Name
Bernard David Day
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/09/1916
22
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
14355
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier and Face 2C
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin
Pre War
Son of Solomon George and Martha Day, of 74, Queen St., Hitchin, Herts. He was born in Hitchin in 1895 and was christened on 22 May 1895.
In 1901 the family were living at 52 Queen Street, Hitchin. Present were both parents: Solomon (36) and Martha (34), with Solomon working as a shoe-maker, boot-maker. Their children were: George J (12), Lillian Daisy (10), Frederick (8) and Bernard David (5).
By 1911 the family were living at 5 Lyles Row, Telegraph, Terrace, Hitchin. Present were both parents, x now working as a bespoke bootmaker. The census recorded they had been married for 23 years with 4 children all living. All the children listed above were present except George. Bernard at 15 was working as a nursery gardener. A granddaughter, Dorothy Ida Day (1) was also present.
Officially Bernard was recorded as born in Hitchin and living there when he enlisted in Letchworth.
Wartime Service
His entry in the National Roll of the Great War records that he volunteered at the commencement of the war.
He was sent to France early in 1915 and the above source suggests that he fought at Ypres, Hill 60, Festubert, Loos and on the Somme. He was in the 1st Battalion of the Bedfords and had been allocated Regimental Number 14355.
On the 26th July 1916 at 9.00pm, orders were received to attack Longueval at dawn on the next day. Four miles had to be covered to the assembly position in the pitch dark with gas shells falling thickly. The assembly position was also being heavily shelled. The Bedfords moving to take the 2nd and 3rd objectives found the trenches full of men from the Norfolk Regiment. The shellfire was extremely heavy and shelter almost impossible to find Trench mortars, guns, ammunition and men were buried in the mass of exploding shells and debris. The remnants of the Companies returned to the old German front line. There were several cases of men going temporarily mad. Longueval was
reduced from a village to a smoking ruin in a few hours. A leapfrog system of advance with the Norfolk Regiment, created appalling congestion so that the follow-up troops were unable to find cover.
He has no known grave but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing in France.
Additional Information
After his death £2 8s 0d was authorised to go to his father on 3 November 1916. Later, a war gratuity of £8 10s was authorised to be paid to him on 5 November 1919.
His pension cards record Martha his mother as his next of dependant, living at 74 Queen Street, Hitchin. However the pension arrangements are not recorded.
His family placed an ‘In Memoriam’ notice in the Hertfordshire Express on August 2nd, 1919.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, Dan Hill, Janet Capstick, Jonty Wild, David C Baines
