BEDFORD WAR DIARY 1
1935 / Sept / 27 / Bedford Borough Civil Defence Committee met for the first time1937 / Feb / 11 / Bedford chosen by the Home Office to carry out experiments with lighting restrictions: RAF plane flew over to observe the black-out
1938 / July / - / Major A C E Caiger appointed full-time County ARP officer
Sept/Oct / Issue of respirators after the Munich crisis
1939 / Aug / 9 / Black-out exercise at Bedford
Sept / 1-2 / 17,000 evacuees allotted to the Borough arrive as well as several thousand more allotted to the villages
3 / War declared. Town cinemas and the Royal County Theatre in Midland Road (now the Apostolic Church) closed; soon to re-open
6 / Bedford’s first air-raid warning, at 7.29am
23 / Petrol rationing was finally enforced; before that garages were besieged
30 / Identity cards began to issued under the Government Registration scheme
Oct / 1 / First National Day of Prayer service at St Paul’s church. Colours of Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment lodged there until War over
16 / Bedfordshire's Chief Constable, Sir Frank Stevens killed in a shooting accident at Southill
19 / Flood in Bedford and outlying villages; river level had fallen 3-4 feet by following day
27 / 20-22yr old men registered for National Service
Nov / 9 / Archibald Braggins elected Mayor for the second year
1940 / Jan / 8 / Forces Club and Canteen opened at the Corn Exchange
21 / ARP services engaged on apractice air-raid
Feb / 8 / Talbot House, the Toc H social centre, Bromham Rd, opened by Mayor
April / - / Major General N J G Cameron, Chief air-raid warden of Bedford since May 1938, resigned. Bedford Gas Co began converting their vans to run on gas instead of petrol.
April / 19 / Visit by the Minister of Health, Walter Elliott, who came to inspect the Town’s efforts on the Home Front
April / - / Visit of Sir Henry Wood and the London Symphony Orchestra
May / 16 / Police Station inundated by volunteers for the new National Defence Force, later called the Home Guard
June / 1 / Parade of the Bedfordshire Women’s Land Army at Bedford. The 85 volunteers of 1939 had swelled to over 1,000 by 1944
July / - / Another 2,000 evacuees arrive, this time from towns on the south coast
Oct / - / Bus strike on two consecutive nights when crews refused to go on late journeys without late duty payment
Nov / 8 / Visit of Professor John Hilton to study how evacuation worked in the Borough
Nov / 9 / Albert Maurice Dudeney elected Mayor
Nov / 14 / First air raid within boundaries of town. Two parachute mines dropped; one exploded on waste ground at Queen’s Park, the other on allotments opposite Kempston Barracks. 1,500 premises in Bedford and Kempston damaged to some extent; few casualties, although one old lady in Kempston subsequently died of shock
1941 / Feb / 4 / Fire-watching of Bedford Business premises became compulsory
Feb / 1-7 / War Weapons Week. Target £250,000; over £459,000 raised
Feb / 22 / Salvation Army Red Shield Club, under the arch at Bedford Midland Station, was officially opened by the Lord Lt (Lord Luke) and the Mayor.
June / - / Leading Bedford citizens broadcast greetings to the USA
June / 26 / Newly formed Bedford Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert at the Corn Exchange
July / - / Mayor of Bedford’s appeal to local residents to sacrifice their iron gates and railings for the war effort
July / end / A train from Bristol brought the BBC Music Dept, staff and engineers to the town
Sept / - / St Paul’s Church bells removed for safe-keeping and stored in a corner of the churchyard.
Sept / 18 / British Restaurant in Gwyn Street opened
Sept / - / BBC gave first of their concerts at the Corn Exchange
Sept / end / Talk by Professor J B S Haldane, arranged by Bedford Branch of the Communist League, on Russia
Oct / 12 / Wing Commander E J Hodsoll, Inspector-General of Civil Defence inspected local personnel. Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, accompanied by her son King Peter, presented a mobile canteen to the WVS
Oct / 19 / Crash of single-seater plane, Greyfriars walk. Pilot Officer Peter Hewitt, who had left Bedford School the previous year, killed
1941 / Dec / early / Another visit of Queen Marie of Yugoslavia; she spent some time at the Forces Canteen in the Corn Exchange
1942 / Feb / 21-28 / Bedford’s Warship Week. Rushden and district aimed for £250,000 to pay for the destroyer Quorn while Bedford aimed for £425,000 for the submarine Thorn. The town raised £610,000
March / 18 / The Borough Director of Education, Dr E C Walker, outlined at the Town Council meeting the organisation necessary to provide accommodation and meals for the homeless after air attack. Food and Rest Centres, Emergency Feeding Centres, British Restaurants and places for feeding of school children were organised. 19 centres and one central depot organised in the Borough.
March / 23 / Retail Delivery Rationalisation Scheme enforced; no more retail deliveries to be made to private houses, not even by bicycle
March
& April / - / News of the men of the 5th Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment and others taken prisoner by the Japanese on the fall of Singapore in Feb filters through
June / 7 / Start of week of events in aid of the Yugoslav Relief Society. King Peter and Queen Marie came visiting.
June / 14 / United Nations Day celebrated
July / 23 / A Dornier bomber attacked Bedford at 8.47am and dropped 4 high explosive bombs. One bomb partly demolished the Grafton Assembly Rooms next to the Royal County Theatre on the Midland/Grafton Road corner. The site was not re-built until 1952. Another bomb demolished half of the Grosvenor Hotel at 5-7 Ashburnham Road, injuring 14 people. The two remaining bombs fell on railway property, leaving large craters.
July / 30 / The heaviest raid on the town during the war left 11 dead and caused considerable damage. Ten others seriously injured and 100 slightly wounded. Showers of incendiary bombs with the explosive nose fell on the town at about 1.40am causing damage to houses in Foster Street, Wendover Drive, Risborough Road, Barkers Lane, 227-244 Goldington Road, Philpotts Avenue and properties in the Castle Road area. 4 HE bombs fell on houses in Kimbolton Road and Putnoe Lane.
Sept / 5 / All-American base-ball match, played by two service teams at Bedford Rugby ground. Bedfordians bemused
Sept / 6 / Mock-invasion training exercise at Bedford
1943 / Jan / 9 / Dame Beryl Oliver, head of British Red Cross London HQ visited Beds over two days beginning with an inspection of the Bedford HQ
Jan / 20 / V G Ezechiel resigned as Chief Warden; W A Moller appointed
Mar / 2 / Complaining letters in the Bedford Record re. Duke of Bedford’s ‘defeatist attitude’
Mar / - / Zoning of milk deliveries began; milkmen could only serve houses on their direct journeys
Mar / Last week / China Week to raise funds for the country
April / - / Scrap metal and salvage campaign
Mid
June / Bedford’s Wings for Victory Week raised £661,000; followed by church services
July / -
23 / Italian POW ran amok, killed guard, & was killed himself after a chase. John Shelton, 18yr old Home Guard commended
Queen (the late Queen Mother) visits the US Red Cross Club in Bromham Rd and US Red Cross Officers’ Club, Goldington Rod
1944 / Jan / 31 / US Red Cross Officers’ Club opened at corner of Kimbolton Ave and Goldington Rd. Round the clock service
Feb / 8 / Bedford’s Home Flash; broadcast of local news to service personnel in Middle East and North Africa
Feb / 15 / Duke & Duchess of Gloucester visit Beds, including St Peter’s Hospital and the Red Cross detachment in Bedford School hall
Feb / 29 / New Toc H Club for members of the Women’s services
Mar / 28 / Tank crashed through wall at Cow Bridge on to Bedford Bletchley railway line, blocking it for 8 hours
June / 9 / Bedford’s Salute The Soldier fundraising events for a week
June / 20 / Visit of Duchess of Kent to open Handicraft Exhibition
July / 9
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- / Glenn Miller performs at the Corn Exchange forces canteen
More evacuees arrive from London, prompted by the use of the terror weapons, V1 and V2 rockets
Female police employed for the first time by the Borough force
Aug / 11 / First public performance of Glenn Miller and US Army Band at the Corn Exchange. Jewish Youth Centre in Woburn Rd opened on same day by Mayor Ald. F A Rickard.
Sept / 11 / Princess Royal inspected Bedford ATS units
Sept / 11 to c30 / Book Drive; 100,000 books and magazines for servicemen and blitzed libraries
Sept / 17 / Black-out modified to a dim-out
Oct / 4 / Stand-down dinner of local Home Guard, ‘F’ Coy, 1st Battalion
Dec / 3 / Stand-down parade of Home Guard
Dec / 8 / Departure of evacuees who arrived from Rye Grammar School in July 1940; mostly billeted in Kimbolton Rd area; other evacuees came from Eastbourne and Hastings
1945 / April / 22 / All lighting restrictions removed
May / 8 / VE Day celebrated
June / 21 / Bedford’s Civil Defence stand-down party at Castle Close
Aug / 8? / VJ Day celebrated
1946 / Feb / 14 / Princess Elizabeth (now QEII) visited Bedford to open an exhibition on agricultural work and handicrafts staged by the Beds Women’s Land Army
March / - / First post-war delivery of bananas to Bedford
June / 8 / Victory Day
June / 28 / Field Marshall Montgomery a guest at Bedford School Speech Day
N Lutt, Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service May 2006