Some Will Remember This Place

Monday 5th August 1918

The 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment have taken over from 8th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment in the front line west of Albert. In fact some of the old hands of 7th Battalion remember the place very well. They are astride the road from Bray-sur-Somme to Corbie. It is here that the 7th Battalion spent their last few hours before going into the line to take part in the operations of the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916, a bloody day, to be sure, but a day when the untried battalion made a great name for itself. Chatting with the adjutant on the "blower" this evening he joked that he hoped it was a good omen and that a similarly successful attack awaits the battalion in the near future.

Source: X550/3/WD

Roll of Honour - 5th August 1918

Four Years On

Sunday 4th August 1918

Today is the fourth anniversary of our country joining this Great War to End All Wars to put an end to Prussian aggression and the misery it has inflicted on its neighbours. The 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire, formerly the Hertfordshire Militia, was then a part-time formation which met for training exercises each summer. Since 1916 it has been part of 63rd (Royal Naval) division and has taken part in some of the greatest struggles such as the closing days of the great Somme Battle and the swamps of Passchendaele. Today the battalion held a special church parade to commemorate four years of war, top remember fallen comrades and to pledge itself anew to the struggles to come in the hope that Victory will crown the efforts of 1918.

Captain S E D Cline [X550/1/81]

The 2nd Battalion, meanwhile, received that last of the 7th Battalion vintage. Captain S E D Cline, Lieutenant H de Buriatte, 2nd Lieutenants T H Flavell, A D Greenwood and J Kerr(1)

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3

(1) Arthur Donald Greenwood would not see out the month, he died on 30th August and is buried at Dantzig Alley Cemetery amongst 7th Battalion fatalities fro 1st July 1916. 

Yesterday in Palestine

Saturday 3rd July 1918

The 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment are currently in the front line at Mejdel Yaba north-east of Ramleh. A desultory shelling has been carried on by our guns for the last two days and the Turks, by the reckoning of the adjutant, have only fired two rounds of high explosive and six rounds of shrapnel. He also noted that patrolling is difficult because of long, dry grass, which can conceal snipers and picquets until one virtually stands on their toes.

Source: X550/6/8

Roll of Honour - 3rd August 1918

1st/5th Battalion Back to the Front Line

Friday 2nd August 1918

Yesterday 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment left their Egyptian holiday and training behind them as they moved up into the front line in Palestine. They are at Mejdel Yaba about eleven miles north-east of Ramleh(1). The Bedfords have resumed their vigorous patrolling of earlier in the year, searching for information in no man's land and the enemy front line. Last night, for example, they found a sangar (a temporary fortification built of a breastwork of stones in areas where the soil is too stony to dig trenches) which had been occupied by the Turks but is now abandoned.

Source: X550/6/8

(1) The Palestinian Mejdel Yaba was captured by Israelis in 1948 and depopulated. It now forms part of the Israeli settlement of Rosh HaAyin.

To 2nd From 7th

Thursday 1st August 1918

Today 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, in brigade reserve west of Albert, received reinforcements. Thirty nine other ranks arrived from the now disbanded 7th Battalion training cadre. These men will be a very valuable addition as they are almost all warrant officers (mostly company sergeant majors) and non-commissioned officers.

Sources: X550/3/wd