Introduction

This year saw the first blooding of Kitchener's Army, made up of the service battalions recruited for the duration of the war, and including 6th, 7th and 8th Bedfords, on the Somme. This terrible battle lasted from 1 July to 18 November and was the result of the equally terrible Battle of Verdun. Verdun was a massive attack by the Germans on the French at one of the key points in their line and a blatant attempt by the German Commanderin- Chief, Erich von Falkenhayn, to ‘bleed France white’. It began on 21 February and lasted until 16 December, over twice as long as the Battle of the Somme. Eventual casualties at Verdun were about 400,000 French and 340,000 Germans. It was thus almost as much of a disaster for Germany as for France, and led to Falkenhayn's dismissal.

The Anglo-French offensive on the Somme was designed to take the pressure off the embattled French armies at Verdun and came about largely as a result of the pleading of the French Commander-in-Chief, General Joseph Joffre. It is often forgotten in Britain that the French played a major part in the Somme offensive, suffering some 200,000 casualties.

The thing that is chiefly remembered about the Somme is, of course, the dreadful First Day, 1 July, when the British army lost more casualties than ever before, or since, in a single 24-hour period. Some 57,470 men became casualties on that beautiful summer's day, of whom 19,240 were killed or died of their wounds. It is interesting to note that 30th Division, of which 2nd Bedfords now formed a part, along with the 18th Division on its left (which contained the 7th Bedfords) were the two most successful British divisions on that day, taking all their objectives. Many divisions made absolutely no advance at all, being forced back to their starting points by overwhelming German artillery and machine gun fire and counter-attacks.

The 2nd Bedfords did not play a prominent part on 1 July, the attack being made by the Kitchener's Army battalions of the King's (Liverpool) and Manchester Regiments. The battalion was involved in heavy fighting at Trônes Wood on 11 July and took Maltz Horn Farm, in conjunction with the French 153rd Regiment, on 30 July, as part of a larger attack on Guillemont.