Joseph Afford,
M.C., D.C.M. Private, later WOII 8939, 2nd and 1st battalions
the Bedfordshire regiment Lieutenant, later Temporary Captain,
Yorkshire Regiment
Phillip Afford recently got in
touch about his grandfather, Joseph Afford, M.C., D.C.M. By collating
his service record and several other sources, we have been able
to piece together some of his fascinating record of service.
Joe was born in Offord D'Arcy in
Huntingdonshire on the 18th April 1888, the son of Charles and
Jane Afford. The 18 year old Labourer enlisted into the Bedfordshire
Regiment on the 18th February 1907 having served in the of the
4th Volunteer (Huntingdonshire) Company of the Bedfords beforehand.
After training he was posted to Gibraltar as Private 8939 and
served there between August 1907 and January 1910, after which
time he went to Bermuda until January 1912. Whilst in the Caribbean
Joe was reprimanded for falling asleep on another Privates bed
and caught selling Ration biscuits without permission! Joe and
the battalion moved to South Africa in January 1912 and were there
until September 1914 when they were recalled to fight in the European
war. Whilst there, the army found Joe gambling twice and he was
busted down from Corporal to Private!
Private Afford set foot in France
on the 6th October 1914 as part of the 2nd battalion and fought
in the fast and furious First Battle of Ypres. After a week of
constant fighting, on the 26th October the battalion supported
the Guards' attack on Becelaere, east of Polygon Wood. Both the
Guards and the Bedfords were held to within 50 yards of their
trenches by intense rifle and MG fire which stalled the attack
immediately. Joe was one of dozens of men who were missing that
day but turned up several days later at No.5 CCS with a gunshot
wound to his foot. He spent six months recovering and being retrained
until arriving back in France on the 13th May 1915, to continue
his service with the 1st battalion.
Joe served with the battalion in
the defence of Hill 60 near Ypres and helped to hold the position
despite German mining, raids and the constant, unwanted attentions
of enemy snipers. At the end of July Joe was a Lance Corporal
and the battalion were moved from the front line as the New Army
started to arrive in force. They found themselves in a new stretch
of the line in the region called the Somme, where they would remain
until February 1916. Other than the deadly usual routines of raiding,
patrols, barrages and sniping Joe and the battalion settled into
a 'relatively peaceful' spell of trench warfare and Joe was promoted
to Corporal in December 1915. February 1916 saw a move to the
Arras sector and several mines and localised attacks kept them
on their toes. They remained near Arras until moved back to near
Albert on the Somme again in June, at which time Joe became a
Sergeant.
Joe and his comrades were spared
the carnage of the early phases of the Battle of the Somme and
were committed to their first frontal assault against Longueval
on the 27th July. In a brutal but determined assault with a horrific
barrage raining down on them throughout, the battalion took the
village at a cost of over 300 Officers and men, a third of whom
were killed outright. During the chaos Joe's Company Commander
was wounded so he carried him back to the Regimental Aid post,
through the intense artillery and MG fire. Joe himself was shocked
through being buried by the shell fire but carried on. Once his
Officer was safe, he rushed back to the lines and resumed command
of the remnants of the Company as all their Officers were down.
Sending messages back constantly and organising the survivors,
Joe helped considerably in holding their hard won positions. That
night the battalion were relieved but called back later the next
day to help repel the stream of German counter attacks that fell
on the village and Delville Wood. Two more long days of intense
fighting followed, costing the battalion a further 200 casualties.
On their relief and unknown to the battalion, small pockets of
men remained in the village, clinging to their posts for two more
days, such was the determination of the battalion to hold their
ground.
Joe won a well earned D.C.M. for
his actions at Longueval and was promoted to Company Sergeant
Major at the end of July and then to WOII on the 11th September
1916.. His DCM citation in the London Gazette, dated 22nd September
1916 reads:
"8939 Sjt. J. Afford, Bedf.
R. For conspicuous gallantry during operations. When his Company
Commander was brought in wounded, he carried him back under heavy
shell and machine gun fire. Believing that all his company officers
had become casualties he took charge, and sent in a good report
of the situation though suffering from shock, after being wounded
and buried."
Joe was wounded again at Morval
in September 1916 and earned a Mention in Despatches for
his conduct there.
C.S.M. Afford was granted a Commission
for service in the field on the 3rd February 1917 and went on
to serve as an Officer in the Yorkshire regiment. His promotion
was recorded in the London Gazette's 6th March 1917 issue:
"York. R. - Co. Serjt.-Maj.
Joseph Afford, from Bedf. R. 3rd Feb. 1917."
Between July and September 1917
Joe fought in the Third Battle of Ypres, including operations
at the White House that August, which saw him rise to Temporary
Captain, and in October 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross
to go with his D.C.M. His Military cross citation in the London
Gazette, dated 7th March 1918 reads:
"Lt. (A./Capt. Joseph Afford,
York. R. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in successfully
carrying out their task -allotted to his company of capturing
a house under heavy fire."
On the 1st December 1917 Joe was
granted a Permanent Commission in the 6th Yorkshires, where he
served the remainder of the war out.
During his eventful service, Joe
Afford was Mentioned in Despatches three times, commissioned,
won the Military Cross, Distinguished Conduct Medal, and promotion
right the way through the NCO ranks, earned a 1914 Star with Clasp
and Roses, plus the Victory and British War Medals. ]
Amongst his fellow Officers in
the Bedfords and later the Yorkshire's, he was known as 'Joe Afford
of Offord' and was also specifically and personally congratulated
by one of his Generals whilst serving. Joe would have known RSM
Bartlett too, who can be seen here
and was killed at Morval.
After the war Joe had 3 sons, Phillip
Afford's dad being the eldest, born in 1926. It appears that after
1918 Joe, as many of his comrades, struggled coming to terms with
life, having seen and done so much during the war years. Joe and
his wife Constance parted company and the boys, although having
fairly regular contact with their father, did not know all that
much about him.
When the second war broke out Joe
appears to have still been a Reservist and served as Captain 139285
when the 12th Battalion of the Green Howard's were formed in 1940,
until they were amalgamated as the 161st Reconnaisance Regiment,
the Green Howards, Royal Armoured Corps.
Following what can only be described
as an eventful an eventful life, Joe Afford, M.C., D.C.M. died
in Edinburgh Castle on the 16th February 1942, aged just 53. He
is buried in Graveley Road, near St. Peters Church in Offord D'Arcy
and St. Peters Church in Offord D'Arcy inaccurately lists Joe
as killed in the Great War.
Additional family information
Joe was one of 7 sons of Charles
Afford of Offord D'Arcy Hunts., 5 of which served in the Colours.
Joe was not the only brother to win the coveted D.C.M. and the
four other Afford's to have served were:
Ebenezer Afford was in the Police
Force in August 1914 near Warboys as well as a Coldstream Guards
Reservist. He rejoined the Guards and fought as Private 582 in
the early battles, quickly gaining promotion to Quarter Master
Sergeant. He served throughout the war, including as an Instructor
for the Canadian Officers' training School in France to help train
the newly arrived men.
William Hine Afford, D.C.M. was
also a Policeman before the war in the Northamptonshire Borough
Force. He joined up when war was declared as Private 20048 and
quickly rose to C.S.M. in the Northamptonshire regiment. On the
31st July 1916 he won the D.C.M. Although all his Officers were
down he took command of the Company and refused to give an inch
of ground despite being overwhelmed by the enemy.
Edward William Afford was born
around May 1880 in Offord Cluny, Hunts. He served in the South
African wars and later in India before the Great War broke out.
Having gained the rank of Sergeant he was invalided out of the
army as a result of wounds received.
Ernest Afford was born around 1883
and ran a business in Shrewsbury before the war. He enlisted and
served as Gunner 362842 in the Royal Garrison Artillery.
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