List of battalions of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment

This is a list of battalions of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, which existed as an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1958.

Original composition

When the 16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot became The Bedfordshire Regiment in 1881 under the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Armed Forces, five pre-existent militia and volunteer battalions of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire were integrated into the structure of the regiment. Volunteer battalions had been created in reaction to a perceived threat of invasion by France in the late 1850s. Organised as "rifle volunteer corps", they were independent of the British Army and composed primarily of the middle class. The only change to the regiment's structure during the period of 1881–1908, was the addition of a 4th volunteer battalion in 1900, being the 4th Volunteer Battalion, later renamed to 4th (Huntingdonshire) Volunteer Battalion.

Battalion Formed Formerly
Regular
1st 1688
2nd 1859
Militia
3rd (Militia) 1760 Bedfordshire Light Infantry Militia[1]
4th (Militia) 1758 Hertfordshire Militia[2]
Volunteers
1st (Hertfordshire) Volunteer 1861 1st Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers[3]
2nd (Hertfordshire) Volunteer 1860 2nd Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers[3]
3rd (Bedfordshire) Volunteer 1860 1st Bedfordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps[4]

Reorganisation

The Territorial Force (later Territorial Army) was formed in 1908, which the volunteer battalions joined, while the militia battalions transferred to the "Special Reserve". All volunteer battalions were renumbered to create a single sequential order. The Hertfordshire Battalion created during the reforms, left the Bedfordshire Regiment completely in 1909 to create the Hertfordshire Regiment.[5]

Battalion Formerly
5th Amalgamation of 3rd (Bedfordshire) and 4th (Huntingdonshire) Volunteer Battalions[4]
The Hertfordshire Battalion Amalgamation of 1st and 2nd (Hertfordshire) Volunteer Battalions[6]

First World War

The Bedfordshire Regiment fielded 26 battalions and lost around 7,200 officers and other ranks during the course of the war. The regiment's territorial component formed duplicate second and third line battalions. As an example, the three-line battalions of the 5th Beds were numbered as the 1/5th, 2/5th, and 3/5th respectively. Many battalions of the regiment were formed as part of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's appeal for an initial 100,000 men volunteers in 1914. They were referred to as the New Army or Kitchener's Army.

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular[7][8]
1st 1688 Western Front, Italy
2nd 1859 Western Front
Special Reserve[7][8]
3rd (Reserve) 1760 Britain
4th (Reserve) 1758 Western Front
Territorial Force[7][8]
1/5th 1908 Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine campaign
2/5th Bedford, September 1914 Britain Disbanded on 18 March 1918
3/5th,
5th (Reserve) from 8 April 1916
Bedford, June 1915 Britain Disbanded in March 1919
11th Lowestoft, 1 January 1917 Britain Disbanded in 1919
New Army[7][8]
6th (Service) Bedford, August 1914 Western Front Disbanded on 4 August 1918
7th (Service) Bedford, September 1914 Western Front Absorbed into the 2nd Battalion
8th (Service) Bedford, September 1914 Western Front Disbanded on 16 February 1918
9th (Reserve) Felixstowe, October 1914 Britain Absorbed into the Training Reserve Battalion of the 6th Reserve Brigade
10th (Reserve) Dovercourt, November 1914 Britain Became the 27th Training Reserve Battalion of the 6th Reserve Brigade
Others[7][8]
12th (Transport Workers) December 1916 Britain Disbanded 1919
13th (Transport Workers) December 1916 Britain Disbanded 1919
1st Garrison Bedford, December 1915 India Disbanded 1920
2nd Garrison Bedford, December 1916 India Disbanded 1920
3rd Garrison Bedford, January 1917 India, Burma Disbanded 1920
51st (Graduated) Colchester, 27 October 1917, from the 249th Graduated Battalion Britain Disbanded 1919
52nd (Graduated) Colchester, 27 October 1917, from the 252nd Graduated Battalion Britain Disbanded 1920
53rd (Young Soldier) Clipstone, 27 October 1917, from the 27th Young Soldier Battalion Britain Disbanded 1920

Inter-War

By 1921, all of the regiment's war-raised battalions had disbanded. The Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to the Supplementary Reserve in 1924; however, its battalions were effectively placed in 'suspended animation'. As World War II approached, the Territorial Army was reorganised in the mid-1930s, many of its infantry battalions were converted to other roles, especially anti-aircraft. The regiment was renamed the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, in 1919, in recognition of the large amounts of soldiers from Hertfordshire that fought in the Great War.

Second World War

The Bedfordshire's expansion during the Second World War was modest compared to 1914–1918. National Defence Companies were combined to create a new "Home Defence" battalion, and in addition to this, a number of battalion and batteries of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment.

Battalion Formed Served Fate
Regular
1st 1688 Crete, North Africa, India, Burma[9] See Post-World War II
2nd 1859 Dunkirk, Britain, North Africa, Tunisia, Italy, Greece[10] See Post-World War II
Territorial Army
5th 1908 Britain, Malaya, Singapore[11] See Post-World War II
6th 1939 Britain[12] Disbanded in 1947
7th (Home Defence) 1939 Britain[13] Disbanded? in 1941
2/7th (Home Defence) 1940 Britain[14] Disbanded? in 1940
8th 1940 Britain[15] Disbanded? in 1942
9th 1940 Britain[16] Disbanded in 1946
10th (Home Defence) 1940 Britain[17] Redesignated as 30th Battalion in 1941
30th Redesignation of 10th (Home Defence) Battalion, 1941 Britain Disbanded 1946
Others
50th (Holding) 1940 Britain Redesignated as the ? Battalion, 1940
70th (Young Soldier) 1940 Britain Disbanded 1943
71st (Young Soldier) 1940 Britain Disbanded 1943

Post-World War II

In the immediate post-war period, the army was significantly reduced: nearly all infantry regiments had their first and second battalions amalgamated and the Supplementary Reserve disbanded.

Battalion Fate
1st Amalgamated with the 2nd Battalion on 18 October 1948, without a change in title[18]
2nd Amalgamated with the 1st Battalion on 18 October 1948[19]

Amalgamation

The size of the British Army was reduced following the publication of the 1957 Defence White Paper. A policy of grouping regiments in administrative brigades, and amalgamating pairs of regular battalions was inaugurated. Accordingly, the 1st Battalions of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and the Essex Regiment were merged to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) on 2 June 1958, which itself became part of a new "large regiment": the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1964. The regiment's modern lineage is continued directly by D Company, 2nd Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment[20]

Battalion Fate
1st Amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, The Essex Regiment to form 1st Battalion, 3rd East Anglian Regiment
5th Redesignated as The Bedfordshire Regiment (TA), before merging with the 1st Battalion, The Hertfordshire Regiment in 1961, to form The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (TA)

References

  1. "Bedfordshire Light Infantry Militia Glengarry Badge circa 1874-81". coldstreammilitaryantiques.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  2. "Herts Memories - The Hertfordshire Militia". hertsmemories.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. "Herts Memories - Hertfordshire's Yeomanry, Volunteers and Local Militia". hertsmemories.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. "Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue". bedsarchivescat.bedford.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. "The Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War - The Hertfordshire Regiment". bedfordregiment.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. "The Hertfordshire Regiment T.A." regiments.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  7. "Bedfordshire Regiment". Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. "Unit History: Bedfordshire Regiment". Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. "1st Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. "2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  11. "5th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  12. "6th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  13. "7th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  14. "2/7th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  15. "8th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  16. "9th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  17. "10th Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the Second World War". wartimememoriesproject.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  18. "1st Battalion, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment". regiments.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  19. "2nd Battalion, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment". regiments.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  20. "The Royal Anglian Regiment: Regimental Data". Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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