Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was known as the Bedfordshire Regiment until 1919. It was an infantry regiment in the British Army from 1881 to 1958. The 16th Regiment of Foot, (first raised in 1688) was joined with the militia regiments and rifle volunteer corps of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. The two English counties which had kept the ranks of the Bedfordshire regiment filled during the 1914-1918 War were Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. On July 29, 1919 the Bedfordshire regiment was renamed the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, to honour the great contribution of the regiment from Hertfordshire. In 1958, the Beds and Herts Regiment was merged with The Essex Regiment to form the 3rd East Anglian Regiment.
Battalions during the Second World War.
1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
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June 2010 - Please note we currently have a large backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site.
List of those who served with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during The Second World War
I would like any information with regard to my fathers military career I think he enlisted in 1938 possibly in the Royal Engineers transferred to the commandos. Eventually he was commissioned and joined the Beds and Herts Regiment as an Officer serving in Italy & Greece & possibly Yugoslavia. After the war he seved till 1949 in Q section? BAOR.
Corporal Lionel George Degenhard 1st Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
My father, Lionel George Degenhard, was Corporal with the 1st Btn. Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment. He never wanted to talk about the war but has left a great memento in the form of a handwritten collection of experiences bound between the covers of two pieces of Red Cross cardboard.
Lionel George Degenhard, Corporal, 1st Btn. Bedfordshire & Hertforshire Regiment
Captured 28 April 1941 in Greece, liberated 2 May 1945.
He was stationed in the following four POW camps:
Stalag 357, N.C.O. Lager, Thorn Sud, Poland
Stalag XV111 A, Wolfsberg, Austria
Stalag XV111 A Zweilager, N.C.O. Lager, Spittal - Drau, Austria
The following is an extract from his personal handwritten exerpts titled 'Camps I have worked at in Austria':
Klagenfurt - Canal Work - July to Sept 1941
Dachstein Obertraune H.V. 75 - Barrack Building - Sept to Nov 1941
Kleine Glodnitz A/13001/L - Road Making - Nov 1941 to Mar 1942
Huttengerg A/11205/L - Sawmill - Mar 1942 to August 1943
St Veit 11093/GW - Building - Aug to Sept 1943
Reichendorf A/550/L - Farm work - Oct 1943 to Jan 1944
I would swear it is him in the first photo, 2nd from left on back row, on The Wartime Memories Project - STALAG XXA POW Camp (357, Stalag Kopernikus) Page 2.
I am trying to locate all the camp sites in order that I can visit as many as I can this year. If anyone could help I would be so grateful. Thanks a million.
Corporal Lionel George Degenhard 1st Bn. Beds & Herts Regiment
My Dad, Lionel Degenhard was shot in the leg and captured at the battle of Kalamata, Greece on 28 April 1941 and was liberated from Stalag 357 NCO Lager, Fallingbostel on 2 May 1945.
He had been transfered there when Stalag 357 was moved from Thorn (Torun) Poland. Prior to that he had been imprissoned at Stalags 18A (Wofsburg) and 18B Zweig Lager (Spittal - Drau)Austria.
In a handwritten log he recalls the following camps where he was forced to work:
Klagenfurt - Canal Work - July to Sept 1941
Dachstein Obertraune H.V. 75 - Barracks Building - Sept to Nov 1941
Kleine Glodnitz A/13001/L - Road Making - Nov 1941 to Mar 1942
Huttengerg A/11205/L - Sawmill - Mar 1942 to August 1943
St Veit 11093/GW - Building - Aug to Sept 1943
Reichendorf A/550/L - Farm work - Oct 1943 to Jan 1944
The log is a precious keepsake in an old school exercise book sewn between cardboard covers made of Red Cross packages. He lists friends, recalls poetry and songs, friends have written personal notes, he has drawn pictures and has included a comparison between what Canadian Red Cross sent their soldiers and what the European Red Cross sent the Brits. He implied the Canadians got more interesting contents. The references he recorded about their pantomimes and games really bring the experiences to life and the three real Gutschein uber Reichsmark and Reichspfennig POW money notes stuck to one of the pages remind me how real his experiences were. I have several photos which I will try to add later.
Dad died at the St David's Roman Catholic home for military personnel in Ealing on St Valentine's Day a month before his 90th birthday, 2006.
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