Photographs
and Biographies from the 4th Battalion
The photographs
below are taken from the regimental Magazine "The Wasp" and are
dated September 1917. From the absence of Lt-Colonel
Collings-Wells from the group, we can date it from
between the 12th and 20th, when he was absent and in temporary
command of the Brigade.
Sadly,
many of the faces you see below were killed or wounded six weeks
later in the disastrous Second Passcendaele on the 30th October,
when over 400 of the Battalion became casualties. And many of
those who survived that battle would become casualties the following
April when they fiercely opposed the German Spring Offensives.
The first
one shows the Officers and the second one the Sergeants. Whilst
the Officers are named, sadly the Sergeants are not.
Officers
photograph September 1917
Top
Row:
Second
Lieutenants C.W. Childs, W.D.F. Smith, Albert Victor Clark MC
[DOW 2nd January 1918], David Harold Macklin [KIA 27th March
1918], L. Humphreys, Lionel Hambling MC [see here
for his biography], W.I. Broughton, O.J. Soames
3rd
Row:
Lieutenant
H.R. Sinclair (RAMC), Second Lieutenants R.D. Webb, T. Gee,
M.A. Kruger, R.C. Fynn, Captain J.H.E. Sandford, Lt A.S. Lockhart,
2/Lt F.H. Shaw, Lt C.R. Edwards
2nd
Row:
2/Lt
A. Hayes, Captains A.C. Croskell, F.T. Spicer MC, L.G. Plumbly,
Major F.W.F. Lathom, Captain J.H. Blackwell, The Reverend H.G.
South, Captain and Quartermaster R.J. Barry, 2/Lt L.A.W. Vincent
Bottom
Row:
2/Lts
P. Shott, W.B. Stimson, Lieutenants E. Ellis, A.T. Blackett,
J.B. Primrose-Wells, 2/Lt F.A. Girling, Lt C. Keith-Johnson
MC
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Officers
of the 4th Battalion September 1917
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Sergeants
of the 4th Battalion September 1917
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 Captain
William Frank Gardiner BAIRD, 4th Battalion attached 1st Lincolns
William
was the second son of James Gardiner Baird, the 8th
Bart of Saughton Hall Midlothian, formerly Lieutenant of the 7th
Hussars, late Lt Colonel and Honorary Colonel Lothians and
Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry, and of the Honourable Arabella
Rose Evelyn Hozier, the eldest daughter of the first
Baron Newlands. He
was born on the 18th of April 1885, was educated at Eton and Sandhurst
and served for a time in the 7th Dragoon Guards and Scots Guards,
afterwards retiring from active service and joining the reserve
list as 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Bedfords.
William
was gazetted a Captain in the Bedfordshire Regiment on the 11th
of August 1914 and went to the front attached to the 1st Battalion
of the Lincolns. William was wounded in an attack on Neuve
Chapelle on October the 27th or 28th and died on the 5th of November
in hospital at Boulogne. He was a member of the Cavalry Club and
of the New Club Edinburgh and an underwriting member of Lloyds
of London.
He
married in 1910 Violet Mary daughter of Richard Croft Benyon D.L.
of Farnham's Hall Ware Herts and left three children, James Richard
Gardiner born 1913, Lilias Mary born 1911 and William Henry Gardiner
born 1914
(With
thanks to John Hamblin for the Lloyds Roll of Honour bio and photograph)
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 2nd
Lieutenant Leslie Stuart (Roger) WILKINSON
During the Battle of Ancre in November
1916 (the final phase of the Somme battles) almost 200 Bedfords
were killed or wounded as they attacked the village of Beaucourt
near Beaumont-Hamel on the north bank of the Ancre River on the
13th November. Casualties were so heavy in the Division that German
prisoners easily outnumbered the survivors, yet gave the British
troops no trouble as they were sent back to the Prisoner cages,
often without guards.
Having struggled against his wounds
for over a week, on the 21st (or 23rd) November, Roger died. He
was the son of R Wilkinson of Kensington.
(My
thanks to John Hamblin for the photograph)
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 Lt
Robert Dennis Stewart HARDING, 4th Battalion attached 1st Battalion
Robert was educated at Harrow (Rendalls's
1889-1903) and Christchurch, and was a member of the Bath Club
as well as being a member of Lloyds of London. He joined the 4th
Battalion in 1912 becoming Lieutenant in March 1913. When war
broke out he offered his services and was attached to the
1st Battalion, who he arrived with in October 1914.
The "Harrovian War Supplement"
for December 1914 included a letter from his Company CO, Captain
Monteith. In it, he describes the events around Robert’s
death:
“The enemy had broken through
the line of trenches held by the battalion on our left, and it's
break caused part of our trenches to be vacated also.
Our company was in reserve, and we formed up and brought off an
entirely successful counter attack, driving the enemy back, killing
many and capturing 25 prisoners. It was in this counterattack
that Harding fell, leading his men up a lightly wooded hill.
I did not see him fall, but missed him when we got to the ridge,
and on going back found him quite dead. Death had evidently been
instantaneous. I had formed a very high opinion of his gallantry
and coolness. I could rely on him always and he had gained
the confidence of his men, though he had only been with the company
a month. He was always bright and cheery and it was a real pleasure
to have his company on the line of march or in the trenches.”
Robert Dennis Stewart Harding was killed
in action on the 7th November 1914, aged 28 south of the Ypres-Menin
road. He was the only son of Mr and Mrs S.G.Harding of 15 Lowndes
Square S.W. Although various sources state the 9th as the date
Robert was killed, the action and description above supports the
date being the 7th November.
(With thanks to John Hamblin for the
“Bond of Sacrifice” pre war Bio and photo)
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 Private
40624 Alfred Albert BONHAM
4th
Battalion, the Bedfordshire Regiment
Alfred
was born in Kettering, lived in
Wellingborough and enlisted from Northampton.
Initially he served as Private 45194, the Suffolk Regiment but
joined the Bedfords
in December 1915. Alfred was killed in action on the 30th October
1917 as the Battalion tried in vain to assault German positions
in the knee deep mud of the Battle of Passchendaele. Conditions
were nothing short of appalling and the entire Brigade hardly
got out of their trenches, let alone made it to the enemy front
lines. Over 400 men of his Battalion became casualties that day
as well as all bar two of the Officers. Like many others lost
that day, Alfred has no known grave but is remembered on panels
48 to 50 of the Tyne Cot memorial to the missing.
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