Roll of Honour - Regiments - 16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot

The 16^th Foot or Bedfordshire Regiment was raised in October 1688 by James II in an effort to muster loyal Regiments and thereby counter the threat from William of Orange. The Regiment was raised by Colonel Archibald Douglas at Reading, one of twelve Regiments raised at the time. The Regiment was known by the names of its successive colonels until numbered 16^th Regiment of Foot in 1751, it was then renamed again in 1782 as the 16^th (Buckinghamshire) Foot and then in 1809 as the 16^th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot, Buckinghamshire became the 14^th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment. It only became known truly as the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1881 split into the 1^st and 2^nd Battalions of the Bedfordshire Regiment. The 3^rd Battalion was created from the Bedford Militia and the 4^th Battalion the Hertford Militia. In 1919 it then became the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment which, in 1958, was amalgamated with the Essex Regiment to become the 3^rd East Anglian Regiment (16^th/44^th Foot). This was subsequently redesignated in 1964 and again in 1968 to become the 3^rd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment and subsequently renamed, in 1980, the 3^rd Battalion (Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex). In 1992 it was disbanded.

1688

The raising of the Regiment, Archibald Douglas's Regiment of Foot known until 1751 by the names of nine other colonels

1689-1713

Service in north-west Europe. The battles of Namur, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet.

1689-97

Flanders

1689

Walcourt

1692

Steenkirk

1693

Neer Landen

1695

Namur

1702-12

Germany

1702

Liege

1704

Schellenberg

1704

Blenheim where honours on the Colours were received

1706

Ramilies where honours on the Colours were received

1708

Oudenarde where honours on the Colours were received

1708

Lisle

1709

Tournay

1709

Malplaquet where honours on the Colours were received

1713-1745

The north of England and Scotland.

1741

Carthegena.

1742

Cuba.

1745

Belgium.

1746-1749

Scotland.

1749-1767

Ireland.

1751

Named the 16th Regiment of Foot.

1767-1781

America. New York, West Florida, 1778 Baton Rouge, 1781 Pensacola.

1782

Became the 16th (the Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot.

1782-1791

Ireland.

1790

Nova Scotia.

1791-1796

Jamaica, the Maroon War.

1793-94

San Domingo

1795

Jamaica.

1796-1802

Home Service.

1803-1815

the West Indies, Canada, Barbados.

1806

Surinam where honours on the Colours were received, Paramaribo, Quebec

1809

Named the 16th (the Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot exchanged county titles with 14th Foot.

1814

Canada

1814-1815

North America	Engagements	Years in War	Facing Colour	Coat Colour	Lace
	Plattsburg	1814-15

1815-1819

Home Service, Cork.

1820-1840

Ceylon and India, Colombo, Calcutta, Cawnpore.

1841-1845

Home Service. Ireland.

1846-1853

Gibraltar, Corfu.

1853-1857

In the West Indies (Jamaica) and Canada (Quebec) during the period of the Russian War returned home from Canada in 1857

1858-1889

Home Service.

1861-1870

Sent to Canada (Montreal) again at the time of the "Trent" difficulty in 1861, and served in North America and Bermuda until 1870, when it came to England from Nova Scotia (Halifax).

1870-1881

Ireland.

1881

Named the The Bedfordshire Regiment

1890-1898

Malta, India, North-West Frontier, Chitral. They were stationed in Rawalpindi District from Jan 1891 - Jan. 1894 and there is a memorial in Christchurch, Rawalpindi to the men who died there.

1895

Chitral where honours on the Colours were received. They were stationed in Peshawar and were on field service with the Chitral Field Force 1895 - there are memorials in Memorial in St. John's Church, Peshawar to the men who died there. Relief of Chitral 1895 - 4364 Private G. Stevens - killed Malakand Pass 3 April 1895.

1899-1902

The Boer War (South Africa). 5th Battalion 1900-1902

1903-1914

India, Aden, Ireland, South Africa.

1914-1918

The First World War. Mons, Le Cateau, Marne, Ypres, Suvla, Somme, Passchendaele, Palestine, Arras.

1915

HILL 60 Belgium. In 1915, the German and British armies were dug in, face to face, after a year of battle Hill 60 was a low mound to the south-east and with a view over Ypres. The Royal Engineers reduced it to a series of craters on 17 April 1915. This is an account of how 2/Lieut B.H. Geary won his V.C. on the 20/21 April 1915. Pte Roger Morris remembers "At about 16:30 on 20 April the Germans started a very heavy bombardment of the Hill. They destroyed the communication lines and the Commanding Officer was hit along with many other soldiers from the Bedfordshire Regiment. A messenger then came back saying reinforcement was needed urgently. 2/Lieut Geary, my Platoon commander, of the East Surrey Regiment, today the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, led us up to a crater on the left of Hill 60. There, we established ourselves, digging in and trying to prepare defences. Still under heavy bombardment and countless grenade attacks from the Germans, our crater soon started to fill with the wounded and dead, until all the ground was covered. 2/Lieut Geary had organised them as best he could so they began to help each other, whilst still trying to control our defence against the constant attacks. Further reinforcements arrived but suffered casualties on the way due to the defences being destroyed as quick as we could build them. The Germans then made an attack up one of our old communications trenches. 2/Lieut Geary seeing this, took the initiative. Using Private White to load the rifles, he almost single handedly held them off for an hour until they retreated. The Germans at the same time also launched attacks all over the Hill, including one directly to our front. Corporal Reid controlled our fire and within an hour, we had them beat and running away. 2/Lieut Geary, leaving Cpl Reid in charge, then moved around to the right-hand trench to find out what was going on. When he got there, he discovered they were under attack from their left, he found two officers and a few men defending the crater. Having received no orders, they then made the decision to hold the Hill at all cost. Some more reinforcements then appeared. They had come to re-take the ground lost to the Germans, where 2/Lieut Geary was. He then led them to a position where they could defend the crater and whilst still under fire and on exposed ground, helped them prepare a defence position. During this time with no regard for his own safety, the Platoon Commander led a defensive attack against the German assault and beat them back. 2/Lieut Geary returned to our crater with some much-needed ammunition. He then returned to the right-hand crater to find the Germans had withdrawn completely, for the time being. All of this I must point out whilst we were still under heavy shelling and grenade attacks. Some of the time the Platoon Commander was completely exposed to direct enemy fire. By now it was getting close to dawn so 2/Lieut Geary moved back to our crater. There, he realised we could not hold on much longer without reinforcements, due to the number of casualties we had taken. 2/Lieut Geary then went back over to the right-hand crater to find a Major Lee who had come forward, to tell him of our requirements. Before he managed to do so 2/Lieut Geary was hit in the head by a bullet and rendered unconscious. We managed to get the Platoon Commander taken back to the dressing station to be treated. He survived but lost the sight in one eye and had serious hearing difficulties."

1919

Named the The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment

1919-1939

India, Ireland, China, Palestine.

1939-1945

The Second World War. Dunkirk, Greece, Syria, Tobruk, Singapore, North Africa, Cape Bon, Chindits, Italy, Cassino, Gothic Line.

1958

Amalgamated with The Essex Regiment, to form 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot)

Awards

Victoria Crosses - those residing in the Regimental Museum