Leighton Buzzard Soldier Receives Military Cross

British troops at Aveluy Wood, November 1916

[Imperial War Museum Q1564 reproduced under IWM Non Commercial Licence]

Thursday 12th September 1918: Leighton Buzzard officer Second Lieutenant Henry Guess of the Royal West Kent Regiment attended Buckingham Palace yesterday and was presented with the Military Cross by the King. This was awarded to him for his courage and leadership at Aveluy Wood last March. The commendation reads:

“He displayed great courage in controlling his men during a determined hostile attack, and later, when the enemy penetrated the line, he organised his platoon to cover the portion that was broken and then, counter-attacking, regained all lost ground. His services were of the utmost value to his company commander.”

Lieutenant Guess joined the Army in 1914 and has spent much time on active service. He was mentioned in despatches during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and was promoted from the ranks in 1917. In June he was seriously wounded by shrapnel during fighting around Albert, being hit in the neck, left shoulder and left leg. The leg wound was particularly severe and he is still on sick leave.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 17th September 1918

A Conspiracy Theory

Noel Pemberton Billing 1916 [Wikipedia]

Thursday 6th June 1918: During the recent libel trial of Noel Pemberton Billing M.P.,  it was suggested that the deaths in battle of Major Evelyn de Rothschild of Ascott (near Linslade) and the Honorable Neil Primrose last year (the son of Lord Rosebery of Mentmore Towers) were in fact murder. This crime was supposedly carried out because the two men knew of the so-called German “Black Book”, which is said to list the names of 47,000 men who are being blackmailed by the German High Command because of their homosexuality. Mr Pemberton Billing is the publisher of The Vigilante magazine (formerly The Imperialist), which is well known for its anti-Semitism and regularly claims that Britain is the victim of a Jewish and homosexual conspiracy.[1]

Lieutenant-Colonel the Honorable F. H. Cripps, D.S.O., the commanding officer of Major de Rothschild and the Honorable Neil Primrose, writes:

“In the recent trial a statement was made that two officers in the regiment were murdered from the rear in the Palestine campaign. I desire to give an absolute and unqualified denial to this foul suggestion against the honour of the regiment and of two of my brother officers, who fell under Turkish fire while leading their men with great gallantry on two different occasions. Both Major Evelyn de Rothschild and Captain the Hon. Neil Primrose were near me when they fell, and in tribute to their memory I wish to make the most positive statement in contradiction of the abominable suggestion made at the recent trial. I hope that for the honour of the regiment you will make my statement as widely known as possible.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 11th June 1918

[1] Pemberton Billing was sued by American actress Maud Allen, who played the lead role in a private performance of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome, after Pemberton Billing suggested she was a lesbian. Oscar Wilde’s former lover Lord Alfred Douglas was called as a witness to the danger posed by Wilde and his works. Pemberton Billing won the case.

Luton Airman Receives Military Cross and Bar

Paul Ward Spencer Bulman

Sunday 14th April 1918: Rev. Thomas Bulman, the Vicar of St. Paul’s Luton, has received the following letter from the commanding officer of his son, Paul Ward Spencer Bulman:

“It is with the greatest possible pleasure I write to inform you that yesterday the great news came through that your son Paul has been awarded a bar to his Military Cross. He has more than earned it by splendid work, especially during the recent operations. My heartiest congratulations to you and yours.”

This means that within the last six months Captain Bulman has been mentioned in dispatches, awarded the Military Cross, promoted to Captain, and has now been awarded a bar to add to the Military Cross. Captain Bulman is serving in France with the Royal Air Force as Flight Commander of a squadron.

Source: Luton News, 11th April 1918

Naval Officer Released by Germans

Ruined entrance to Termond, Belgium 1914 [Z160/484]

 

Saturday 30th March 1918: Lieutenant-Commander Robert Francis Crossman, of the Royal Naval Division, the great-nephew of Mr. J.W. Crossman, Chairman of the Bedford Conservative Club, has just returned to England after three years as a prisoner in Germany. He was captured by the Germans at Manbeke in Belgium after the evacuation of Antwerp, suffering from shell shock and an injury to the head. While waiting to have his head dressed he was ill-treated by his captors, and was placed in a camp at Halle “where the food was uneatable and the sanitary arrangements deplorable”; the prisoners were not allowed to smoke for two months, and many of the parcels which came for them from England were taken by the guard. They were moved to a camp at Hugustabad where they were treated comparatively well. In the winter of 1916 he attempted to escape with six other officers. They spent 6½ months digging a tunnel 72 yards long, which went underneath the main road and came up near an ice shed outside the camp. They crawled through the tunnel to freedom, but it was short-lived as they were discovered by a sportsman’s dog while hiding in a wood. The escapees were locked up together in one room for two days, then taken to Gustrow Camp for 14 days solitary confinement. About a week before the escape attempt he had cut the top of one of his fingers, and blood poisoning set in. When he reached Switzerland he had to have his finger amputated.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 5th April 1918

 

Note: Although the report does not give the reason for Lt-Commander Crossman’s return to England, it is likely that it was as part of an exchange of incapacitated prisoners.

The Last Great Cavalry Charge

Bedfordshire Yeomanry, High Street, Leighton Buzzard 1914-1918 [Z1432/3/20/4]

Friday 4th January 1918: Further news has been received of the action in Palestine during which Lord Rosebery’s younger son, the Honorable Neil Primrose M.P., was killed and Major Evelyn de Rothschild of Ascott House fatally wounded. During this war the tradition of charging the enemy on horseback has largely disappeared, but the two cousins were killed in what must surely be one of the last cavalry charges in the old style.* Captain John Douglas Young M.C. of the Royal Bucks Hussars writes:

“We have made two charges, which are being talked about all along the line. We charged in line over two miles of perfectly flat plain, swept by shells and machine gun fire. Our men and horses were mad with excitement. The enemy, about 3,000 strong, were in an almost impregnable position, on top of a long and very steep ridge, 200 feet high. We went straight to the top and into them. We captured all their machine guns, enormous quantities of ammunition, two guns, and 1200 prisoners, and we never stopped to the count the dead.”

During the second charge  “We went part of the way dismounted, and then led our horses up, and charged again. Probably if we had not we should have been wiped out, as they outnumbered us six to one. But they hate the sight of our swords, and just as we reached the crest of the mountain (at least it looked like a mountain) they cleared. It was a wonderful sight. Neil Primrose was killed in the last charge, and Evelyn Rothschild (since dead) was dangerously wounded in the first. We buried poor Neil this morning. He was a very gallant fellow.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 8th January 1918

* The charge of the 6th Mounted Brigade at El Mughar in Palestine on 13th November 1917 was indeed the last great British cavalry charge, although later charges took place in Syria in 1918 with Indian and Australian troops. 

Major Evelyn de Rothschild and Hon. Neil Primrose MP Killed

Ascott House, Wing [Wikimedia]

Sunday 25th November 1917: Major Evelyn de Rothschild of Ascott, near Linslade, has died of wounds while fighting in Palestine. Major Evelyn was called home in May when his father, Mr. Leopold de Rothschild was seriously ill, but did not arrive in time to see his father alive or to attend the funeral. He stayed in England for some time before returning to Egypt with his cousin, the Honorable Captain Neil Primrose  who had obtained a commission in the same squadron. Major Evelyn spent much of his life at Ascott where he was able to indulge his great love of horses and hunting. He rarely missed a meet of the Rothschild stag hounds and was very popular in the field. His funeral took place at Cairo on Monday.

Tragically the Hon. Neil Primrose, the younger son of Lord Rosebery of Mentmore Towers, was killed in the same action as his cousin. He had served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Wisbech since 1910 and had held office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Foreign Office, as Military Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions and as a Whip. In 1915 he married Lady Victoria Alice Louise Stanley, the daughter of Minister for War Lord Derby; he leaves an infant daughter.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 20th and 27th November 1917

Edgar Mobbs

Edgar Mobbs [Image source: Wikimedia]

Monday 15th October 1917: Donations of £1,800 have so far been received from subscribers to the memorial fund set up following the death of former England Rugby international player Lieutenant-Colonel Edgar Mobbs on 31st July. An in memoriam souvenir booklet published for the benefit of the fund includes the following interesting letter written by a fellow old boy of Bedford Modern School, 2nd Lieutenant N. Spencer, with the heading “How he charged to certain death”:

“I was F.O.O. in the stunt, and went over the top and saw Mobbs. Perhaps I was one of the last officers he spoke to. Anyway, my last sight of him is something that will be worth remembering of him in the old Bedford Modern School. We had waited three hours for the time to come, and the rain, mud, etc., well, the papers tell you all this. Then the minute came – forward through seas of mud and terrific shelling … I was right behind Mobbs, introduced myself to him just before the hour as an old B.M.S. boy, and talked about Rugger and R. C. Stafford. In the tornado of hostile shelling he got ahead, and, seeing a number of his men cut down by an undiscovered machine gun strong point, he charged it to bomb it – certain death under such a terrific hail of shell – and he went down. I have seen men, and good men, but for a man of his standing and his rank it was magnificent. I sat down afterwards in a captured dugout, and instead of that picture, I saw the old three-quarter in his own “25” get the ball from a crumpled up scrum and go clean through scrum and on. The same man, the same determination, a born leader.”

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 12th October 1917

Death of Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Blewitt

Heath Manor, Heath and Reach, c.1930 [Z1432/3/17/1]

Thursday 13th September 1917: Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Blewitt, whose three sisters live at Heath Manor House opposite St. Leonard’s Church in Heath and Reach, has died in France of wounds received from a bomb. Born in Pinner and educated at Eton, he was gazetted to his first commission in the King’s Royal Rifles in 1883. He took part in the expedition to Manipur in 1891, and was mentioned in despatches after the action of Abu Hamed during the Nile Expedition of 1897. In the following year he took part in the battles of Atbara and Khartoum, being twice mentioned in despatches, and he saw further service on the Nile in 1899. He served as a governor of Khartoum province under General Kitchener before returning to his regiment. He retired in 1905 and settled in New Zealand. At the beginning of the war he returned to England and offered his services to the government. He was re-employed with the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and placed in charge of several training camps. He was later sent to China to recruit a team of coolies to work in France, bringing them to Europe in a chartered steamer. His most recent post was a command in the Labour Corps, presumably in charge of the Chinamen. At the time of his death he was 56 years old.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 11th September 1917; Poverty Bay Herald, 21stSeptember 1917

Eggington Vicar's Son Killed in Action

Eggington, c.1910 [Z50/42/3]

Saturday 4th August 1917: Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Joseph Elton Sunderland of the Devon Regiment, the eldest son of the Reverent James Sunderland, Vicar of Eggington, had been killed in action. Colonel Sunderland was born in 1875 and joined the Devon Regiment in 1895. He served in the Boer War, where he took part in the relief of Ladysmith. As a result of his actions in South Africa he received the Queen’s medal with six clasps and the King’s medal with two. He was gazetted Major in September 1915, and temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in March last year.

A Toddington man has been more fortunate. Herbert Alfred Nicholls has written to his father to tell him that he has survived a gas attack but is now in hospital in France. He wrote: “I was coming out of the trenches when Fritz put over a barrage of shell gas. I put my gas helmet on when they sent over shrapnel and high explosives, and it came down and destroyed my gas mask and never touched me. I thought my time was up. I got my handkerchief and water bottle and soaked it, and put it over my mouth when they started dropping gas shells all around me. I made a dash for it as best I could. All I remember is being in the dressing station, and then in the Red Cross train, having had 10oz of blood taken out of my arm to kill the gas in me … I am feeling too weak to write any more.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 7th and 14th August 1917

Lord Lucas Reported Missing

Lord Lucas [from Roll of Honour]

Tuesday 7th November 1916: Captain Auberon Herbert, Lord Lucas, an Old Boy of Bedford School and the owner of Wrest House (now in use as a military hospital LINK), has been reported missing. The magazine of his former school makes the following report:

“He was serving with the Royal Flying Corps in France, and made a flight over the German lines on November 4th. He did not return from this flight, and so far nothing has been heard of him or his machine. Lord Lucas was wounded during the South African War, in which he was acting as a correspondent of The Times. As a result of his wounds his leg had to be amputated below the knee. During the first few months of the present war he was a member of the Cabinet, holding the office of President of the Board of Agriculture. On the formation of the Coalition in May of last year he was one of the Ministers who retired. He immediately gave up political work and joined the Royal Flying Corps, although over the standard age (for this branch of the service) of 30.” “He soon gained his pilot’s certificate, and was sent to Egypt, where he did a good deal of flying. After a time he came back to England, and was for some months engaged in instructing recruits for the Flying Corps. A few months ago, while he was coaching an air pilot, his machine dived and the pilot was killed, but Lord Lucas escaped. Recently he went out to France for the life of greater activity which he preferred.”

Source: The Ousel, 18th November 1916 [Z447/23]

Death of Captain Martin of Linslade

Horace Edmund Martin

Monday 26th June 1916: Captain Horace Edmund Martin, son of Mr. John Jeffrey Martin of Linslade, has died of shrapnel wounds. Despite the best surgical attention, Captain Martin suffered blood poisoning and relapsed. His parents and fiancée had been warned that he was dangerously ill and travelled to France, where they were with him at the military hospital at Le Treport where he died last Sunday (18th). After receiving his early education at Mr. Douglas’s school at Beechcroft, Leighton Buzzard, Horace Martin spent two years at Aylesbury Grammar School before taking his degree at FitzWilliam Hall, Cambridge where he captained the cricket team. Before the war Captain Martin toured Belgium with his great friend and Cambridge tutor, Dr. L Alston. In 1914 he accepted the post of history master at Ealing County School. At Aylesbury Grammar School he was one of the founders of the School Cadet Corps, and he maintained his interest in the cadets at Cambridge. In September 1914 he was commissioned in the 2/8th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. After training he went first to Gibraltar, then in a draft of reinforcements to join the 1/8th Battalion in France. He was gazetted Captain in December 1915. He had been acting as an instructor for some weeks before he was wounded.

Horace Martin had been associated with St. Barnabas Church, Linslade from childhood, first as a little boy in Sunday School, then as a choirboy and later as choirman and reader. The early celebration of Holy Communion at the Church yesterday morning was a requiem service, and a memorial service for Captain Martin was held at the close of Evensong. The altar was beautifully decorated by the choir in memory of their former comrade, and the lectern was surrounded by roses and carnations as a memorial gift from the St. Barnabas Lodge of Freemasons, of which Captain Martin’s father was formerly Master. After the service the flowers were sent to a hospital for wounded soldiers.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 27th June 1916

7th Bedfords Want Socks

Sock pattern [Z160/60]

Tuesday 16th May 1916: 2nd Lieutenant G. H. A Hughes, the son of Reverend F. C. Hughes who served as minister of Wellington Street Baptist Church, Luton, until 1914, is home on leave from France, where he is serving with the 7th Bedfords. He has contacted the Luton News with this message:

“I am home on leave and return to ‘somewhere out there’ tomorrow … What I want to see you about is getting our fellows a supply of socks and “other comforts.” Of course you will know what “other comforts” are – cigarettes and that kind of thing. You see, when a chap goes into the trenches for some days he does not take off his boots, and that sort of thing, with fatigue duties thrown in, soon polishes off a pair of socks. Practically a fellow wants a fresh pair of socks every week, and I thought perhaps, if the Luton News would remind Bedfordshire that there is a 7th Beds Regiment, and recall to the kind residents of Luton that quite a number of Lutonians are enlisted in that regiment, the fellows might get what they so badly stand in need of. I am afraid the 7th Beds are, after all, very little known; or, at any rate, not remembered as they should be.”

Source: Luton News, 18th May 1916

Death of Captain William Griffiths

Bedford Grammar School, 1907 [Z1130/9/2/1/25]

Tuesday 11th April 1916: Captain William Percival Griffiths, the son of Mrs. A. Griffiths of 162 Bromham Road, Bedford, and the late Revd. J. Griffiths, has been killed in action with the 10th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. An Old Bedfordian, “Griffin” (as he was known) was one of the most promising boys of recent years and had won a senior scholarship at Oxford which he postponed to join the army in September 1914. His commanding officer writes:

“During the fighting on the 30/3/16, he was twice slightly wounded, and most gallantly continued in his duty. He was killed while trying to get a wounded man into the trench. He did not suffer, being killed instantly, being shot through the head. The conditions of the fighting and the trenches were such that it was impossible to take him back. He was buried the same night, close to the place in the front line trench where he fell. The position is registered. I regret that I did not know him personally, as I have only just taken over command  of this Battalion, but I know from all his friends that he was a very fine soldier, and that he died doing his duty fearlessly. He was recommended for his work on March 2nd, and I hope to see his name mentioned in despatches.”

A fellow officer has also written to his parents: “Poor Griffin (as he was known to all of us) was easily the most popular officer with us. He possessed the most wonderful character – brave, cheerful, and intensely lovable. I have never met anyone possessing such an absolute contempt for danger, and we were all constantly warning him to be less reckless. He met his death just after making a particularly daring reconnaissance. He was killed instantaneously, and his orderly was badly wounded at the same time. Griffin had been twice mentioned for distinction for valuable and gallant work, and had he lived would have brought great honour to his regiment. I hope that the knowledge that he died so gallantly and in such a cause will temper your grief. It is simply awful for the few of us left behind to lose such a wonderful comrade and soldier. There are only five of us left that left England last September.”

Source: The Ousel, 24 May 1916 [Z447/23]

Cows in the Road

Cattle on the road at Riseley, c.1910-25 [Z1306/96/6/3]

Tuesday 22nd February 1916: A Silsoe farmer has appeared at the County Court to defend himself against a claim for damages brought by Lieutenant Stanley Lambert, Army Service Corps, of Stockwood Crescent, Luton. At about 6pm last Wednesday Lt. Lambert was on military duty driving a motorcycle with a side car from Bedford to Luton, with his sergeant as passenger. Just before they reached the bridge between Silsoe and Barton he slowed, but it was very dark and he ran into a cow, seriously damaging his motorcycle. Ronald Harris of Silsoe has land on both sides of the road, and at the time of the accident two cows were crossing from the farm to the field opposite. However, the gate was shut and the animals were straggling across the road, and Lt. Lambert alleged that nobody was in charge of them. He went to the farm and complained to Mr. Harris who replied "I have had many complaints from motor drivers, but I have always beat them". He then produced a little boy who he said was supposed to have been in control of the cows.

Lt. Lambert said he had met cattle in the same spot before. On this occasion he saw what he thought was a cart loom out of the darkness, but this turned out to be two cows; unable to stop in time, he had struck one of them in the "softest" place. He also claimed that Harris had said "I have always succeeded in making the motorists pay". The judge reluctantly gave judgment for the farmer, as legal precedent held that there was no duty on the owner of cattle occupying premises adjoining a highway to prevent his cattle straying onto the road.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 22nd February 1916

More News of Lieutenant Lansberry

SS Appam [Wikimedia]

Monday 21st February 1916: The parents of Lt. Thomas Lansberry of Bedford have heard more news of their son, who was taken prisoner last month by a German raiding party which captured the ship on which he was being invalided home from West Africa.  In a letter from Dr. S. Deane of the West African Medical Service they were told:

“I knew your son very well indeed, and he was under my charge on the Appam. As you doubles know, all the military and naval officers were transferred to the raider, and I myself was also placed for a time in that ship, but subsequently released. I therefore know the conditions under which those detained on board lived. Needless to say there was discomfort and inconvenience, but the attitude of the Germans was quite kindly. The food was not plentiful but sufficient for health, and exercise is allowed every day. The unpleasant time is of course when the ship is in action, the suspense of not knowing what is happening. He had been in quite good health on the Appam, but I was very sorry to hear he had not been too well on the raider when the lat of those allowed to return to the Appam left. I regret that I cannot tell you any more except that the doctor on the German boat was a nice man, and seemed very competent; also the ship was extremely well fitted with medical requirements of all kinds, and I think you can rely on it that should he require any treatment he will receive every possible attention. There are about six or eight of our men on board, all extremely nice men, so he is among good friends."

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 25th February 1916

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]

New Vehicle Lighting Regulations

Marquis of Northampton's Car after accident at Dunstable, 1908 [Z1306/36/18/2]

Tuesday 11th January 1916: New regulations relating to lights on vehicles came into force in Bedfordshire yesterday. Under these rules the use of headlights on motor cars is prohibited. All vehicles must carry a lamp displaying a white light at the front. Unless the vehicle is a bicycle this must be displayed at the extreme right hand side of the vehicle; if a second lamp is carried this must be at the extreme left hand side. At the rear a red lamp must be displayed, again at the extreme right hand side of the vehicle. If electric lamps are used the bulb must not exceed 12 watts and the longer side or diameter of the front glass must not exceed six inches; other restrictions are in place for acetylene and oil lamps.

The difficulties likely to arise from the new regulations have already been demonstrated by Ronald Guy Larking, an officer of the Royal Engineers who appeared today at the Borough Court charged with assaulting a special constable in an argument over motor car headlamps. After being convicted and fined £1 he told the magistrates that the previous night four members of the mobile corps of signallers to which he belonged had been sent out from Baldock. There were seven accidents that night, two involving dispatch riders and the others civilians. He himself had travelled to Cambridge and estimated that even though he had a fairly bright light he had run on to the grass verge nearly fifty times. He suggested an exception should be made for officers and dispatch riders on duty; they could not possibly carry out their work safely, and it seemed ridiculous that men should be injured by falling off their bicycles in the dark. The police superintendent pointed out that Mr. Larking had not properly read his instructions. An order had been made some weeks ago that military motor cars on duty could use headlights, on condition that while doing so they must carry a green light on each side.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 28th December 1915 and 18th January 1916

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

Honours for Luton Hoo Sons

 Lieutenant Harold Wernher

Tuesday 4th January 1916: Congratulations are in order for Lieutenants Harold and Alexander Wernher, two of the three sons of Lady Wernher of Luton Hoo. Harold Wernher, who has been serving in France with the 12th Royal Lancers since the beginning of the war, has been mentioned in dispatches for gallant conduct in the Field as one of just four officers from his regiment singled out by Sir John French for that honour. Alexander Werner, aged just 18, has been serving with the Buckinghamshire Hussars. After three months working on the staff of the 1st Army he has now been officially appointed to the staff of General Sir Horace Smith-Durrien and has left with him for South Africa.

Lieutenant Alexander Wernher

Lieutenant Harold celebrated his 21st birthday in 1914 with three days of functions and entertainments at Luton Hoo, at which a number of presentations were made to him by the Luton Corporation and other local bodies. He had hoped to be able to take a close interest in local affairs but has been prevented from doing so by the war. At his brother’s coming of age celebrations Alderman H.O. Williams of Luton proposed a toast to Alexander, in which he referred to the part played by younger sons had in the spread of the Empire and looked to the young man to play his own part in the service of the nation. Given the part Lieutenant Alexander is now to play in the German East African campaign, the Alderman’s words seem prophetic. 

Source: Luton Times, 7th January 1916

Christmas in a German PoW Camp

 Postcard “The Dining Room on Christmas Day”

2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment in Bermuda 1911 [X550/19/34/10]

Saturday 1st January 1916: A Leighton Buzzard family have heard from a relative, Captain Wagstaff of the the 1st Battalion of the Beds Regiment, who has been a prisoner in Germany since 1914. The imprisoned officers have been making the best of their situation and managed to celebrate Christmas in some style:

Our Christmas here was so different to last year, when we had no parcels and precious little of anything else. --- sent me two little Christmas trees, and we had them on Christmas Eve for all the British; there were toys for them, tops and whistles, and we had such fun. We began with hot punch, as we were allowed special 'wine' for the day and that was the best way to drink it. Then the tree was all lit up with candles and then we made a snapdragon with raisins, and we finished with bobbing for apples in a tub of water, Colonels and everyone. It helped us so much. Then we sat round the tree and talked about you all and wondered what you were doing. 

We had our big meal on Christmas evening, a selection of all the best things anyone had in their parcels; we secured a white table cloth and some serviettes for the occasion and the centre was occupied by a large jam pot (concealed) full of artificial carnations ... We managed to get a ten pound turkey through the canteen, cooked in the kitchen by the 'chef' of the biggest hotel in Bordeaux: the chestnut stuffing we made ourselves in the room from a recipe in Pears' Encyclopaedia, rather changed; the rest of the meal was all from parcels. Each of us had a menu with our regimental colours on it. I don't know how we should have got through the day without this to think of and arrange for.

 Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 1st February 1916