Are you prepared to die?

In September 1915 and subsequent months local papers in Wales carried a number of stories about the fighting in Gallipoli and letters from soldiers in the 4th Welsh.

The Cambrian Daily leader of 18 September 1915 printed an article headed ‘How 4th Welsh sailed – story of the voyage and baptism of fire – shells for breakfast’ including a long letter noted as having been ‘Passed by Censor’ from Gunner R Frederick Thomas, of the Machine Gun Section, 1/4th Welsh, attached to the Cheshire Regiment, from Llandovery, describing the journey from Bedford – which they left on 6 July, via Malta, Alexandria, Port Said and Lemnos eventually to reach the Dardanelles, landing on 9 August – and the hard reality of battle and life under fire.

On leaving Bedford, the soldiers were handed a leaflet bearing ‘what most of us at the time regarded as an insignificant headline. It ran: ‘Are you prepared to die?’ … I can safely say that few of the men of the gallant 4th then even dimly realised what the future held in store for them.’

Under the heading ‘Shots whizz past us’ the Haverfordwest Journal and Milford Haven Telegraph of 29 September 1915 carried extracts from letters from the Dardanelles sent by Private J Oliver to his friends at home. He was then in trenches not far from the Turks and ‘shots whizz past us very often but they mostly go over our heads.  ….  but some chaps got hit yesterday. One had his leg broken by a bullet about 20 yards from us.’ He also comments on the risky business of acting as orderly to a listening post about 200 yards in front of the lines. He received copies of the Telegraph every week and had been interested to read an account of ‘our send off from Bedford.’

Lieutenant George Adams  (below) from Haverfordwest also gave his impressions of the campaign in the Haverfordwest and Milford Haven Advertiser of 24 November 1915. He described an occasion when the Turks had disguised themselves as Gurkhas. An officer spotted them and shouted ‘they are Turks, there are no Gurkhas near here’. Instantly the enemy heard this, they shot and killed Lieutenant Adams’ friend and turned and fled back towards their trenches. But not one reached them, all being shot dead before they had gone many yards.

The Welsh return

One hundred years ago,  on 9 August 1915, soldiers of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, which had spent time in Bedford, landed at Suvla Bay to fight in the campaign in Gallipoli.

Gunner R Frederick Thomas, of the Machine Gun Section, 1/4th Welsh, described in a letter the journey from Bedford and the hard reality of battle and life under fire. On leaving Bedford, the soldiers were handed a leaflet bearing, he said ‘what most of us at the time regarded as an insignificant headline. It ran: ‘Are you prepared to die?’ … I can safely say that few of the men of the gallant 4th then even dimly realised what the future held in store for them.’

Many soldiers perished at Gallipoli, others survived to fight on elsewhere.

Welsh regiments came to Bedford, some to pass quickly through, others to remain for weeks or months for training for active service at home or overseas in the Great War. Now, one hundred years later, in 2015, the Welsh have returned to Bedford, in the form of a new website ‘When the Welsh came to Bedford’.

The website seeks to tell the story of those regiments and their soldiers during their time in Bedford, their experiences on leaving the town to take their part in the Great War, how their families fared whilst they were away, and how the people of Bedford responded to their presence in the town.

Please take a look, you’re most welcome, and maybe you can help add to what is still an incomplete story with information from your Bedford or Welsh  family archives, memories and pictures of the soldiers and the women who volunteered for service and who spent time in Bedford. Please contact us to help make their story as comprehensive and accurate as possible.