The Enemy Presses On

The situation this evening - the original front line is shown in black and the enemy gains in red


Saturday 23rd March 1918

This evening the situation must be faced that the enemy gained a good deal more ground today, including the town of Ham. Their advance, as the sketch map above shows, has brought them close to the towns of Bapaume and Peronne. If they reach Bapaume they will be less than twelve miles from Albert, the hub around which the Battle of the Somme revolved in 1916.

The 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment began this battle near Cambrai. They have been falling back steadily, and without fuss, so that this evening they are at the village of Ytres, on the main road from Cambrai to Combles. They are in reserve, nevertheless, the enemy is not far away, as proved by the death of Lieutenant W S Davis from shellfire and the loss of Second Lieutenant M A Kruger. He came up with the rations and then could not be found, it is assumed that an advance party of Germans caught him alone and took him prisoner(1).

The 2nd Battalion spent the night at Verlaines, south-west of Ham. At five o'clock this morning they stood to on hearing rifle and machine gun fire near Ham. 89th Brigade of their division were holding the town, but were driven back. The battalion forms part of 90th Brigade and helped to cover the withdrawal of 89th Brigade. Fortunately the enemy seemed content with taking Ham(2), so 89th Brigade went forward again and took up positions just east of Verlaines, facing Ham. Sadly, some of the 2nd Bedfords were involved in the defence of the town and there have been casualties.

The 7th Battalion, further south, managed to retake the railway bridge at Montagne near Jussy last evening. However, at 7 a.m. the enemy attacked again and managed to cross the Crozat Canal in boats on either side of the bridge. At 10 a.m., their flanks having been thus turned, the Battalion fell back to a ridge in front of the village of Faillouël. By 4 p.m., however, this position had also become untenable because high ground on the battalion's left flank had been taken by the enemy. The order was therefore given to fall back to high ground just west of the village

Having spoken with the officers of our local battalions involved in this attack it is clear that things are still very confused on the ground, no one knowing for sure where the enemy are from one moment to the next. It is also clear, however, that all remain determined to put a stop to this onslaught and reverse it.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/8/1

(1) Whatever happened, he seems to have survived the war.
(2) This may have been due to looting. There were accounts of German troops gorging themselves on food and guzzling wine when they took a substantial settlement. This meant no further advance that day. Such behaviour was not surprising - the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy was causing food shortages among the civilian population of Germany and even the soldiers at the front were affected.

Patrols to See if the Enemy are Retiring

The area patrolled by the 2nd Battalion - Jeffrey Trench shown in red, Jeffrey Support Trench in yellow and Jeffrey Reserve Trench in blue. The objective for B Company is the trench line immediately north of Jeffrey Support Trench and continuing it north-east

Saturday 28th July 1917

Last evening, 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in the front line east of Zillebeke received a report that the enemy was evacuating his front line trenches north of Ypres. Accordingly, at half-past midnight this morning two strong patrols were ordered to go out and reconnoitre the enemy's front line to ascertain if they were withdrawing on the front opposite the Battalion.

Lieutenant Jacob [X550/1/81]

Patrols from A and B Companies went out. A Company patrol, under Lieutenant G R Jacob, was 3 officers, 14 non-commissioned officers and 43 men. Each man carried two bombs and 220 rounds of small arms ammunition. Nearly all men had shovels and two boxes of bombs were sent to the second line to be carried up as a Company Reserve. The Company went out into No Man’s Land under their platoon sergeants.

Second Lieutenant Collins [X550/1/81]

Jeffrey Trench was safely reached and men came back with the message that it was clear. On this supposition Second Lieutenant I T M Collins and three men were sent out to link up with them and move on to Jeffrey Reserve Trench. He sent back a runner with a message. The runner was wounded and lost the message. All the other patrols in Jeffrey Trench came back without orders and it is assumed that Second Lieutenant Collins is left now with two men somewhere in front of Jeffrey Trench(1).

Captain Holbrook [X550/1/81]

B Company patrol under Captain W J Holbrook consisted of one other officer and forty other ranks with the intention of occupying the enemy line as shown above. With this party were two Lewis Gun Teams. The sentry on duty in an advanced sap reported six Very lights fired from 11 pm to midnight from the enemy’s first line, second line, and also behind the ridge, this was confirmed by Captain Holbrook’s own observation.

He despatched immediately a patrol of five men. On returning they reported having reached enemy wire wire roughly at the spot marked on the map by a pink cross. A Very Light was put up and several forms were seen moving in the trench. They were this time lying on the parapet. As only half of the party returned Captain Holbrook sent out a second patrol to find the remainder. Both parties however returned individually but their reports were identical, additionally one party heard mumbling in the enemy front line and movement on their duck boards. The other party was sniped at on their way back.

At 1.15 a.m. British artillery shelled the enemy’s front line system and fifteen minutes later machine guns fired into No Man’s Land. At 1.45 the battalion on the left of the Bedfords reported that none of them had gone over from their front and said the enemy was still there. At 2 a.m. the enemy traversed the whole of Captain Holbrook’s front line some few times with machine-guns so he dedcided not to go forward.

At 2.30 a.m., however, he sent out two patrols each of five men, with instructions to establish themselves in the enemy's front line. Both parties going to different parts of the trench reported they were fired on by machine-guns and rifles. Captain Holbrook got into touch with the Trench Mortar Officer who arranged to put a barrage on the enemy system from 5 a.m. to 5.15 a.m. This he did, and at 5.15 a.m. our own Artillery barrage opened. The enemy then opened heavy artillery fire on the front line system combined with machine-gun and rifle fire.

Captain Holbrook told me on the telephone: “I did not consider it advisable for a party to leave the trench until 5.35 a.m. when matters had eased somewhat. This they did under cover of smoke and dust and got through the wire and on to Bosche parapet. A sentry on their left immediately shot at them, shouted, and our patrol heard answering shouts in the near neighbourhood. They retired and reached our front line without casualties”.

So it seems the enemy is not making any retrograde movement.

Yesterday 1st/5th Battalion in Palestine carried out another raid on Umbrella Hill. We are still awaiting details.

Source: X550/3/WD

(1) He seems to have been taken prisoner, at any rate he is not listed as dead by Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

More About Planning the Umbrella Hill Raid

Map of Umbrella Hill from The History of the Fifth Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment

Thursday 19th July 1917

The intention in the raid on Umbrella Hill to be carried out by 1st/5th Bedfords is, as usual with such raids, to kill and capture as many of the enemy as possible and capture or destroy as much of their material as can be achieved in the limited time available.

Captain Maier

The personnel forming the party will be: one officer and twelve other ranks from 484th Field Company, Royal Engineers; sixteen officers and 511 other ranks of the Bedfords under Captain H S Armstrong and a stretcher-bearer sub-division of 2nd/1st East Anglian Field Ambulance. Of the Bedfords, five officers and 231 other ranks will be the raiders, Captain E T Maier, two other officers and 134 men will be in support and the rest, under Captain C H Miskin will be in reserve.

Captain Miskin

The amounts of ammunition have been carefully calculated, for example: the raiders will carry 736 Mills bombs and the support troops 120 more, in horses nose-bags each containing fifteen grenades, with 184 in the reserve section. The raiders will have 27 wire-cutters, 4 picks and 22 bill-hooks. There will be four stretchers taken with the raiders, eight with the support troops and sixteen in reserve.

All ranks will wear jackets, shorts and puttees. Helmets (with chin straps down) will also be worn as will equipment but without pack, haversack, waterbottle or entrenching tool and handle. Each man will carry 120 rounds of small arms ammunition and each Lewis gun team will; have twelve full drums. Bayonets will be fixed by all at the place of assembly (except men who are ordered to have rifles slung). Two sandbags will be carried on each man’s belt. All possible marks of identification will be removed (including both identity discs). No papers, letters, envelopes or notes of any sort are to be carried on the person.

All ranks will wear a white armlet three inches wide, securely fastened on each arm. These armlets will be numbered consecutively in indelible pencil and registered with the regimental number rank and name of the wearer, in a special roll to be prepared beforehand and kept at the place of assembly by Company Sergeant Major Lewsey and four men of A Company.

The Raiders will carry with them white name boards with clear black lettering in accordance with the tracing of Turkish position issued. The boards will be placed under careful supervision as the position is captured to assist all ranks in finding their way about the enemy position. Similar boards are also be used in the replica of the position during rehearsals.It has been carefully explained to all ranks that while every care has to be taken to construct correctly the replica of the position used during regearsals - there may be certain points in which it is not quite accurate, also the contour of the ground on which it is situated is known to be different.

The raiders are being carefully taught that they must keep right up to the artillery barrage which will precede them, like a creeping barrage so often used with success on the Western Front. Such an operation is almost unknown here and the men have been told that it is quite safe to keep within one hundred yards of the exploding shells and to get to such a point that our shrapnel bursts immediately overhead. The success of the whole operation depends on the raiders dashing into the enemy trenches as the barrage lifts, and before the enemy has time to recover from it. The raid is expected to take thirty-five minutes

A warning has been issued to all ranks: the enemy's line lies to the east and that our line lies to the west. The men are to be tested to see that they know how to find their direction by the stars. Every man is to be warned if inadvertantly he should be taken prisoner by the enemy he is obliged to give his Regimental Number, Rank, Name and Regiment. All ranks are also to be cautioned not to take any notice of any order shouted out or whistle blown unless they are absolutely sure that it is given by one of our own side, who, from his position, is entitled to give it, and that it is meant for them.

Source: X550/6/8

Trials of the 8th Battalion

Thursday 26th April 1917

The adjutant of the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in the front line near Loos, has been in contact again today. The battalion as a matter of course, sends out regular patrols during the night to check its own wire entanglements and the approaches to its own front line. At 11.0 p.m. last night a hostile patrol slipped through a large gap on the Bedfords’ front immediately after the place had been patrolled.

The enemy bombed one of the Battalion’s posts in front of their front-line trench. This caused several casualties. The enemy also took away one man as a prisoner.

Source: X550/9/1

Another 8th Bedford a Prisoner

Monday 12th June 1916: Following their big fight with the enemy two months ago we have been steadily hearing of more members of the 8th Battalion turning up in prisoner of war camps. The latest is Private J T Chandler. Aged 19, he is the only son of of Mr F Chandler of Toseland and is cousin to Private Mitchell of Everton. Previous to enlisting Private Chandler was employed by Mr Alfred Main, farmer, of Toseland Manor. He was, in the words of his employer, a conscientious workman and in the village was greatly respected for his upright character. He enlisted in the Bedfords in September 1915 and joined the 8th Battalion in France on February 25th 1916. After the big fight on April 9th he was officially reported as killed, but later he wrote home stating that he was a prisoner of war at Giesen Camp, Germany.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle 30th June 1916

More Uncertainty for Parents of 8th Bedfordshire Regiment Soldiers

Wednesday 24th May 1916: Following on from yesterday’s article about John Marlow we hear today about Mr and Mrs George Burr of Holwell [Hertfordshire] who are naturally very anxious as to the fate of two of their sons – Private Stanley Thomas Burr, aged 20 and Hedley Burr, aged 19, both of the Bedfordshire Regiment – whom the War Office have reported as missing since the gallant charge on 19th April by the Bedfords. A noble record of sacrifice is that of the Burr family. There are six sons in the Army, and in addition to the two who are missing, two others are at the Front – Sidney, Army Veterinary Corps, aged 21 and Alfred William, aged 17, who is also in the Bedfordshire Regiment. Two other sons are in England – Sergeant Herbert Burr, aged 26, who is married and an instructor at Ramsey and Arthur, aged 23, who is in the Herts Yeomanry. The sons worked for Mr Henry Gurney, farmer, the father still being in Mr Gurney’s employ(1)

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 19th May 1916

(1) Stanley Thomas was killed in action on 20th April 1916, presumably as the fighting after the German attack on the evening of 19th was coming to an end. Hedley seems to have been taken prisoner as he died on 14th November 1918 (three days after the Armistice) and is buried at Cologne Southern Cemetery. Their army numbers were, respectively, 22017 and 22013.

Dreadful Conditions in a Prisoner-of-War Camp

Wittenberg market square by Leon Petrosyan 

Tuesday 28th March 1916: Biggleswade’s Private Albert Freeman of the 1st Bedfords is languishing in a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany at a place called Wittenberg. A recent report has made it clear that this may be the worst camp in Germany. The report tells of 15,000 prisoners being herded together in a 10½ acres confine(1). There were English, French and Russian. The latter had the seeds of typhus in them, but the ‘Germhuns’ ordered that the prisoners be mixed together and a terrible epidemic was the result.

The report in The Times states that washing facilities were very basic, one cupful of soft soap being allocated to every 120 men. When the typhus epidemic broke out all the German medical staff fled the camp. A British doctor ordered to the camp by the Germans in February says that there were no mattresses, sick men being carried on tables the men ate from which could not be washed as there was no soap. Even healthier men lost limbs to gangrene due to lack of socks.

We understand that the German Chief Medical Officer in charge of the camp, Dr. Aschenbach, routinely spoke of “English swine” and that when the dead were carried out the cultured people of Wittenberg were allowed to jeer at the coffins.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle 21st April 1916

(1) Roughly six football pitches giving a density of 2,500 men per pitch.

How The Luton News Helped a Soldier’s Family

William Brown 

Thursday 17th February 1916: Today’s edition of the Luton News carries an interesting story of how the paper helped the family of a missing soldier, which we copy in full: “The usefulness of the Luton News and Saturday Telegraph in locating “lost” relatives was brought to our notice the other day in a very human little story”.

“Lance Corporal William Brown, 9899, of the Bedfordshire Regiment, was mentioned in a casualty list and the War Office sent a notification the other week to Mr Frederick Charles Brown, who was understood to be living in Guildford-street, Luton. However, the letter was returned to the Record Office endorsed “Gone away”. Then the Army authorities requested the Luton police to find out where the brother had gone. Their efforts were fruitless and so they resorted to the papers mentioned and we inserted an account of the facts of the case. The result was that immediately several relatives of Lance Corporal Brown communicated with Chief Constable Tearle”.

“One of these is Mrs Groom, who is at present staying in North-street, Luton. Our representative interviewed Mrs Groom and she explained that the family belonged to Aspley Guise. Her brother, Mr Frederick Charles Brown, left Guildford-street some time ago, and being a Territorial in the East Anglian Royal Engineers was called up at the beginning of the war and is now in France”.

“Lance Corporal Brown has been with the 1st Bedfordshire Regiment for some years, and is 22 years of age. He went to the Front with the 1st Bedfordshire Regiment  and a year last October they heard he was missing and then that he was wounded and a prisoner of war. Since then conflicting rumours have reached the relatives, who suffered great anxiety”.

“Mrs Groom wrote to the Record Office for the notification which was returned from Luton, and on Monday had a reply from the Record Office stating that Lance Corporal Brown is a prisoner of war at Gardelegen, Germany, and promising to communicate any further information”.

Source: Luton News 17th February 1916

Battle in Mid-Air

BE2c

Tuesday 8th February 1916: Lieutenant-Observer J E P Harvey, an officer of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry, attached to the Royal Flying Corps who was recently captured by the Germans, has sent the following description of a battle in mid-air and how he was treated on capture.

“I had had a fight with two German aeroplanes when a shell burst very close to us and I heard a large piece whizz past my head. Then the aeroplane started to come down head first, spinning all the time. We must have dropped about 5,000 feet in about twenty seconds. I looked round at once saw poor -, with a terrible wound in his head, dead. I then realised that the only chance of saving my life was to step over into his seat and sit on his lap, where I could reach the controls(1). I managed to get the machine out of the terrible death-plunge, switched off the engine and made a good landing on terra firma”.

“I shall never forget it as long as I live. The shock was so great that I could hardly remember a single thing of my former life for two days. Now I am getting better and my mind is practically normal again. We were 10,000 feet up when poor – was killed and luckily it was this tremendous height that gave me time to think and to act”.

“I met one of the pilots of the German machines that had attacked us. He could speak English well and we shook hands. I had brought down his machine with my with my machine gun and he had had to land quite close to where I landed. He had a bullet through his radiator and petrol tank but neither he nor his observer was touched. I met two German officers who knew several people I knew and they were most awfully kind to me. They gave me a very good dinner of champagne and oysters etc. and I was treated like an honoured guest”.

(1) The pilot sitting behind the observer suggests it was an aircraft similar to a BE2.