East Anglian Signals in Gallipoli

Scenery near Suvla Bay 

Monday 13th September 1915: Sapper R Gardner from Bromham, who is in the 54th Divisional Signal Company(1) at Gallipoli has contacted us: “After waiting  a year, the East Anglian Signal Company, from Bedford, under Captain Randall, Royal Engineers, have got on active service. We are somewhere on the Gallipoli Peninsula. We landed here after being on the ship three weeks. Our ship was shelled as we were disembarking and was hit once on the deck while other shells fell unpleasantly near. It was no light task to land men, horses, mules and wagons on the lighters, thence on to land. Three of our men were hit, but none seriously. Shells burst near us frequently but snipers seem to be the chief danger. We are well fed, quite a change from the conditions aboard ship, which were far from pleasant”.

“The 5th Beds have been in action and, I hear, have done well, a good many casualties, though. As I write this our party is sitting in dug-outs in communication by telegraph with the trenches and Divisional Headquarters. Seven of us are here acting as linesmen and operators. All water has to be brought ashore from ships, so has to be used very sparingly; cannot get a wash unless we can get to the sea which is two or three miles away”.

“We are longing for news of England and the war, as we have had no mail since we left England a month ago now. We hear all sorts of rumours about the war; one that there has been a big battle in North Sea(2). Any papers will be welcome”.

“The conditions here are not so bad considering the circumstances. The weather is trying in the day time but pleasant at night. Scrubby trees and plants are the only vegetation and species of holly and berberis. There are also some sedums. Everywhere very dry. There are some warships in the bay which are continually shelling some point on land. Our horses are not much good here, all our work being done on foot as there are no proper roads. We shall certainly have something to talk about when we come home again”.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 17th September 1915

---

(1) And thus serving in the same Division as 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.

(2) Untrue

Butlers, Fed-up Tommies and Prisoners

Clifton Road, Shefford [Z1306/101/5/3]

Thursday 1st July: A letter received by the Vicar of Bromham from Bombadier H Waller, Royal Horse Artillery, says: “I should like to tell you what a grand lot of fellows our County Regiment are. We have supported the (the 2nd Bedfords) from the awful days of October at Ypres up to now; they have always been picked for the most difficult work and have always covered themselves with glory”. Previous to mobilization Gunner Waller was butler to Mr. W. H. Allen of Bromham House

“Private A Breed, 1st Bedfords, writes home to Shefford: “I am longing for the time to come when I shall be able to come home Clifton Road, Shefford. I have had quite enough of it and so have all my chums. Still we are here to do our duty and our duty will be done. I think the Germans must be nearing the finish. They have tried all the fakes they can to kill us and to save their own men but it has not come off as they expected, They are now trying to blow us out of our trenches by coming under the ground, because they dare not come on the top to blow us out. But they are often caught napping in that, for we have got some good handy men. For my 23rd birthday I was in the trenches near the hill [Hill 60]. Still, I was glad to see it, for a good many men out here will never see another. It was this day the Germans tried to blow us up, but it did not take much effect on us, as they did not get far enough, though they tried hard. They exploded two mines, but no good – too short both times, although it killed two of our RE(1) men. It is very quiet here now. It seems as though there is no war on”.

Lieutenant Pope of the Bedfordshire Regiment is one of a number of officers who are prisoners of war at Danholm, a camp which consists of two small islands (connected by a bridge) between Stralsund and the island of Rugen in the Baltic. The British officers who are at this camp were sent there from Mainz about six weeks ago and are stated to find their island camp much more agreeable than their former quarters.

Of the Bedfordshire Regiment, 180 men are known to be prisoners-of-war in Germany. They are receiving fortnightly parcels of necessaries and comforts, provided by subscriptions, organised by a Bedfordshire Committee, of which Miss Gurney of Henlow is Honorary Secretary(2)

Source: Bedfordshire Times 9^th July 1915

---

(1) Royal Engineers

(2) The 1st Battalion had been at the front since August and the 2nd Battalion since October 1914 – a total of 22 months so about 8 men per battalion per month had become prisoner.

Bedfordshire Yeomanry at Olney

Saturday 26th June 1915: The first regiment of Bedfordshire Yeomanry having recently gone to the front, their comrades of the second line are now eagerly awaiting the time when they too will receive the call, as drafts to make good the inevitable wastage of active service(1). During one of the last inspections before they sailed, the 1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry earned high praise from a well-known General, who said that in his opinion they were the smartest body of Territorial cavalry at that time in the country This high standard is being steadily kept in view by the officers and men of the reserve regiment, which came into being last September, and remembering the fact that the training of a cavalryman is necessarily more difficult and protracted than that of other branches of the service, the progress made has been remarkable. The chief obstacle at first was the lack of horses, but this was soon remedied when the consignments of Canadian horses became more frequent, and the three squadrons have been admirably mounted for several months.

B Squadron has been stationed at Olney since February, A Squadron being at Biddenham and Bromham and C at Turvey. Here for many weeks the broad and picturesque main street of the town of Cowper has echoed the martial sound of the cavalry trumpet, and been enlivened by daily cavalcades as the well-groomed squadron moves out on the drill ground, a mile or two distant. A more ideal training ground than that lying within the charming panorama of grass land and wooded country to be seen from the hills round Olney cannot be conceived; and the comfort of the billets and the kindness of the inhabitants will ever be a pleasant memory to the yeomen when their lot is cast in infinitely less pleasant places. The squadron, under the command of Captain Hodgson, has worked steadily towards efficiency and besides providing three drafts for the first regiment has rendered good service in training horses for the regular cavalry regiments. Capable rough-riding, good food and grooming and, where needed, the attentions of an excellent veterinary staff, have worked wonders in transforming many an unpromising-looking animal into a handsome and handy charger. The intricacies of cavalry drill have speedily been mastered by the men and the morning curriculum is frequently varied by outpost and reconnaissance work, field days and route rides, sword exercise, musketry and bayonet fighting, make a strenuous afternoon and, of course, “Stables” fills up all the time that remains. A good number of recruits from Olney itself and from the neighbouring towns and villages have joined the Yeomanry during its sojourn in Buckinghamshire, which speaks well for the good reputation won by the squadron.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 25th June 1915

---

(1) The 2nd/1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry served at home until absorbed into 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment.

Local Recruitment

Bromham Vicarage

Tuesday 11th August 1914: Mr Sidney Richard Quenby left Oakley yesterday to join the Force as a volunteer, Mr. Quenby was once attached to the Hertfordshire Yeomanry. He is a very fine horseman. Mr. Quenby will be much missed from the cricket field, and in fact from the village generally as he was very popular.

A number of doctors on the Bedfordshire panel have volunteered for active service and fourteen have left the county already. Other doctors in the county are acting loyally in the manner and are treating the insured persons on the panels of their colleagues.

Bromham is considerably affected by the war. In consequence of the horses being commandeered, grooms have been dismissed. Altogether Bromham has nine men in the Army and Navy: Captain Allen and Lieutenant Stobart in the Regular Army; Walter Mortimer, private in the regulars; Herbert Mortimer in the Navy; A. Swan, H. Robinson and J. Tysoe in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry; A. Waller Naval Reserve and Jack Browning, the vicar’s son, in the Canadian Volunteers*. Two others have volunteered since the war broke out. The friends of the Vicar (Canon Browning) are wondering how he is getting on in Switzerland, where he went to take a chaplaincy for August.

Sources: Bedfordshire Times 14th August 1914 and 21st August 1914

---

* Captain John Francis Allen of 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment died of wounds on 5th November 1914 aged 32. He was the son of W. H. Allen, who owned the Bedford engineering company and lived at Bromham House and he is buried in Ypres Town Cemetery. Company Sergeant Major Walter James Mortimer, MM, of 11th Battalion, Essex Regiment, died on 6th April 1918 as a prisoner-of-war, having been captured in 1917, and is buried in Cologne Southern Cemetery. Lieutenant William Stobart, Royal Flying Corps previously 10th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, was killed in a flying accident on 24th August 1916, aged 21 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge. Two more Mortimers were killed: Harry, of 12th King’s (Liverpool) Regiment on 20th November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial. Private William S. Mortimer of 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed on 27th July 1916 during operation in Delville Wood and is buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval.