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The
16th Regiment of Foot
In 1858 the single
battalion 16th Foot raised a second Battalion, who became the
2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment when the County affiliation
was adopted in 1881. The new Battalion saw a peaceful introduction
into policing the Empire until the South African Wars of 1899
to 1902.
The 2nd Bedfords arrived
at Cape Town with the 12th Brigade of the 6th Division on the
8th January 1900 and remained in the Free State area to help contain
the considerable Boer prescence whilst a newly raised contingent
of Bedford Mounted Infantry were invovled in the general advances
that took place that year.
The 2nd Battalion
had a bad start to the Wars, suffering severely from Enteric Fever
as a result of being placed on very bad ground at Bloemfontein
and inconclusive actions against strong Boer forces in that area.
A more successfull operation was enjoyed at Slabberts Nek
late that year where 4,000 of De Wet's Commando's surrendered
and a month later the 2nd Bedfords and Queenstown Volunteers captured
a Boer leader called Oliver and his three sons.
September 1901 saw the Battalion's
only defeat of the wars when a small party intent on capturing
a camp of Boers was tricked, surrounded and captured after a
four hour stand against overwhelmingly hopeless odds. The prisoners
were later released as the Boers had no facilities for holding
them.
The rest of the war saw the Battalion
distinguish themselves well and the period between the South
African Wars and the Great War was spent on policing duties
between the garrisons in India, Ireland and finally South Africa.
The 2nd Battalion's
Great War service
The
2nd Battalion were at Roberts Heights near Pretoria (South Africa)
at the outbreak of war and were immediately recalled to England,
landing at Southampton on 19th September 1914. Having refitted
for European warfare, the Division left Southampton at 8am 5th
October on the S.S. Winifredian and after a brief stop at Dover
for supplies, landed in Zeebrugge at 6.30am on the 7th October.
The
Division moved almost 40 miles south to meet the rest of the army
and on the 18th October 1914, around the 10Km marker stone on
the Ypres-Menin road, they met the German Army for the first time
in a brief skirmish. The following day saw the Division attack
Menin and they were joined in a European battle for the first
time. Their involvement in the Great War would last for another
forty-nine months, with their last action being fought at Preux-au-Bois
on the 4th November 1918, 8 km north east of Le Cateau and not
far from their first engagement four years earlier.
The
original soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions were amongst the
"Old Contemptibles" - the title proudly adopted by the
men of the BEF who saw service before 22nd November 1914. They
were the professional soldiers of the British Army, and most were
regular soldiers or reservists. They took their honourable title
from the famous "Order of the Day" given by Kaiser Wilhelm
II at his headquarters in Aix-la-Chapelle on the 19th August,
1914 - "It is my Royal and Imperial Command that you concentrate
your energies, for the immediate present upon one single purpose,
and that is that you address all your skill and all the valour
of my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous English; walk
over General French's contemptible little Army."
The
2nd Battalion were in the 21st Brigade of the 7th Division between
August 1914 and December 1915, which was made up as follows:
21st
Brigade
2nd
Battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment
2nd
Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment
2nd
Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers
2nd
Battalion, the Wiltshire Regiment
1st/4th
Battalion, the Cameron Highlanders
On
the 20th December 1915, the entire Brigade left for the 30th Division
and the Bedfords were moved into the 89th Brigade of that Division.
During their service with that Brigade, it comprised:
89th
Brigade
2nd
Battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment
17th
Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment
19th
Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment
20th
Battalion, the King's (Liverpool) Regiment
With
the reorganisation of the depleted British Army in February 1918,
the Bedford’s became a part of the 90th Brigade, still in
the 30th Division. Many of the men from the disbanded 8th Battalion
were absorbed into their ranks, in line with the sweeping changes.
Until May 1918, they served with:
90th
Brigade
2nd Battalion,
the Bedfordshire Regiment
2nd
Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers (until April 1918)
16th
(1st City) Battalion, the Manchester Regiment (from April 1918)
17th
(2nd City) Battalion, the Manchester Regiment (until February
1918)
18th
(3rd City) Battalion, the Manchester Regiment (until February
1918)
14th
Battalion, the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (until Jun
1918)
A
further reorganisation was called for in May 1918, as a result
of the horrendous losses suffered by the Fifth Army in March and
April. The 7th Battalion
of the Bedfordshire Regiment was merged with the 2nd, the
resulting unit being called the 2nd Battalion. Therefore, the
2nd Bedford’s joined the 54th Brigade of the (18th Eastern)
Division, where they remained for the duration:
54th
Brigade
2nd
Battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment
11th
Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers
6th
Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment
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