Decorations

Sunday 17th March 1918

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught(1) is currently in Palestine visiting the forces. Yesterday a group from 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment proceeded to Yazur(2) to receive decoration from His Royal Highness. Military Crosses were given to Major C R James, Captain F B Hobbs and Lieutenant W A Shaw. Regimental Sergeant Major Milton MC, DCM, Company Sergeant Major Chandler, Sergeant Sapsford, Sergeant Sharpe and Corporal Ball were each awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Sergeant Marlow, Private Halfpenny and Private Andrews were awarded the Military Medal.

There was very heavy rain most of the day. Patrols were maintained an an Arab boy who was found wandering in front of the front line was brought in and sent to Brigade Headquarters where he will be interrogated.

Source: X550/6/8

(1) Third son of Queen Victoria

(2) Now Azor

A Corporal Writes of Lieutenant Green

Lieutenant Green [X550/1/82]

Friday 26th May 1916: A letter has been received by the parents of Corporal A Sharpe whose home is at 13 Union Street, Dunstable in which reference is made to the death of Lieutenant Reginald Green. After stating that they have had to do extra duty in the trenches and that the weather has been pretty warm, he writes: “We had an officer killed last night, I am sorry to say, and perhaps you might know him as he is the son of Mr J W Green of the Brewery, Luton. He went out into No Man’s Land and unfortunately received a shot in the right thigh which proved fatal, death taking place a few hours afterwards. He was a very good officer indeed and he was in charge of my platoon. We are all very sorry at his death”.

Corporal Sharpe, it may be mentioned, has been at the Front since the early days of the war and has been twice wounded – once in the back with a dum-dum bullet, which was taken out of his side in five pieces, and later he lost the forefinger of his left hand, while he has also been in hospital twice since with fever and colic. But he writes in a cheerful strain and says he is “in the pink”. At the outbreak of war he was serving in South Africa with the 2nd Bedfords, but after convalescing from his first wounds, he was transferred to the 1st Bedfords, since when he has seen much active service.

Sources: Luton News 25th May 1916

(1) The dum-dum was a hollow point or soft point bullet, designed to expand on impact, causing a worse wound. It was designed in 1896 by Neville Bertie-Clay at the Dum Dum Arsenal near Calcutta in India. The bullet was banned by the Hague Convention three years later

Bedford Athletes at the Front

Sunday 4th July: The above snapshot of seven well-known Bedford athletes, now serving at the Front with the East Anglian Royal Engineers, was taken “somewhere in France” whilst the little party known as “the lucky seven” were enjoying a stroll not far from the firing line during a respite from the trenches. The names are as follows: Sapper Chapman, well-known  to all local followers of Association football as “Napper” Chapman, the redoubtable forward of the Eagles Football Club; Corporal Young, christened by his comrades “the old man” by reason of his long service in the East Anglian Royal Engineers, a staunch supporter of Bedford AFC; Sapper “Biscay” Burton, one of the Biddenham Football Club’s most enthusiastic followers; Sapper “Curley” Sharpe, butcher of the regiment, renowned in local cricket circles as a dashing batsman, who has done good service for the Bedford Wasps; Corporal Wildman, who has been awarded the soubriquet of “Borneo” and played many dashing games at outside right for Bedford United; Sergeant Ames, who has performed with distinction at outside-left for the now famous EARE Football Club and Corporal “Whisperer” Redman, than whom Bedford Town FC has no more devoted and enthusiastic supporter.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 6th August 1915

Germans!

Countryside at Rue d'Ouvert

Thursday 22nd October 1914: We hear today from Bury Saint Edmunds Magistrates that a man from Luton serving in the 5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, has been sent to prison. His name is Rudolph R. Baukey and he is a German. He had failed to register as required by the Aliens’ Registration Order 1914. When challenged Baukey said: “I know I have done wrong. I am a German and have not taken out naturalisation papers. I saw about it in the papers and did not like to let the people know I was a German and put it off until it was too late”. As Luton is a centre of the straw hat trade there are a great many Germans in the town and it has not been unusual for them to join the Territorial Army. Baukey is a good clarinet player and was a great addition to the battalion’s band. Baukey pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, half the maximum term for such an offence.

                                                       

The adjutant of the 1st Bedfords tells us that they have been ordered to move from Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée north-east to Chapelle Saint-Roch and report to 13th Brigade where they will be ordered to assist in an attack on the village of Violaines towards dusk.

Our contact with the battalion has just spoken with us to tell us about an abortive operation which has cost the lives of seventeen men. It appears that the Germans pre-empted our planned attack: “I could just see Germans rushing towards us and off fights going on in various places and shouts of “Don’t fire, we are your own men!” evidently from the Germans”.

“I ran back pursued by a batch of Germans through a barn and came up against a barbed wire fence about seven feet high. I got through this somehow, being pulled from the other side by Company Sergeant Major Sharpe who turned up torn, and torn, bleeding and with all my breeches torn off, got to ground”.

“We collected a party of men and then I made for a cross-roads where I reorganised what was left of the Company and got up to hold the Main Line of Defence. The whole thing was a tremendous muddle but for the time being the Germans never got further than our temporary line”.

“It appears that the Germans had rushed the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in the darkness and had managed to clear them out of Violaines almost without a shot being fired, as it was done so quickly. Few of the Cheshires got back to us. The Germans had then rushed on to us about a mile back with a few of the Cheshire and were met by our two front platoons”.

“We eventually worked our way collecting stragglers and got a semblance Company back consisting of various units. We then reformed and when we had the men together, started to try and get the trenches back. Of the whole Company I can only muster about forty. Any form of advance was met by appalling fire so we lay low and were eventually relieved by the Manchesters and Worcesters. We then collected as many of the Company as possible, about sixty all told, and got into ditches in support of the Manchesters in the village of Rue d’Ouvert. No appreciable advance was made however”.

Luton News 29th October 1914; X550/2/5; X550/2/7

Panic at Givenchy

Wednesday 14th October 1914: The 2nd Bedfords have reached Ypres in their march south from Bruges. The 1st Bedfords, meanwhile are holding the new line west of Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée. Our contact with this battalion, now commanding B Company tells us: “At dawn we took over the front line trenches from C Company. It was very cold and miserable weather”.

“The trenches are very narrow and of no depth and in order to keep under cover we have to lie down cramped up at the bottom of them. It is awful work and we all get severe cramp”.

“A new officer called Litchfield joined the Company during the day for duty so I put him in the support trenches [1]. Many reinforcements also joined us and I have been made up with practically a new company. This is hardly pleasant as none of them has ever been under fire before and to have a new company for the first time in conditions such as we are now placed is rather staggering!”

This evening, on his way back for orders our contact has had quite an experience having to return to his company on hearing firing, details of which he has just sent us. “I reached my support trenches and the fire was still going on. It mostly came from the Germans on our right and the air was thick with bullets, mostly flying high. Every now and then we came in for a dose and they seemed to hit us from the front and rear. On the whole there was absolutely nothing to be alarmed at, as they were absolutely safe but the noise was awful and one could hardly make oneself heard above it all”.

“Suddenly to our horror we saw the men in Edwards’ trench (which was the trench to our immediate front) rise en-masse and retire back at the double in the dark back on to us. Our trench saw them coming and prepared to depart also. I shouted to Sergeant-Major Sharpe to go to the left to stop them while I rushed off to the right. We did our best and yelled amidst all the din for them to stop where they were and to the front line to get into our trench. It was useless though as almost in a mad rush they were through and passed us. We managed by getting hold of a few by the scruff of the neck to retain just a handful”.

“We were then faced with the awful task of holding our line with this handful and were very uncertain what actually remained in front. We fixed bayonets and waited for things to happen as we couldn’t think what it was that had made the front line go. Very heavy rifle fire continued for about half an hour and then quietened down and nothing happened”.

“I then sent the Company Sergeant-Major back to see if he could collect any of the Company and went off up into the front line to see what had happened in there. On the way I met Sergeant Mart who had stuck to his part of the trench with his Platoon  and has just discovered that Edwards’ trench was empty and so was thinking of getting back too. I told him to stop where he was and hold the bit of Edwards’ trench as well as he could. I then found Edwards who said that his trench was being enfiladed and that he had given the order to his fellows to get back into my support trench”.

“A fatal thing to do as it proved. The support trench had seen them coming hell for leather back and thought they were being attacked! I went back and found the Company Sergeant-Major returning with part of the Company and sent them on into the line. I then went on to C and D Companies and heard that a man in the Norfolks had passed a message down from the left that trenches on the right were to retire and so had caused alarm”.

“On our right the Dorsets and our A Company had been making a counter-attack to try and regain a section of guns and the Dorsets’ Commanding Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel Bols) who was missing. The attack did not do much good except to put the wind up the Germans who opened fire all along the line. The guns were irretrievably lost but Colonel Bols crawled away from the Germans though hit and got back to his lines. It has not been a creditable show on our part but was just what I had anticipated with a new and freshly out lot of men – one cannot expect much more”.

The adjutant has given us the following report on the day’s activities: “We held our new line”.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/2/7

---

[1] Second Lieutenant John Litchfield would be killed just over a week later on 22nd October. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.

The 1st Bedfords under Attack

Tuesday 13th October 1914: Today has seen the 1st Battalion, at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, which they occupied yesterday, come under attack. Our contact with the battalion brings us the exciting details: “Violent shelling began at 6 am and continued all day, the church being the chief aiming point. About 12 noon the house Second Lieutenant Shippey and Lieutenant Gledstanes were sitting in had a shell through it and smothered them. They were sitting close together drinking milk when the shell came in through the roof and burst between then. They both emerged, covered with white plaster and looked perfectly ridiculous. Shippey was badly hit in the inside and we raised a stretcher and I conducted him to hospital which was in the village school at the rear of the village. He knows he won’t recover but is most plucky over it all and I stopped with him until 12.30 pm”.[1]

“A Company at this time called for help from the orchard on the left of B Company, that is on the left front of the village of Givenchy and we were going to make an attempt to reach them. The shell fire was so impossible in the village that we couldn’t get through and had to give it up”.

“We then had orders to prepare to evacuate the village as the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment had retired on our left and our left flank was being turned and the position precarious”.

"The hospital was promptly evacuated and Shippey taken out and went off in the ambulance at a gallop. The ambulance was hit by a shell on the way and poor Shippey was killed [2]. The shelling got decidedly worse and the village was crumbling to pieces over our heads and as Monteith and I walked around were nearly hit several times by houses falling on top of us".

"The Dorsets then retired on our right and we began to be enfiladed from both flanks and the order to go was given. We had to retire as best we could by the roads and were well shelled all the way until we got back on to the edge of the road Festubert la Grande Rue and Rue du Marais [3] to the Béthune-la Bassée Canal. here we got down and dug in by the side of the road; it was then about 4 pm".

"We had lost both our machine-guns which had been buried in the village. Lieutenant Stafford [see 29th September and below] and Shippey had been killed, Major Thorpe, Lieutenant Downes [see 17th September and 20th October] and Second Lieutenant Goff were wounded. The latter two could not be found and were presumed captured [4]. Thorpe came down through us very cheerfully hit on foot, balancing on a bicycle as well as he could to get to hospital for a dressing".

"It was very misty and the gunners could do nothing and everyone was rather in the air. I then got orders to take over command of B Company as all their officers, with the exception of Edwards, had been knocked out. The Company has had an awful time and only about 80 are left [5] but luckily Sergeant-Major Sharpe and Company Quarter Master Sergeant McGinn are still going strong".

"I then got orders from the Colonel to get back to le Plantin where the Battalion had orders to take up a position. On the way back I met an infuriated Norfolk major who told me that we were running away! I told him more than I thought of him and nearly got put under arrest, especially when I asked what he was doing all alone where he was and what his Battalion were doing. The Battalion finally took up a position at the Rue Neuve with Headquarters in an estaminet near some cross-roads".

The adjutant summarises the day's events as follows: "There was a heavy bombardment of our trenches and the village all day. About midday this cannonade became terrific. Practically every house has been damaged and the neighbourhood of the church was continually shelled. Our front trenches, in continuation of Dorsets, were unable to hold on in the afternoon after the Dorsets were enfiladed and withdrew. Smoke of shells and the dust of falling houses made it impossible to see clearly what was going on to the flanks. The enemy attacked the front and flanks and the Battalion retired about 300 yards in the rear of the village and reformed on a new line holding the road to Pont Fixe in continuation of the Dorsets. The Norfolks are on our left. Losses have been 7 officers and 140 other ranks".

Lieutenant Charles Claude Stafford, serving with the 1st Bedfords, from whom we had a communication on 30th September has, sadly, been killed in this fighting. The late Lieutenant Stafford was an enthusiastic athlete. Two or three seasons ago he was elected Captain if the Bedford Rowing Club, and his appointment was marked by a new lease of vigorous life to this old borough institution. He took a very keen interest in improving its prospects and training the new material, and under his captaincy several new boats, notably an eight, were obtained. His other sport was Rugby football. As a three-quarter he played many a sound game for the Bedford R. U. F. C. being particularly strong in defence. However big the man against him, Claude Stafford could be trusted to do his best to bring him down. He retired rather early from the game, owing to the impossibility, for business reasons, of both his brother "Dick" and himself getting off on a Saturday afternoon, and the way he stood down for his younger and brilliant brother from a game to which he was so devoted, was finely characteristic of him[6]. He was at the Modern School nine years from 1899 to 1908 and like his brother was a prominent and powerful supporter of East House. He was in the 1st XV in the three-quarter line and in his last year was captain of the 1st IV. He was also a fine runner, and in 1908 represented the School in the quarter mile inter-school race with Elstow School and won the race in 61 seconds.

Sources:X550/2/5; X550/2/7; Ampthill and District News 24th October 1914

---

[1] He died the next day and is buried in Béthune Town Cemetery. He was just twenty three and from Pietermaritzberg in South Africa.
[2] This seems to be a mistake as Shippey is recorded as dying of wounds the next day and the fact he has a grave also counts against the ambulance being hit by a shell.
[3] Probably what is now Rue Jean Jaurès which is an extension of Rue Grande Rue and leads to the canal
[4] They had been captured but were later recaptured by the Bedfords, though Lieutenant Downes died on 18th October.
[5] Out of around 220.
[6] Richard Calvert Stafford was a prop forward for Bedford who played four test matches for England in 1912. He died on 1st December 1912 aged just nineteen, from cancer of the spine.