier on the left is Private Reginald Sims of the 1st Bedfords, who was shot through the base of the skull in the last great fight at Ypres. The centre figure is of Private James Sims, also of the 1st Bedfords, who, although only 19 years of age, has had good fortune to take part in all the battles that the Bedfords have been engaged in and has not been injured in any way(2). The figure on the left is of sapper Fred Sims of the East Anglian Royal Engineers, who was injured in the face and eye “Somewhere in France”. He went out with the 1st Field Company, and was the second on their list of casualties. He is a member of the Junior Unionist Association concert party, the other brother is sadler Horace Sims of the Bedfordshire Imperial Yeomanry.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 19th March 1915

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(1) He is commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial. HMS Hawke was a cruiser, launched in 1891 she was sunk by U-9 off Aberdeen on 15th October 1914, not September as the newspaper article states. U-9 was the u-boat responsible for sinking the Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy on 22nd September off the coast of Holland.

(2) This man is listed as Private Charles James Simms on the Commonwealth War Graves website. He died with the 1st Battalion on 14th March 1916 and is buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez. 

A Wymington Sergeant's Story

Sergeant Fuller

Wednesday 17th February 1915: Sergeant H. Fuller (New Wymington) of the Bedfords has paid a five days' visit home from the Front. In conversation with a newspaper representative he said "I ought to have hit a few Germans, but it is impossible to say. You see, there is no real fighting being done at present. The snipers are the only chaps very busy with the rifle now. It is impossible to get a move on as things are, on account of the bad condition of the roads. But just recently the weather has been very nice and we haven't hurt a bit. There is plenty of food, including fresh meat, which can now be brought right up to the trenches. Very few of the men seem to be suffering from colds or rheumatism".

"I left my billet which is about two miles from the firing line on Monday night and I arrived home on Tuesday evening. From this fact you will realise how near the Germans are to England, but in my opinion they have got about as near as they ever will get. When I came away, practically all that was taking place in the nature of fighting was artillery fire, and it has been like that for two months past. It has been almost impossible to engage in any other sort of military operations owing to the sodden state of the ground. Out there, there is mud enough and to spare. Before proceeding to the Front, I had seen two years' service in Pretoria, South Africa. I arrived in England about the middle of September and after two weeks in the New Forest, was sent straight to the Front with my Regiment. We landed at Zeebrugge in Belgium, which, as you know, is now in the occupation of the Germans. From Zeebrugge we went to  Bruges and from thence to 'Wipers' (Ypres). We saw this place before the Germans started dropping their shells into it and it was then a fine town but is now, I understand, a mass of ruins".

"The German gunners are destructive devils and will shell anything they see just for the sake of doing it. If they spot a barn they will not rest content until they have set fire to it".

"On one occasion I got the fragments of a shrapnel shell through my pack, which was on my back, and on another occasion a bullet passed through my cartridge belt and shattered five rounds of ammunition which were in the clip ready for insertion into my rifle magazine. Some of the bullets were carved out of the edge of the cartridges and the others were cut clean in two. Fortunately, none of the cartridges exploded, and so far I have come through with a whole skin, although I have seen chaps struck on either side of me".

"The men play football within the range of the enemy's guns. As a matter of fact a league has been formed in my division (the 7th) and league matches are being played. My regimental team has played a couple of matches. The first was a draw and the second was proceeding when I came away, so I shan't know the result until I get back"(1).

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 19th February 1915

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(1) 8420 Sergeant Herbert Fuller of 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in the Battle of Festubert on 16th May 1915 and has no known grave, being commemorated on the le Touret Memorial.

The Peacemakers

Sunday 14th February 1915: An officer of the 3rd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment has told us how his regiment acquired its name of The Peacemakers. It was in the early summer of 1815, the war with the Americans(1) having just been concluded that the regiment, then known as the Sixteenth, was ordered to return to Europe. Napoleon's overthrow at Waterloo occurred while the corps was on its voyage homewards. The Bedfordshire was the only regiment to join the victorious troops after Waterloo and remain until the conclusion of the peace. Hence the ironic nickname "Peacemakers".

In the present campaign the 1st Battalion of the Regiment has been through it all from Mons to Givenchy. Their brigadier(2), in a letter to the commanding officer said: "Only eye-witnesses could appreciate the dogged courage with which the battalion has not only faced the enemy at close range, but has sat tight under heavy shell fire and borne every sort of hardship - cold, wet, mud, serious losses, exhaustion, nerve strain and insufficient clothing - without a murmur. There is only one word to qualify the conduct of both officers and men - it has been magnificent and the Brigadier is proud of having the honour to command them".

In the first fortnight's fighting around Ypres the 2nd Battalion, a unit of the glorious 7th Division, had more than six hundred casualties and lost all its officers except three. At one time the Germans were no less than nine to one against them, and all the 2nd Battalion's original 1,100 that eventually came out of the firing line were one officer and three hundred men.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 12th March 1915

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(1) The so-called War of 1812 essentially a drawn conflict in which American invasions of Canada were defeated, the White House burned by British troops and Wellington's brother-in-law defeated at New Orleans after the official peace was signed but news had not yet reached the combatants.

(2) Count Gleichen

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.

Pause for Reflection

Wednesday 30th December 1914: As the year draws to a close it might be interesting to pause and think about this war and the direction in which it appears to be going. We seem to be locked into a stalemate in which neither the enemy nor ourselves can achieve a decisive breakthrough. We have two sets of fortifications winding over the face of western Europe from the North Sea to the Swiss border, neither of which can be penetrated. The optimism of summer, that the war would be over by Christmas, has given way to the winter realisation that this could be a long, slow, grinding conflict. Field Marshal Lord Kitchener himself has given his opinion, that the war may last for three years.

The last great European war was the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. In many ways it was similar to the wars of Napoleon, a war of manoeuvre, fought in the open, with decisive battles. This war seems a subterranean affair and battles seems to drag on for weeks, as we saw at Ypres in October and November, without a decisive result.

Some senior officers have shared their thoughts with us. They point out that trench systems, in depth, with second and third lines of defence, with the front line protected by barbed wire are reminiscent of the closing years of the great war between the states in America which lasted from 1861 to 1865. The final two years saw Union troops assaulting rebel positions with similar defences and, predictably, saw great loss of life for the attackers. Their eventual victory seems to have had as much to do with their weight of numbers (outnumbering their enemy by about two to one) and with the fact that their blockade starved their enemy of food and supplies.

We do not have weight of numbers on our side. The German army is somewhat larger than the French and our own forces are miniscule by comparison with both. It is true that the Russian army is vast, but Germany has Austria-Hungary as an ally, which makes up some of the difference and the officers to whom we spoke had a low opinion of the Russian army’s effectiveness as it is poorly equipped and poorly led. Until this country can bring the million men Lord Kitchener has called for into the field we will always be at a disadvantage. It is true that the Royal Navy has put an effective blockade in place but blockades take time for their effects to be felt – four years in the case of the conflict in America.

The officers with whom we spoke also pointed out three factors which mean that the nature of this war greatly favours defence over attack, as both we and the enemy have found to our cost. Firstly, the nature of the trench systems themselves; they are deep and extensive and men within them are relatively safe from bullet or shell. A shell might occasionally drop into a trench, though this is surprisingly rare, and at this point it will do great damage. However, the trenches are constructed in such a way as to negate blast from such an event, being zig-zags rather than straight lines, the blast being unable to go, with any real force, around corners so although the men in the immediate section of trench struck by the shell will be killed or incapacitated the blast will not affect men to any great distance either side.

Any attack made on a trench system must be made out in the open. Modern breach loading rifles mean that they can be fired extremely rapidly, causing many casualties in the attacking force. A new weapon, the machine gun, adds to the death toll in such attacks to an extraordinary degree. Such a weapon can fire around five hundred rounds per minute, twenty five times the rate of fire of even the most proficient rifleman, thus one machine gun is almost the equivalent of a platoon of ordinary soldiers. Finally artillery adds its destructiveness to the attackers. Shells burst in the air spraying shrapnel over a wide area killing may men with each burst and this, veterans tell us, even more than the machine gun, is the great killer.

Effective defences and the execution wrought by modern weapons are two of the factors which favour the defender in this war. The third is more difficult to understand but every bit as important. Again, we are indebted to the officers we have spoken to for pointing this out to us. Imagine a battle such as Waterloo, where, in 1815, the Duke of Wellington’s Anglo-Allied army finally defeated Napoleon. It was a large battle, the duke had some 68,000 men under his command and the front line extended over three miles or so. Battles such as those around Ypres have had several hundred thousand men, of differing nationalities spread over a front of ten miles or more. This makes it very difficult for the general officer commanding to co-ordinate attacks.

The Duke of Wellington had only to send a staff officer on a horse with orders to units which he could see from his command post and the order might take five or ten minutes to get there. In theory today communication is instant, via the telephone, although the commander is unlikely to see the unit to which he is giving orders. This will make his reaction time slower as subordinate commanders will have to ring and give a verbal description of their situation. In reality things are worse than this. Those to whom we speak tell us that telephone lines are almost always cut by shells. This leaves only two methods of communication between the front line and the general – by pigeon, which is uncertain at best, or by runner. Even the swiftest man would take a considerable time to run the distance to headquarters over good roads. Given that he will be navigating trench systems full of men, mostly going the other way (that is towards the action), as well as equipment and ammunition and the time he takes to reach his headquarters is magnified considerably. A message may take an hour or more to reach its recipient and the same time for orders to travel back. In this passage of time much may have happened, making the order, when it arrives, obsolete. The commander on the ground is then faced with two choices – to disobey a direct order in the face of the enemy, or to carry out an obsolete order which may have grave consequences for the men under his command.

It is, therefore, not surprising that this war shows no sign on being resolved quickly. Let us hope that 1915 will bring an end to it but, equally, we should probably all gird our loins for several more years of unremitting and deadly toil.

The Truth About the 1st Bedfords' Christmas

The Christmas Truce (from Wikipedia - men of the Royal Warwickshire and 134th Saxon regiments)

Monday 28th December 1914: Readers may remember that the colonel of the 1st Battalion neglected to report any fraternisation between his men and the enemy on Christmas Day, leading us to the assumption that there had been none. It appears we were mistaken. Sergeant Blundell has been in touch today and told us: "We were in the trenches all Christmas week and the weather was awful. On Christmas Day we had a lot of firing over us and shells too. All at once it ceased and I looked up and saw the Germans on top of their trenches shouting to us and asking us to meet them. All our Brigade (15th Infantry Brigade) went and we were talking to them for about two hours. They asked us not to fire that day and said they would not; and no firing was done until the next day and then we were fighting for all we were worth”.

Sergeant Blundell went on: “Times are very hard here. In the trenches we are up to our waists in water with shells bursting over us and no sleep. We keep on advancing and having to retire on account of fierce shelling. We should be relieved now by Kitchener's Army(1). I was in the battles of la Bassée and Ypres and the retirements and it was simply awful. My bayonet was stained more than once. I said my prayers! The Bedfords regained the trenches that other regiments had lost. They retired and we had to retire also. It was like hell upon earth. Then we rallied up and charged the Germans out of them and took a lot of prisoners but at what a loss! When we mustered up the next day we had lost about 76 in my company (A Company). I had some marvellous escapes". He is clearly referring to the events of the first part of November at Ypres.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 8th January 1915

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(1) The majority of these battalions landed in France in July 1915.

A Ghastly Wound

Wednesday 23rd December 1914: It is always interesting and informative to hear from our boys at the front, even if the news they relate might, at first glance, seem rather out of date. Private H. Clark of 332 Hitchin Road, Luton, a reservist who went to the front with 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is now in the London Hospital recovering from a terrible wound received near Ypres on 31st October. He writes us a letter which gives a remarkable instance of what a soldier can go through and live and though he is likely to be partially disabled for the rest of his life, he is quite cheery, says he is getting on well and sends wishes for a Merry Christmas.

With regard to his injury he says: “I got wounded with shrapnel. A piece of shrapnel cut clean through my shoulder and tore my side right open. I had to run and walk for a mile and a half and blood was pouring from me like a tap. I reached a barn and found some RAMC(1) chaps. They bandaged me up and I reached Ypres in a collapsed condition. I thought I was on the way to England, but the trainload of wounded was shelled by the Germans. I was transferred to the Duchess of Westminster’s War Hospital, France and a piece of shrapnel that nearly cost me my life was found embedded in my ribs, having torn my left lung. The doctor says it’s a miracle that I lived to go under an operation, as I was dangerously ill and almost bloodless. A nurse was sent to watch me and I had to have the foot of the bedstead tilted up to keep what little blood there was in my body(2). I am terribly torn open from hip to top of shoulder and the doctor fears I shall be partially disabled for the rest of my life. Though I have been in hospital six weeks I cannot lift my left arm and my side is still open, though considerably better. It will be a long time before I leave hospital and the doctors say they have never seen a case like it before”

The piece of shrapnel taken from Private Clark’s body is sent on to us for our inspection and it looks quite capable of inflicting a very ghastly wound. It will be a gruesome keepsake for the family. Referring to the dangerous nature of shell wounds Private Clark says: - “These pieces of shell are hot when they penetrate the body and cause blood poisoning, lock jaw and death in a very short time if not extracted”.

Source: Luton News 24th December 1914

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(1) Royal Army Medical Corps

(2) Blood transfusion was in its very early infancy and very far from being used in cases such as this.

The New 2nd Battalion Commander

Wednesday 18th November 1914: The 2nd Battalion, which lost its commanding officer on 31st October has a new one - Major William Henry Denne has replaced the temporary commander Captain C. B. Cumberlege.

The General Officer Commanding 7th Division, Major-General Thompson Capper, has praised the work of the battalion in the battles around Ypres at the end of October and since: "This battalion was in Brigade Reserve during the early days of the fighting round Ypres, but portions of it were continually called upon to move up under shell fire and occupy positions in the face of hostile rifle and machine gun fire. Steadiness and good leading were required and given and the Brigade Commander considers that the battalion behaved in a most gallant manner throughout a trying and arduous period. On the 29th October the battalion took part in a general counter-attack, advancing steadily and gallantly in spite of heavy enfilade artillery and rifle fire when its losses were heavy. On the 31st October the battalion made several counter-attacks and lost many officers and men, including the Commanding Officer and Second in Command".

Source: X550/3/wd; Bedfordshire Times 22nd January 1915

The 1st Battalion at Ypres

Sunday 15th November 1914: mercifully the adjutant of the 1st Battalion contacted us at first light. Whilst Lieutenant Pope and his men appear to have been captured the attack of the Prussian Guard seems to have been defeated. This is no small achievement for an ordinary county regiment like ours and the men must feel, whilst very tired, also very proud. Luckily, for all the heaviness of the fighting, only seven men seem to have been killed although, of course, many more are wounded.

Later today the adjutant of the Battalion has again contacted us. He reports that the day has been "fairly quiet". There have been "the usual bursts of rifle fire at intervals and constant intermittent shelling but only mild attacks at various parts of the line". Five more men have been killed today and seven wounded.

Source: X550/2/5