I just can't account for the number of Beds Yeomanry items that have appeared in recent weeks. Is it just a phase or is it a sign of more Great War items coming along before the 100th anniversary in a couple of years ? Difficult to say. Over the coming weeks, I'll list those items which have appeared.
I'll kick off this update with the Victory medal to 1976 Pte Vivian Gerard Coughlan who was born in Bedford in 1898 and went to France in January 1916, aged only 17 and only a few months after enlistment. I don't know how he managed to persuade the recruiting sergeant that he was of full age, especially as the Beds Yeomanry were pretty good at rejecting the young 'uns - a large number of lads were discharged in October/November 1914 when their true age was disclosed, usually by worried parents ! Vivian was the son of the landlord of the 'Black Diamond', a public house on the corner of Little Butts Street and Cauldwell Street in Bedford. This, and many terraced houses in that area, were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the monolith that is the offices of Bedford Borough Council. Vivian transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in 1918 and, happily, survived the war. He married Ellen Redman in Bedford in 1920. Interestingly, he died in the Blackpool area in 1977. Perhaps he retired to the seaside. As ever, any information gratefully received and if you know that Vivian's British War Medal survives, I'd be glad to hear from you !
I'll kick off this update with the Victory medal to 1976 Pte Vivian Gerard Coughlan who was born in Bedford in 1898 and went to France in January 1916, aged only 17 and only a few months after enlistment. I don't know how he managed to persuade the recruiting sergeant that he was of full age, especially as the Beds Yeomanry were pretty good at rejecting the young 'uns - a large number of lads were discharged in October/November 1914 when their true age was disclosed, usually by worried parents ! Vivian was the son of the landlord of the 'Black Diamond', a public house on the corner of Little Butts Street and Cauldwell Street in Bedford. This, and many terraced houses in that area, were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the monolith that is the offices of Bedford Borough Council. Vivian transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in 1918 and, happily, survived the war. He married Ellen Redman in Bedford in 1920. Interestingly, he died in the Blackpool area in 1977. Perhaps he retired to the seaside. As ever, any information gratefully received and if you know that Vivian's British War Medal survives, I'd be glad to hear from you !
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