Bedfordshire Regt wounded, November 1914

I've been transcribing - for some while now - non fatal casualties reported in The Times newspaper for 1914. I expect to complete this task this year and will then augment the data with other 1914 data.

The men listed below all served with the Bedfordshire Regiment and were all reported as having been wounded. Their names were notifed to the War Office on the 27th November 1914 and they appeared in a casualty list published in The Times on the 5th January 1915.

I publish this small sample here because it serves as useful spotlight on the British Army at this particular time. I have not anlaysed this list of wounded men in particular depth but I can tell, by looking as far as 6927 APte Arthur Mabbott, that there are a lot of men from the Special Reserve in this list. I have indicated this by noting (3rd Battalion) next to their names, although this detail does not appear in the official casualty lists.

It is important to note the difference between regular soldiers and men of the Special Reserve. Whereas the former were career soldiers, the Special Reserve were men who had enlisted for part-time soldiering only, albeit they would have known that they would be sent out as drafts to the regular battalions if they were needed.  It is also important to remember that the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions adopted a completely different regimental numbering sequence to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. So whereas 6313 Joseph Knightley, for instance, must have enlisted as a career soldier in July 1898, 6237 Pte William Levitt and 6381 Pte J Smith had both enlisted in 1910.

Such important distinctions are not generally noted in casualty lists, although the simple addition of a 3/ prefix to the special reservists' numbers would have made it very obvious what these men's origins were and when they had enlisted.

What this list says to me though is that already, by November 1914, the Bedfordshire Regiment had suffered significant losses and had already taken in large numbers of men from the Special Reserve. These men too, were now returning back to England as wounded soldiers.

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4677 Pte Arthur Worbey 
5366 Sgt G Hodge 
5373 Sgt E Hutchinson 
6037 Pte A Mills 
6108 Pte Alfred Richardson (3rd Battalion)
6137 Pte Arthur Holt (3rd Battalion)
6234 Pte S Webb 
6237 Pte Roger William Levitt (3rd Battalion)
6313 Pte Joseph Knightley 
6381 Pte J Smith (3rd Battalion)
6388 Pte John T Bates 
6494 Pte Arthur Green 
6512 Pte Albert S Fitch 
6707 Pte Harry Darlow (3rd Battalion)
6712 Pte W Waller 
6779 Pte A Abbott 
6827 Pte Charles Harley 
6849 Pte J F Randall (3rd Battalion)
6858 Pte Charles Gregory (3rd Battalion)
6916 Pte Abel Clark (3rd Battalion)
6927 Pte Arthur Mabbott (3rd Battalion)
6991 Pte G Thompson 
7017 Pte B Wood 
7030 Pte J Keep 
7066 Pte F Gooding 
7171 Pte S Evans 
7174 Pte A Butler 
7216 Pte F Coppin 
7289 Pte W Webb 
7398 Pte H Gray 
7412 Pte E Carter 
7451 Pte Arthur H Haile 
7570 Pte J Goodwin 
7612 Sgt P Chandler 
7656 Pte A Turner 
7730 Pte J Fensome 
7936 Bandsman E Clarke 
8306 Sgt P Folkard 
8355 L-Sgt W Gale 
8388 Bandsman E Fynn 
8398 Pte W Millard 
8441 Sgt C Guerin 
8458 Sgt E Endersby 
8469 Pte F Wright 
8509 Pte E Keogh 
8548 Pte F Crew 
8555 Pte E H Reid 
8591 Sgt G Roper 
8692 Pte C Smith 
8742 Pte J Marney 
8812 Cpl A Smith 
8841 Dmr A Pearcey 
8874 Pte F Richardson 
8922 Pte C J Hooper 
8939 Pte I Afford 
8963 Pte W Shaw 
8978 Pte J Hornett 
8981 Pte A Chandler 
8982 Sgt F Bulley
 9024 Cpl J Newby 
9035 Pte J Ellis 
9047 Pte F Braybrook 
9074 Pte T Gardiner 
9097 Pte A Jeeves 
9134 Pte H Cooper 
9135 Pte H Gear 
9220 Pte G Webster
9231 L-Cpl H Halls 
9260 Pte G Harlott
9264 Cpl W R Brown 
9267 Pte Frank Bird 
9278 Pte J Eccles 
9294 Pte S Webb 
9299 Pte A Chennells 
9326 Pte W Robinson 
9337 Pte Edward Boxall 
9349 Pte J King 
9385 Pte A Beard
9397 L-Cpl G Taylor 
9419 Pte C Wright 
9445 Pte E Larman 
9459 Pte G Ellis 
9475 L-Cpl T Sharpe 
9503 Pte O Denton 
9544 L-Cpl E Pepper 
9581 Pte W Papworth 
9594 Pte J Goodhead 
9595 Pte J Sharp 
9598 Cpl F Robinson 
9648 Pte A Skinner 
9655 Pte E Parker 
9690 Pte H Osborne 
9712 Pte D Lydle 
9726 Pte A Gilbey 
9744 Pte G Butler 
9756 Pte A Tomlinson 
9759 Pte S Simons 
9804 Pte G Cope 
9808 Pte P Clark 
9819 Pte Arthur Richardson 
9826 Pte S Rumbles 
9837 Pte S J Folwell 
9867 Pte W Mardling 
9869 Pte A R Maydwell 
9891 Pte A Mee 
9951 Pte H Wright 
9973 Pte R Franklin 
10017 Pte W G Watson 
10030 Pte A Woodcock 
10031 Pte G Brown 
10041 Pte J Reid 
10042 Pte A Fitzjohn 
10048 Pte W White 
10081 Pte H Denton 
10144 Cpl P Sandilands 
10145 Pte T J Harris 
10171 Pte W Austin 
10188 Pte G Stringer 
10374 L-Cpl T Allen

Image courtesy of The History Place