The 1st Battalion Leaves for Active Service

Bayonet fighting practice [X550/1/195/1]

Friday 14th August 1914: We hear that the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment left Mullingar in Ireland at two o’clock this morning. We understand they are on their way to Belfast where they will board ship for France. We wish them God Speed.

A Bedford man with the 5th Bedfords, a Territorial Army unit which is in training in Romford [Essex] has written to us as follows. "Everything is carried out strictly under war conditions and the men are only allowed out when not engaged in duty, for a short time in the evening. The men attended church parade with rifles and ammunition and afterwards were exercised in drill and had a route march in full marching order. The commissariat and the health of the men are good. One lamentable accident occurred to one of the Cambridge men when, by some chance, a man dropped or caught his rifle in something and as it was loaded it discharged, the bullet entering his leg. The leg had to be amputated but the poor fellow died. The inhabitants are very kind to us and are only too pleased to oblige us in any way possible. There is much speculation as to how long we are going to stop here but everything is secret and what talk there is can only be supposition".

A Sandy man in the same battalion has written: "The men are quartered in schools and are daily getting in trim. We are having a strenuous time, carrying full marching order of 56 lb weight and 200 rounds of ammunition. Today we have had a sixteen miles march in the hot sun. It was gruelling! The health of all the local men is excellent. We have been sleeping on the floors of schools, with greatcoats only. Now we have a blanket, which is very nice. Today an order came from the General Officer Commanding calling for volunteers for foreign service. The local men of D Company responded to the number of 56. Biggleswade, Sandy, Saint Neots and Potton are represented in numbers. Every officer in the regiment offered his services. Now we want more men to fill their places and it is up to the men of Sandy and Biggleswade to respond. So, men of Sandy, do your duty! You are urgently requested to do so by your country. Apply at Headquarters, Gwyn Street, Bedford".

Sources: X550/2/5; Bedfordshire Times 14th August 1914

War is Looming

French Artillerymen and a 75mm Canon [X344/163]

Tuesday 4th August 1914: A great European war now seems inevitable. Germany has declared war on Belgium in order to better attack France. This small, peaceful country has taken no part in the sabre-rattling of the last days since the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June. It has remained self-effacing and neutral. Belgium’s neutrality was guaranteed on its creation in 1839 by all the great powers including this country. It seems inconceivable that we can now stand by whilst this peaceful neighbour is brutalised by the Bully of Europe and his hordes. An ultimatum has been delivered by our ambassador in Berlin to their chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, that Germany must renounce its declaration against Belgium by midnight their time otherwise a state of war will exist between us.

It seems a strange thing that this country should be at war with our German cousins and should be allied with our natural enemies the French, but these are strange times. A kind of madness seems to have descended on Germany seeping down, it seems clear, from their Kaiser who, the world has long suspected, is mentally unstable.  A despotic empire such as Germany, wholly under the rule of one man, will always reflect that man’s virtues or vices.

We know how easily Germany defeated France in 1870 and 1871, in less than a year they forced the French to humiliating terms. Then Germany was content to merely take the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. What will Germany want if it wins the coming war? Belgium at the least we can see disappearing into their iron jaws and very likely more of France too. That will give them naval bases less than a hundred miles from London and more territory to exploit in terms both of physical resources and of manpower. This is another reason why this country must oppose Germany. It must help to stiffen French resolve and boost her armies with our own. Together we can prevent a repeat of 1871, alone France will almost surely fail once again.

Throughout this conflict we will report on the operations of our gallant regiment at the front. The Bedfordshire Regiment has two battalions for active service. The 1st Battalion is at Mullingar in Ireland and will, we understand, form part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Division. The 2nd battalion is in far-away South Africa at Roberts Heights, just outside Pretoria, we do not yet know the division to which it will be assigned. It seems certain however that more battalions will be raised as the war progresses. Lord Kitchener has given his opinion that any European war will last at least three years. If that is the case Britain will need a far larger army than anything we have ever had in our history, an army numbering several millions rather than a few hundred thousand.

We can only hope that this war will be all over by Christmas.