Move Order

Tuesday 11th June 1918

The 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment is currently in position south of Hazebrouck and north of Bethune, near a place called Saint-Venant in the flat lands of French Flanders. They will move up to the front line tomorrow. On a visit today I noticed the order, which has already been drawn up, though dated with tomorrow's date. With the adjutant's permission I reproduce it here as it may be of interest to readers to see what a move order looks like.

OPERATION ORDER No.145. 1st. Battalion The Bedfordshire Regiment. Map - Reference 36.A. 1/40,000 June 12th. 1918. 1. The Battalion will relieve the 1st Bn. D.C.L.I. [Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry] to-day. 2. Order of march - H.Q., "B", "C", "D" and "A" Coy's. 5 minutes between each Coy. 200 yards between each platoon. Head of Headquarters to cross pontoon bridge at D.7.c.4.5. at 2.15 p.m. 3. ROUTE - Pontoon bridge, (D.7.c.4.5.) along canal to D.8.a.7.9. - Main ST.VENANT Road to l'Epinette, from thence along inside edge of wood, and along VIA ROMA. 4. GUIDES - Guides at the rate of one per platoon will meet Companies at the house by old Dressing Station, E.13.a.8.4. 5. O.C. Coy's. will render to Orderly Room before marching off, certificates that billets vacated by them have been left clean and free from S.A.A. and that Gas appliances are correct. 6. Administrative arrangements as in Battalion Orders dated 11/6/18. 7. Relief complete will be reported by Runner. 8. Necessary precautions will be taken in case of enemy Aircraft.

Source: X550/2/5

Another Full Day for the 1st Battalion

Wednesday 30th May 1917

Just because 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, is in billets it does not mean they are idle. They have been finding working parties doing such things as road and railway construction and maintenance. They have also been drilling and practising other aspects of military skill. For example, at two o’clock this afternoon officers and non-commissioned officers have been trained in bayonet fighting. It is true every officer carries a pistol but they all use a rifle too, which is a far more effective weapon, more accurate and with a longer range. It is also more effective at close quarters on account of its bayonet - I know of no officer who still carries a sword into battle. Moreover, using a rifle does not distinguish an officer to the enemy, as using a pistol or a sword does and this means they are less likely to get picked-off by enemy marksmen, to the detriment of the men they lead.

As well as this activity, Lieutenant Hansen and one sergeant per company have spent the day reconnoitring No man’s land and the enemy positions east of Willerval, itself north-east of Arras. Second Lieutenant Everett and two other ranks have been to Wailly, south-west of Arras to see a display by tanks. These weapons are potential war-winners, certainly potential battle-winners, though it is fair to say that their performance is not always equal to their promise as they can be mechanically temperamental and they are difficult to operate - being inside a huge tin box, as hot as a furnace and as loud as a factory is a very disconcerting pastime and leads to officers commanding them becoming disorientated and losing their way. Nevertheless, tank design and the army’s understanding of how best to use them has come on leaps and bounds since they were first used only just over eight months ago and demonstrations like this are designed to help infantry units work out the best ways of co-operating with them to benefit the attack.

To round off  the day there was a football match. The Battalion played 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, winning by two goals to one.

Source: X550/2/5

Burial Party

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers cap badge

Thursday 1st October 1914: Our contact with the 1st Bedfords reports a gruesome discovery. He had taken advantage of thick fog to go into No-Man’s Land to look at his trench from the front to see if improvements could be made. “On my way out I found a trail of English rifles and equipment. I followed the trail up and about 300 yards out came upon the bodies of about seven dead men who had all obviously been killed by a shell and they all had their rifles sighted at 800 yards”.

“They were lying in all sorts of positions and several were in a ditch which was half full of water and they were half covered. They all belonged to different regiments, mostly Inniskilling Fusiliers, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry etc. They had evidently been dead several weeks and how they got there we did not really know, unless it was on the original day of the attack on the Aisne on 13/14 September. I then went back and collected a burying party and we started to try and identify and bury them”.

“They were, however, all too far gone to touch with safety, although Sergeant Barber[1] managed to remove one identity disc from one man and it bore the name “Walsh RIF”[2]. The others we had to leave and so cut off pieces of their clothing where the regimental number could be found and also took their rifles, haversacks and other equipment in the hope of tracing them. We collected all together about forty rifles and a host of equipment and started burying. In the middle the fog suddenly cleared and we were almost immediately spotted and fired at. I ordered a hurried retreat and we had to leave the job unfinished for the time and got back to our trench”.

Source: X550/2/7

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[1] This may be Sergeant Edwin Barber who died on 29th June 1916 with the 1st Battalion. He was 23 and came from Haynes. He is buried in Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery Extension.

[2] This must have been 9065 Private Charles Walsh of 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who was killed on 13th September. He was 26 and came from Blackburn [Lancashire]. His grave is now lost and he is commemorated on the la Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial. His battalion seems to have lost one officer and eight other ranks on that day. 

1st Bedfords Back in the Front Line

Thursday 24th September 1914: Our source with the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in France tells us that the battalion has gone back into the front line: “We heard that we were to cross the Aisne and relieve the troops holding the sector which we had left. In the afternoon the Company Commanders were sent off in advance to take over and see their respective sectors. The Battalion moved off at 6.15 pm”.

“We crossed the river in the dark by the same bridge and marched to the same old farm house we had been in at Sainte-Marguerite about 9 pm. D Company were allotted the forward trenches in the wood and I met a guide from the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry who led us all wrong to relieve a Company of the DCLI in trenches which were only forty yards from the Germans”.

“We careered all over the wood with German searchlights playing on us which put the wind up us from time to time and eventually discovered the DCLI and carried out the relief. Number 13 Platoon was put into the most forward trench which was in easy hearing distance of the enemy, the other platoons being along a sort of natural ditch which ran at right angles to their position. We arrived about 11 pm and settled down to a rather uncomfortable night but quite peaceful one although we were expecting an attack all the time. All night the old German searchlight played on and all round us and we were sure that he spotted us”.

Sources: X550/2/7