1st Bedfords' Attack and Raid

Saturday 20th July 1918

At midnight last night the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in the front line north-west of Merville, undertook an attack and raid. Your correspondent was somewhat surprised at this nomenclature, after all what is the difference? The difference was explained by the adjutant. The attack was designed to drive the enemy back from the positions he held whilst the simultaneous raid was designed to seize prisoners.

On asking the adjutant the result of both operations he was quite candid. "It was a complete failure", in other words, no prisoners were taken. The attack, on the other hand, was quite a success. The enemy trenches, marked in purple on the map shown above, lay on the other side of a stream called the Platebecque but the enemy had manned the line of the stream and the aim of the attack was to drive him back to his own trenches, which was carried out. In part the success of the attack was the undoing of the raid, because the Germans bolted from their position along the stream so quickly that there was no time to take prisoners.

During this action the adjutant reckoned that the Bedfords lost lone officer killed and one wounded, three other ranks killed, two missing, believed killed, and ten wounded.

Source: X550/2/5