Phyllis Lucy Deane MBE

Phyllis Lucy Deane, of Goldington Bury, was the Commandant of Howbury Hall VAD Hospital, Renhold, from August 1915 to November 1918.

A document archived in the Imperial War Museum tells us more about Mrs Deane and her time at Howbury Hall:

Mrs Deane had raised a Voluntary Aid Detachment in Goldington in February 1912, and became responsible for the 42 bed hospital at Howbury Hall some two years later.

She was involved in the organisation on Saturday, 23 October 1915 of  “Our Day” for the Order of St John of Jerusalem and the British Red Cross Society. In October 1917 she was mentioned in the List of Women’s work for the Wounded, and was awarded her MBE in January 1918.

We learn from Red Cross records that Mrs Deane was present every morning at the Hospital, with accounts, letters, etc being done at home in the evening. In October 1918 she was awarded a Red Cross Diploma.

Mrs Deane’s home was Goldington Bury, which had been the manor house for the Manor of Goldington Bury which coincidentally had been in the hands of the Becher family of Howbury Hall, Renhold from a time before 1728 to 1781. Did Mrs Deane know of that link with the place that became the VAD Hospital of which she was Commandant, we wonder?

Goldington Bury dated from the 18th century and probably stood on or near the site of the medieval manor house. It no longer stands, having been  demolished at some point before 1964.

Goldington Bury about 1900

 

 

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.