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.
BattalionFormedFormerlyRegular1st16882nd1859Militia3rd (Militia)1760Bedfordshire Light Infantry Militia4th (Militia)1758Hertfordshire MilitiaVolunteers1st (Hertfordshire) Volunteer18611st Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers2nd (Hertfordshire) Volunteer18602nd Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers3rd (Bedfordshire) Volunteer18601st Bedfordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps
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.
BattalionFormerly5thAmalgamation of 3rd (Bedfordshire) and 4th (Huntingdonshire) Volunteer BattalionsThe Hertfordshire BattalionAmalgamation of 1st and 2nd (Hertfordshire) Volunteer Battalions
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. The Volunteer Training Corps were raised with overage or reserved occupation men early in the war, and were initially self-organised into many small corps, with a wide variety of names. Recognition of the corps by the authorities brought regulation and as the war continued the small corps were formed into battalion sized units of the county Volunteer Regiment. In 1918 these were linked to county regiments.
BattalionFormedServedFateRegular1st1688Western Front, Italy2nd1859Western FrontSpecial Reserve3rd (Reserve)1760Britain4th (Extra Reserve)1758Western FrontTerritorial Force1/5th1908Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine campaign2/5thBedford, September 1914BritainDisbanded on 18 March 19183/5th, 5th (Reserve) from 8 April 1916Bedford, June 1915BritainDisbanded in March 191911thLowestoft, 1 January 1917, from 68th Provisional Battalion (Territorial Force)BritainDisbanded in 1919New Army6th (Service)Bedford, August 1914Western FrontDisbanded on 4 August 19187th (Service)Bedford, September 1914Western FrontAbsorbed into the 2nd Battalion8th (Service)Bedford, September 1914Western FrontDisbanded on 16 February 19189th (Reserve)Felixstowe, October 1914BritainAbsorbed into the Training Reserve Battalions of the 6th Reserve Brigade10th (Reserve)Dovercourt, November 1914BritainBecame the 27th Training Reserve Battalion of the 6th Reserve BrigadeOthers12th (Transport Workers)December 1916BritainDisbanded 191913th (Transport Workers)December 1916BritainDisbanded 19191st GarrisonBedford, December 1915IndiaDisbanded 19202nd GarrisonBedford, December 1916IndiaDisbanded 19203rd GarrisonBedford, January 1917India, BurmaDisbanded 192051st (Graduated)Colchester, 27 October 1917, from the 249th Graduated BattalionBritainDisbanded 191952nd (Graduated)Colchester, 27 October 1917, from the 252nd Graduated BattalionBritainBecame a service battalion 1919; disbanded 192053rd (Young Soldier)Clipstone, 27 October 1917, from the 27th Training Reserve BattalionBritainDisbanded 1920Volunteer Training CorpsWestlake pps. 117, 1251st Battalion Bedfordshire Volunteer Regimentlater the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire RegimentBedfordDisbanded post war2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Volunteer Regimentlater the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire RegimentLutonDisbanded post war1st Battalion Hertfordshire Volunteer Regimentlater the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Hertfordshire RegimentHerefordDisbanded post war2nd Battalion Hertfordshire Volunteer Regimentlater the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Hertfordshire RegimentWatfordDisbanded post war3rd Battalion Hertfordshire Volunteer Regimentlater the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Hertfordshire RegimentSt AlbansDisbanded post war
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. In addition to this, 23 battalions of the Home Guard were affiliated to the regiment, eight battalions in Bedfordshire wearing the cap badge of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and the 15 battalions in Hertfordshire wearing the cap badge of the Hertfordshire Regiment. A number of Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) troops were formed from the local battalions to defend specific points, such as factories. Due to the daytime (or shift working) occupations of these men, the batteries required eight times the manpower of an equivalent regular battery.
BattalionFormedServedFateRegular1st1688Crete, North Africa, India, BurmaSee Post-World War II2nd1859Dunkirk, Britain, North Africa, Tunisia, Italy, GreeceSee Post-World War IITerritorial Army5th1908Britain, Malaya, SingaporeSee Post-World War II6th1939BritainDisbanded in 19477th (Home Defence)1939BritainDisbanded? in 19412/7th (Home Defence)1940BritainDisbanded? in 19408th1940BritainDisbanded? in 19429th1940BritainDisbanded in 194610th (Home Defence)1940BritainRedesignated as 30th Battalion in 194130thRedesignation of 10th (Home Defence) Battalion, 1941BritainDisbanded 1946Others50th (Holding)1940BritainRedesignated as the ? Battalion, 194070th (Young Soldier)1940BritainDisbanded 194371st (Young Soldier)1940BritainDisbanded 1943 Home GuardBattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)BattalionHeadquartersFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Bedfordshire1st BedfordBDF 12nd BiggleswadeBDF 23rd AmpthillBDF 34th LutonBDF 45th BedfordBDF 56th DunstableBDF 67th LutonBDF 78th BedfordBDF 8Hertfordshire1st Much HadhamHTS 12nd HitchinHTS 23rd HertfordHTS 34th WelwynHTS 45th HarpendenHTS 56th OxhayHTS 67th ChipperfieldHTS 78th Croxley GreenHTS 89th Bricket WoodHTS 910th WatfordHTS 1011th Bishop's StortfordHTS 1112th LetchworthHTS 1213th (de Havilland)HatfieldHTS 1314th HatfieldHTS 1415th St. AlbansHTS 15Home Guard Anti-Aircraft unitsFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationFormation Sign (dark blue on khaki)Headquarters or LocationAA Formation and DesignationBDF 4 Luton, Skefco Ball Bearing Co. LtdA Troop LAABDF 7 Luton,Vauxhall Motors LtdC Troop (LAA)BDF 7 Luton, Percival Aircraft LtdB Troop LAAHTS 13Harfield, de Havilland Aircraft Co. LtdA, C Troops LAAHTS 13 Watford, de Havilland Aircraft Co. LtdB Troop LAAHTS 15Radlett, Handley Page LtdA Troop LAA
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.
BattalionFate1stAmalgamated with the 2nd Battalion on 18 October 1948, without a change in title2ndAmalgamated with the 1st Battalion on 18 October 1948
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
BattalionFate1stAmalgamated with the 1st Battalion, The Essex Regiment to form 1st Battalion, 3rd East Anglian Regiment5thRedesignated 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