Diary: Praise for the 2nd Bedfords

Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph, March 20th, 1915.

It now appears the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, had a hand in the great victory at Neuve Chapelle recently, when the British forces made such a splendid advance.

The General Officer Commanding described a brilliant success. The heroism and gallantry of regimental officers and men and the assistance afforded them by artillery units was deserving of the highest praise.

Among the casualties was Pte W. Rogers, of the 2nd Bedfords, who received a shrapnel wound and was in the Base Hospital. He wrote to his mother at 32 Maple Road, Luton, that he was getting on all right. A German shell had hit his trench and a bit of it caught him on the head, while another piece wounded his mate next to him and blew his rifle to pieces.

  • According to a Beds Regt casualty list on March 18th, 1915, Second Lieutenant John Hewitt Sutton Moxley, of the 4th Battalion, was killed in action on March 14th. Among the wounded listed were Capt C. B. Cumberledge and Capt R. F. Hanbury. On March 17th Pte A. Bingham, 7648, Pte A. Howard, 10471, Acting Sgt Tomlin, 9406, and Pte S. A. Young, 10371, were reported wounded. On March 18th Major E. H. Dunne and Capt J. H. G. Baird were reported to be wounded.

  • Speakers at tomorrow's Recruiting Sunday mass meeting in Park Square will include Mr Harry Whitehorne from the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee; Major Brighten, the officer commanding the 5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment; the Rural Dean Canon Morgan Smith and the Rev Robert G. Hern of Park Street Baptist Church. Several military bands will parade in the town before the meeting, and Luton Red Cross Band will play selections on the square from 2.30 pm to 2.50 pm.

  • Two more sets of brothers who had attended Queen Square School were mentioned in the Telegraph. Rifleman A. Rumbles, 9263, was with A Coy, 1st Rifle Brigade, British Expeditionary Force; L-Cpl S. Rumbles, 8626, 2nd Beds Regt, 7th Division British Expeditionary Force and Pte R. Rumbles, was with the 5th Battalion Beds Regt at Bury St Edmunds. A second set of three brothers were Pte S. Dobbs, 10413, 1st Beds Retgt, No. 5 Infantry Base, British Expeditionary Force; Driver G. Dobbs, East Anglian Royal Engineers, and Bandsman Dobbs, 5th Battalion Beds Regt at Newmarket.

  • In a letter to Mr F. C. Webdale, of Wellington Street, Luton, Pte G. Bavister said he was driving a 3 ton Commer lorry that continually reminded him of Luton. Commers were second to none in their ability to stand the strain of the bad roads and heavy loads and he had felt just a little proud on two occasions when he had to pull other lorries out of a ditch and once out of mud at the side of the road. Pte Bavister was attached to the ammunition park of the 1st North Midland Division.

  • A Beds Regt soldier at the front who had received articles of clothing sent by Mrs Conolly, of 7 Holly Walk, Luton, wrote a letter of appreciation to her.

  • Another unnamed soldier expressed appreciation for a box of books and magazines sent to the front. His company spent six days in trenches and six in billets these days, he wrote. He took the books to a large empty swimming bath where his company was billeted. It was a wet day and most of the men were lying in the straw sleeping with nothing to do. When he said he had books to lend, they were round him in a moment like a lot of hounds. Those who had not been quick enough to get a book were trying to get a lucky one to read aloud. The books would be handed over to the next regiment in the billet and returned when his company got back.

  • At home, the Luton Volunteer Training Corps, under the command of Mr H. Cumberland Brown, was in a very advanced state as far as company drill and important field operations on an extensive scale were concerned, it was reported. Sunday morning parades had been taken full advantage of at Eaton Green, Woodside and Luton Hoo Park. The 150 members on parade on Sunday included nearly all of the 40 last-joined recruits. Musketry instruction and drills had now been commenced at the Old Volunteer HQ. Uniforms had been delivered, and it was expected that a good delivery of the Corps' own rifles would soon be made. It was also suggested forming a motorcycle sections and a signalling section in connection with the Corps.

  • Luton Town scored twice in a minute through Simms and Rollinson to cancel out a 2-0 half-time lead for visitors Southend. After Luton centre-half Heath score an own goal and Rollinson shot wide from the penalty spot, the home side again equalised, this time through Roe. But inh the dying minutes Southend scored again to claim a 4-3 victory.