Shefford and Stotfold Egg Collection

Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, Wandsworth, used as 3rd London General Hospital 

(Photograph: Henry Lawford under Creative Commons Licence via Wikimedia)

Sunday 7th May 1916: The village of Shefford has redoubled its efforts to collect eggs for the wounded since the Vicar published this letter from the Secretary of the National Egg Committee in the parish magazine last month:

“Rev. Sir, - The call for eggs from the Hospitals for the wounded men grows in its volume and anxiety. We have appealed to you in the past with success, and that result encourages us once again to ask you to assist us in our latest special scheme. Every week we are called upon to find more than a million new-laid eggs for this cause. Those who are in a weak state of health and require the eggs themselves are asked to contribute to our funds the value of the eggs consumed by them during Easter week.”

A successful collection was held at the church today at which no less than 771 eggs were contributed, beating the previous highest total of 660 by a considerable margin and bringing to total provided by the village to 2,604. The next collection will be held on Sunday 4th June from which the eggs will be sent to the 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth. This is a large Military Hospital with 1,500 beds, where the patients include both a large number of Australians and some Bedfordshires. Among them is the Vicar of Shefford’s son, Lieutenant A. E. Dakin, who was wounded in January [LINK to February 11th].

The children of Stotfold have also provided over 600 eggs. A correspondent in the village says “the egg collectors at Headquarters have “the cheek of Lambley Jack” as they say at Nottingham, when they wish to use a simile for any specially impudent person. They showed their “cheek” by sending two more boxes to be filled, without being asked to do so. Well, the boxes had come and it seemed a pity to send them back empty, so the Vicar in turn followed the example “Lambley Jack” (whever he was) and asked the boys of the Council School, and the girls of our Church Schools, whether they could not find us some more eggs – and more, as a result have gone. Send more eggs, friends, for they provide “shells” for our soldiers.”

Source: Stondon,Shefford and Stotfold Parish Magazine [P83/30/1]

Vicar of Shefford's Son Wounded

Shefford High Street c.1920 [Z1306/101/6/7]

Friday 11th February 1916: The Vicar of Shefford, Revd. Edward Dakin, has received news that his son Lt. Alfred Edward Dakin has been seriously wounded while serving in Mesopotamia. He has received a telegram from the War Office which reads “Viceroy of India reports 8th February, Lieut. A. E. Dakin, Liecester Regiment, suffering from contusion of right thigh and abdomen. Progress satisfactory. Will wire any further news.” This was followed by a letter from his son, writing on 27th January from a hospital ship taking him to the Indian port of Bombay, in which he describes how he was wounded:

“I got knocked over on the 13th. We were advancing, and came under a perfectly fiendish fire from the Turkish trenches. We could not see them, they were so awfully well dug in. We kept going on, and then they opened with their field gunswith shrapnel on us. We were still going ahead, and I was tearing along with my field glasses swinging in front of me, when some shrapnel burst very low, right n front of me and something gave my glasses an awful smack right against my right thigh, and smashed them completely. At the same time something like a forty ton hammer hit me in the pit of the stomach, and the next thing I knew it was three o’clock in the morning, I saw by my wrist watch. I could not move my legs at all, and I felt as if I had no inside left. It was bitter cold and there was still a lot of scattered firing going on. In fact, one Turkish sniper walked over me. However, I got picked up next morning and taken to camp, and next day sent down to Basra. I have had a simply wonderful escape.”

Source: Stondon, Shefford and Stotfold Parish Magazine [P83/30/1]

A Bogus Officer at Shefford

White Hart, Shefford 1907 [Z1306/101/9/10]

Monday 10th January 1916: A man masquerading as an officer has been sentenced at Biggleswade Police Court to three months hard labour for wearing the military uniform of a Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers without authorisation. Captain C. Prickett, RE. told the court that Thomas Lee, aged 21, had attended a boxing contest at Shefford wearing the uniform with a DCM ribbon, but his behaviour was “not what that of an officer ought to be”. After the boxing he went to the White Hart Hotel where he was arrested for drunkenness. He claimed that he was with the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade until he was wounded; he had been discharged from hospital in Birimingham on 9th November 1914, had been commissioned from the ranks in December 1914 and then promoted to Lieutenant on 2nd May 1915. Enquiries were made but his story could not be verified. In court his defence admitted that Lee was a soldier who had been to the front and been wounded. He had deserted from the Royal Field Artillery, but was willing to rejoin his regiment at any time.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 11th January 1916

Mud Larks in the Trenches

North Bridge Street, Shefford, c.1910-20 [Z50/101/37]

Friday 24th December 1915: Shefford soldier Lance-Corporal A. Breed of the 1st Bedfords, who is in hospital with frozen feet, writes: “Talk about mud-larks! The last time I was in the mudbaths, for one cannot call them trenches, for six days, and it rained on and off all the time. The mud was up to our knees, and if we moved far we went in up to the tops of our legs. We wore jack-boots, but I was wet footed after the first day. I was in some bad trenches last year, but these last six days are the worst I have had. My feet got numbed, and I could hardly feel them. Still I made up my mind to stick it, at least as long as I could. But on coming out I went sick. The doctor says my feet will soon be better, and I am glad to say they are geeing on lovely. I am pleased to see the people of Shefford are thinking of us again this Christmas, and I hope that you will all enjoy yourselves.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 28th December 1915

Prisoners of War from Biggleswade Area

British prisoners at Doeberitz, J.Cuffley seated right

Monday 22nd November 1915: The Biggleswade Chronicle continues to send regular food parcels to nineteen local men known to be prisoners of war in Germany. The contents and cost of this week’s packages are: bread (4d), butter (10d), cocoa (6d), loaf sugar (7½d), tinned herrings (5½d), cheese (6d), biscuits (9d), soup squares (6d), giving a total cost for each parcel of 4s 6d. The newspaper has also announced its intention to send a special Christmas parcel to all the boys on their list as prisoners of war and has managed to obtain some Christmas plum puddings from Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell which are specially made in tins for sending to prisoners of war. Woodwork instructor Mr. Arthur Moore has promised that his pupils will make boxes, which in addition to the puddings will be filled with other items to brighten the lot of the recipients. One of the parcels will also be sent to Private Jesse Brown of Langford, together with a pair of boots. Private Brown was repatriated in August as one of the disabled prisoners exchanged from German prisoners from England. He is crippled for life and readers will no doubt be anxious to know he has not been forgotten.

In news of individual prisoners, Private J. Cuffley of Shefford is incarcerated in the camp at Doeberitz. This is supposed to be the “swank” camp, with conditions better than others, but the men held there are still making appeals for food and some of the prisoners can be seen in a photograph wearing wooden shoes. Mrs. Rosa Cooper of Stondon has written a letter of thanks for the help given by the prisoner of war fund to her husband, Rifleman Arthur Cooper of the King’s Royal Rifles. Rifleman Cooper is a veteran of service in Bermuda, Crete and Malta and was a reservist when war was declared. He was sent to France within a week of being mobilised and was capture by the Germans on 3rd November 1914. His brother, Private Albert Cooper of the 1st/5th Bedfords, was involved in the fighting with the Turks. He was shot in the right eye and left hand and is now recovering in Alexandria Hospital.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle, 19th November 1915

Letters Home from Gallipoli

Scenery near Suvla Bay

Wednesday 15th September 1915: Sergeant Maurice Taylor Wood of Biggleswade has written home to his parents from Gallipoli, where he is serving with the 1/5th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. He tells them:

“I am living an open air life entirely. It seemed strange at first lying down to sleep at night on the ground and gazing up into the starlit heavens. At the present time we are camped right on the sea shore. The sea is within 15 yards of my feet and reminds me very much of Lowestoft. We are allowed to bathe before 8.00 a.m. and after 5.00 p.m. Of course we are allowed to wash and also to wash our clothes at any time. It is still very warm out here, but we are becoming accustomed to it. The nights, however, are a little chilly.”

He is optimistic that the Gallipoli campaign will not last much longer and was grateful to have received some bread the previous day, “the first bit for over a fortnight”. They had also been served Maconochie’s Army Rations which “are splendid as they contain several different kinds of vegetables … I also hear a rumour that fresh meat is also on the board”. He had been speaking to “a few old Biggleswade boys” and was sorry to report that three had been wounded.

Two Shefford men have also been wounded and are now recovering on hospital ships. Private Charles E. Dukes of Shefford has written to his mother that he was hit by a piece of shrapnel in the leg, but expects to return to the firing-line in a week or two. He says that the Turks have the advantage of knowing the country very well and of many deadly snipers, but that when they see the British bayonets, “they run as though they were racing in the Olympic Games”. The other Shefford casualty, Private Hubert Harris, was struck on the back of the head with a piece of shrapnel. He was fired on repeatedly as he crawled from the firing-line. A bullet hit him near the heart, but struck a metal cigarette case which had been given to him as a gift by the lady of the house where he was last billeted. The bullet then struck some books and papers in his pocket and was again deflected, leaving him with only a slight graze.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle 17th September 1915

Recruiting March Reaches Biggleswade

Tuesday 8th June 1915: The recruiting march of the 2/5th Bedfords visited the town of Biggleswade today. The marchers had left Sandy at 9.20 a.m. and travelled through Everton and Potton, reaching Biggleswade just after 12.30 and arriving at the Market Place just before 1pm.. The town was in holiday mood, with flags flying from the Church tower and streamers hung across Stratton Street and the High Street. The Band struck up a stirring march as the soldiers reached the Baulk. After a free afternoon the soldiers were given a foot inspection at 6 pm and at 6.30 the drums beat retreat. At 7 pm the band played a concert to a large audience following which the recruiting meeting was held. Over a thousand people heard Major Orlebar tell them of the importance of increasing the strength of the Territorial Battalion now that the 1/5th Bedfords were about to leave for the Front. It would take three to four months to train new recruits, and it was essential to have men ready to take the place of any casualties. He assured his audience that the men of Biggleswade would be kept together, with friends and comrades standing shoulder to shoulder. He promised that this principle would be adhered to so that “30 years hence, over a friendly pipe, friends would be able to tell to their children what they did during the great war. They would be able to recall old scenes of the battlefield, and tell the tale of valour, which would be a delight not only to their children but to their children’s children.”[1]  Major Orlebar saluted the town’s old Crimean War veteran Mr George Smith and said he was sure nothing would give him more pleasure than to see the young men of the town volunteer.

The march had so far been met with more discouragement than encouragement. The aim was to raise 550 men for the new battalion and after three weeks had only recruited 160. Hopes were high that Biggleswade would produce between 30 and 50 recruits. However these were disappointed as only twelve men volunteered and of these five failed to pass the medical test. The remaining seven will leave by train for Bedford at 12 pm tomorrow. The marchers are to be on parade at 8.45 am in the morning and will leave at 9.20 for Shefford.[2]

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle and North Bedfordshire Gazette, 11 June 1915

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[1] This principle inspired the famous Pals Battalions. Later in the war local men were no longer expected to serve together as the consequences for a local community of losing many of its men in a single attack were so unfortunate.

[2] A further six men volunteered at Shefford and left for Ampthill the next morning.

Shefford Man Under Fire

Robert Burnage [photograph from Roll of Honour]

Tuesday 20th October 1914: The following letter home has been received by Mr and Mrs James Burnage of Ampthill Road, Shefford from their son Sergeant Robert Burnage, who is serving at the front with the Bedfordshire Regiment:

"I received the tobacco all right. I suppose you have read a lot about this war. Well,  we don't get much time to read papers, and we cannot get them very often, but when we do we are very glad to read them to learn the news, for you at home know more about it than we do. We do not know where we are going to, nor when we start off. I have not had any beer since we arrived here on the 15th August. You have read about the Battle of Mons. Well, I shall never forget it. It was rather hot for the first time of being under fire. It was different from anyone trying to learn a bicycle a little bit at a time, for this was all at once. The shells burst all around us. It was a terrible affair. We were rather lucky in not losing many men. I suppose you have heard about George Endersby being wounded."

Souce: Ampthill and District News 31st October 1914

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Note: Robert Burnage was killed on 9 November 1914 aged 29, just three weeks after writing this letter on 18th October. He is commemorated on Le Touret memorial to the missing. George Endersby appears to have survived the war.