Beds Reservists' first pay night

The battalion (5th Beds) for foreign service has been brought practically up to full strength. Slightly over the necessary 60 per cent volunteered for foreign service, and this number has been constantly added to, so that now about 70 per cent are prepared to go. Therefore, practically 300 men were wanted to complete the Foreign Service Battalion. All the vacancies in the Bedford and South Beds Detachments were filled by enlistment, and many more men could have been got.

A Reserve Battalion has been formed, which will be known officially as the 5th (Reserve) Battalion, Beds Regt. As a nucleus, this battalion receives the 300 men who, for various reasons, have not volunteered for the front.

At the time of writing, the officers are not gazetted, but it is expected that the Hon Victor Russell, the brother of Lord Ampthill and cousin of the Duke of Bedford, will be in command. Many more applications than there are appointments have been received, and they include many well-known names.

Monday night was the first pay-night in Luton. Recruits were asked to assemble at 6.30 in the old skating rink, or what is left of it, at Park Street, and every man turned up at the time appointed or very shortly after. Some of them looked the worse for work, as they did not finish in time to go home and smarten up before parading. But this will not happen again, for as from Monday night they had to give up their employment and devoted themselves solely to drilling.

Some of the gentlemen who were awaiting commissions - Mr Meyer, Mr F. W. F. Lathom and Mr Davis - were responsible for the proceedings at this initial parade. The first step was to give some men temporary non-commissioned rank. For this purpose some old soldiers who had enlisted were picked out. Some of these had been non-commissioned officers in the past, and they naturally were given the principal positions for the time being, the others being filled by men who had been in the Army or the old Volunteer force, and consequently knew something of the work before them. It was particularly pointed out to the recruits, however, that these appointments were only temporary, and that the men who showed themselves smart, clean and industrious would be the ones who would be watched for the purpose of promotion.

When these temporary appointments had been made, the men were all addressed by Mr F. W. F. Lathom, who stated that for this week there would be daily parades from 10-12 and 2-4. Pay day would be Thursday, but those who joined before last Thursday would be paid at once up to that date, while others who joined after Thursday could, if they particularly desired it, have a payment on account of what would become due on Thursday.

Pointing out that some men would have a considerable sum to draw, Mr Lathom impressed upon them the necessity of getting a good pair of solid leather boots in preparation for the marching which would come later, and asked them to devote a reasonable amount of their first pay to seeing they were well shod.

The essentials of cleanliness and sobriety were then touched upon, and men were urged to be punctual on parade, as otherwise it would delay progress, and it was desired to show that this battalion was "jolly well" as good as the other.

The recruits then divided themselves into two companies. One company included all the men already used to manual labour, and of these a very large proportion were Diamond Foundry men. The other company included clerks, shop assistants etc. After this division, each company divided itself into four sections, and here again the men had to sort themselves out. They were asked to make up their own sections, so that when they were working in these sections they should be with their friends, and so make things as pleasant as possible.

This concluded the proceedings for the evening, except for the important part of the pay time. To draw their money, the men went over to the Territorial headquarters at the Volunteer Club.

[Luton News, September 24th, 1914]