On the 19th April 1916 the Germans soaked the battalions trenches with artillery all day long, causing many casualties. A particularly effective German raid that night saw the battalion lose a section of trench and suffer horrendous casualties in what turned into overnight brawl in the dark. The “minor battle” saw almost 250 casualties with almost half killed, which was a dreadful percentage even in terms of the Great War. The next four Officers all lost their lives in the bloody fighting that developed that night.

2/Lt Charles CARTWRIGHT

Killed in action 19th April 1916.

Charles served with the battalion from early January 1916 until his death in April. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. His name on the Menin Gate Memorial can be seen above.

Captain Roy Molyneux QUILTER

Killed in action 19th April 1916, aged 27

Roy was the second son of the late John S. Quilter F.R.I.B.A. and Sarah Amelia Willis Quilter, of 2, Ashurst Gardens, Tulse Hill, London, who lived in Streatham Hill by 1916. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. His name on the Menin Gate Memorial can be seen above.

2/Lt Douglas William McMICHAEL

Died of wounds 20th April 1916, aged 23.

Douglas landed in France with the battalion on the 30th August, having joined the army when war broke out in 1914. He was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. McMichael of Nene Cottage in Oundle, Northamptonshire and is buried in the Essex Farm cemetery, Boezinghe, on the Ypres-Dixmunde road

2/Lt Harry Anderton SQUIER

Killed in action 19th April 1916

10th battalion, attached to the 8th.

Harry was gazetted as a trainee Officer on the 23rd February 1915 and arrived with the 8th battalion in France early in 1916. Harrys body was found and buried in the Essex Farm Cemetery, Boezinghe, Ypres, where Lt-Colonel John McCrae wrote the famous poem “in Flanders Fields”.

2/Lt Sidney James VIPOND

Died of wounds 29th April 1916, aged 24.

Sidney landed in France with the battalion on the 30th August 1915 and was wounded in the fighting on April 19th/20th. Ten days later he died, still in the C.C.S. at Lijssentheok. He is buried there in the Military Cemetery, 1km south or Poperinghe west of Ypres. He was the son of James and Jane Ann Vipond, of Chelmsford, Essex.

2/Lt Leslie Croom TELFER

Died of wounds 12th May 1916.

Leslie was the son of Henry John and Emily Telfer of 5, Elgin Court in Maida Vale, London, Although he lived in St. Albans himself. His death was notified on page 13 of the 15th May 1916 edition of the Times and he is buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery

On the 15th September the battalion were involved in a large assault during the Somme offensives of 1916 against a heavily fortified positions called the Quadrilateral, north-east of Guillemont. By the time they came out of the attack over 400 casualties had been sustained including 13 of the 16 Officers involved. Six Officers fell during the fighting, being the next six casualties.

2/Lt Frank Lloyd SHARPIN

Killed in action 14th October 1916, aged 33.

9th battalion, attached to the 8th.

Frank was born in Bombay, educated at Bedford Grammar School and was working at the St. James’ branch of the County and Westminster Bank when war broke out. He enlisted into the H.A.C. arrived in France Christmas 1914. In March 1915 he was wounded by shrapnel in the jaw and returned home to recover, afterwards receiving a commission in the Bedford Regiment. He arrived with the 8th battalion not long before he was wounded on the 12 October in the front line east of Gueudecourt.  Frank was the youngest son of the Reverend F.N. Sharpin M.A. from Boxhill on Sea, who was the Archdeacon of Bombay and rector of Millbrook in Bedfordshire and Helen Sharpin. He was also the grandson of the late Henry Sharpin, 4th Light Dragoons and General Sealy, Royal Artillery. He is buried in Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, just south of Albert.

2/Lt John Seear GIBSON

Died of wounds 15th October 1916

John joined the battalion on the 14th August 1916 and was attached to the 16th Trench Mortar Battery when he fell. He was mortally wounded during an intense barrage on the 15thand died later that day. He was the fourth son of the late Edward Morris and Martha Gibson from Sutton in Surrey and the husband of Elsie May Gibson from Maidstone in Kent. John has no known grave and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial

2/Lt Charles Percival MATTEY

1st battalion attached to the 8th.

Charles died in German hands on the 22nd January 1917, having been wounded and taken prisoner whilst on night patrol on the 20th/21st. He was aged 29.

He was a bank clerk in the London and River Plate Bank in Buenos Aires when war boke out and returned to join the army, He was gazetted into the regiment from the H.A.C. on the 30th April 1916 and had only been with the battalion a matter of months before his death. Charles was the son of Elizabeth Mattey from Penglais in Burghill, Hereford, and the late George Mattey.  He is buried in the massive Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery at Souchez. His grave is shown below.

2/Lt Walter Thomas SMITH

Killed in action 3rd March 1917

Walter was wounded whilst the battalion held the line around Loos, dying the same day as he was moved back towards the casualty clearing station behind the lines. He is buried in the Cambrin Military Cemetery, 8km east of Bethune

2/Lt John Oswald TAYLOR

Killed in action 19th April 1917, aged 28.

John was gazetted as a 2/Lt 19th December 1916 and arrived with the battalion in February 1917. Around two months later John was killed during a five day battle south of Loos when over 300 of the battalion became casualties. He was the son of James O. and Mary Elizabeth Taylor of Rotherwas Park in Hereford. He has no grave but is remembered on the Arras memorial to the missing.

Captain James Elliot BLACK, MC

Killed in action 19th April 1917, aged 30.

James was the Medical Officer attached to the 8th battalion during the assault around Loos. He was the son of Adam Elliot Black and Mary Bruce Murray Black of Finglen in Campsie Glen, Stirlingshire and is buried in the Philosophe British Cemetery in Mazingarbe.

2/Lt Donald Samuel WRIGHT

Died of wounds 25th April 1917 having been wounded on the 19th south if Loos.

1st battalion attached to the 8th. Although Donald is clearly shown in the regimental history and the SDGW volumes I have been unable to trace him in any other sources so cannot expand on his story.

Captain Frank Lydford BODY

Died of wounds 18th June 1917, aged 25.

Frank joined the Inns of Court O.T.C. in August 1914 and was gazetted to the 8th battalion early in 1915. He arrived in France with them 30th August 1915 and was promoted to Captain the following year. In addition to surviving the Loos and Somme battles, on the 3rd December 1916 he led a small Officers patrol into German trenches, surprised and killed a sentry and returned to his lines with the information he was sent to acquire. On the 15th June 1917 he and another man were wounded whilst on a nightime working party but Captain Body died frm his wounds three days later in the C.C.S. at Bethune. Frank was the son of Mr and Mrs Charles Ash Body, J.P. of "The Cedars," 34 Sydenham Hill in Sydenham, London and is buried in the Bethune Town cemetery

Lieutenant Brian Hugh Bridgeman LETHBRIDGE

Died of wounds 19th July 1917, aged 24.

Brian was born at St. Leonards and educated at Senfield, Collington, Bexhill and Fested, where he joined the O.T.C. When war broke out he joined the London Mounted Field Ambulance where he was recommended for a commission which was gazetted on the 23rd February 1915. He was promoted to Lieutenant in October 1916 and died from wounds he received on the 19th July whilst in trenches opposite Hulluch, two weeks after returning from a spell of leave. He was the eldest son of The Reverend B. H. S. Lethbridge and Ella Lethbridge of St. Luke's Vicarage in Enfield, Middx. and is buried in the Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe, midway between Lens and Bethune.

2/Lt Hugh Cecil MOXON

Died of wounds 19th July 1917, aged 20.

Hugh was in the 5th Battalion but attached to the 8th Battalion of the Bedfords in France. The 8th Battalion were moving into the trenches to relieve the 1st Kings Shropshire Light Infantry on the 19th when he was wounded. Although they got him back to the Aid Post, he died later that night. He was the son of the late Rev. E. A. Moxon, Vicar of All Saints, Newmarket, and of Maud M. Moxon, of Oak Cottage, Great Shelford, Cambs, and is buried in Bethune Town Cemetery.

Photographs of Hugh can be seen in Leonard Brereton’s photo album here.

Lieutenant Rennie Alexander AIRTH

Killed in action 29th July 1917, aged 23, whilst attached to the 7th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. Rennie was the son of George Rennie Airth and Alice Pemberton Airth of South Africa and is buried in the Dozinghem Military Cemetery, 4km north of Poperinghe due west of Ypres.

Captain John HISLOP, MC

Killed in action 22nd September 1917

John Hislop was born at Grave de Leq Barracks, Jersey in 1872, when the 1st Battalion of the 16th Foot was stationed there. He was the eldest son of Honorary Major & Quarter Master Archibald Hislop, who served in the Regiment from 1861 to 1896 and 1900 to 1902.

John attested for service with the 1st Battalion in June 1888, aged 15 years, 11 months, and was posted to the Depot (by then a Lance Corporal) from Malta in December 1890. He was promoted to Corporal in August 1891 and posted to the 2nd Battalion in May 1892. He returned to the 1st Battalion, by then a Sergeant, in February 1896, proceeding to the East Indies. He was promoted Colour Sergeant in April 1900 and posted home to the 2nd Battalion in January 1906. He reverted to Sergeant, "at his own request", in August 1906. He was again promoted to Colour Sergeant in July 1907, embarking for Gibraltar in August. In January 1908 he again reverted to Sergeant "at his own request" and was discharged to a pension, after 19 years, 265 days service, in February 1908. He lived in Ealing and gained employment with the Prison Service.

When war broke out in 1914 John attested for the Bedfordshire Regiment as a Private, was posted to the Depot and resumed the rank of Sergeant - all on 21st September 1914. He was posted to the newly established 8th Battalion on 24th September and promoted CSM on 13th October. He proceeded to France in August 1915 and was appointed Acting RSM "in the field" in October that year. In December 1915 he was appointed to a Commission as a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant, still with the 8th Battalion.

Promotion to Temporary Lieutenant a few weeks later in January 1916, was followed by the award of the Military Cross "for distinguished service in the field" in June 1916. His citation reads "During a heavy gas attack, carrying ammunition up to the front line and digging out two machine gunners who had been buried by a shell, all under heavy gun-fire."

He was invalided home due to illness contracted through exposure in the trenches and, after two months sick leave, joined the 27th Training Reserve Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment at Dovercourt.

John was killed instantaneously by a shell while proceeding up the line with supports. His last words written to his wife were "Duty must be done. Cheerio." Captain Hislop's Commanding Officer wrote to his wife as follows: "He was killed at the head of his company, whilst leading it to the firing line, on the night of Sept. 22. Fighting was very heavy, and, unfortunately, it was necessary to pass through a heavily shelled area. It was when doing this that your husband and several others lost their lives. We shall all miss him very much indeed. He died grandly, nobly doing his duty to the last as a British soldier, and is now resting from his labours with the many others who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country."

Captain John Hislop, M.C. was aged 45 years and left a widow and six children, the eldest of whom, Leslie, was serving with the Middlesex Regiment at the time - he later served with the Bedfordshire Regiment TF. He has no known grave, but he is commemorated on panel 48 at the Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele, Belgium. One of his grandsons, Roger, must have inherited his soldier genes, serving for many years in the King's, Liverpool Regiment. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and his last posting was Officer Commanding the 5th (Territorial) Battalion. In addition to the Military Cross, Captain Hislop qualified for the 1914 - 15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

2/Lt Hugh Frederick Raleigh AMESBURY

Killed in action 20th November 1917, aged 27.

Hugh served with 1st Division Canadian Expeditionary Force at Ypres and on the Somme, and was wounded at Thiepval in July 1916.  He was killed (along with Henry Forge below) whilst commanding D Company of the 8th Battalion in their attack on the main Hindenburg Line on 20th November, north of Villiers Plouich. Hugh was born at Gujranwala in the Punjab, India and was the son of Major Frederick Cholmondeley Dering Amesbury (of the Indian Army), and of Henrietta Ferris Amesbury. He was the husband of Emma Mary Amesbury, of London and was buried at Ribercourt British Cemetery.

2/Lt Henry Noel Francis FORGE

Killed in action 20th November 1917, aged 19.

Henry was from the Territorial 5th Battalion but had been attached to the 8th Battalion of the Bedfords in France. He was the son of the Rev. John Francis Forge and Annie Louisa Forge, of Walmley Vicarage, Erdington, Birmingham. Henry was wounded on the 27th June 1917 and later killed (along with Hugh Amesbury above) during the attack against the main Hindenburg Line, north of Villers-Plouich., and is buried in the Villers Plouich Comunal Cemetery.

Lieutenant Leonard DOLMAN

Died of wounds 31st December 1917, aged 28.

Leonard Dolman arrived in France with the battalion sometime in 1916 and was awarded the Belgian Croix-de-Guerre. Sadly he was the last Officer to die in combat before the battalion were disbanded the following February. At 6.30am on the 21st December a fifteen strong German raiding party tried to get into the right section of the battalions trenches. The platoon who manned the section were led by Lieutenant Dolman and repelled the raiders with heavy losses inflicted on the enemy and Leonard being the only Bedford hurt in the exchange. A delayed bomb was thrown by a German raider which went off near his foot and badly wounded him. He died from the effects of the wounds ten days later on New Years Eve whilst at No.45 Casualty Clearing Station. Leonard was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Dolman of Pulham Market in Norfolk and is buried in the Achiet-le-grand Communal Cemetery extension, 3km north-west of Bapaume.