Guest JWallis Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 hello to anyone who can help me! I'm trying to find out about my grandfather - I've a badge "Old Contemptible Association 1914 Aug 5 to Nov 22" Also a clip "The Buffs" with a winged horse and a badge "Ladies Guild Veteri Fromodescit Honore-The Buffs" Also three medals "1914 2/bedf r" a star with crossed swords "The Great War for Civilisation 1914-1919" and "1914-1918 in silver with a man astride a horse. These belonged to my grandfather who died before I was born. Can anyone tell me where he served - I know there's records at Kew but I understand that a lot of them were destroyed by fire... ARe the Old Contemptibles and 2/bedf r one and the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 Hello JWallis, welcome to the forum The Bedfordshire Regiment (which is not the same as the Buffs) was a regiment of the British Army. You can see more about them here. The 2nd Battalion of the Bedfords was in South Africa in August 1914. It was recalled to England, and crossed to Zeebrugge on 6 October 1914. It took part in the First Battle of Ypres, October - November 1914, and served on the Western Front until he end of the war. The 'old contemptibles' was a name given to those soldiers who served in France and Flanders between the dates given on the medal bar. They were the originals, and the vast majority of them were serving regular soldiers or men who had been in the army but were on reserve and recalled. After the war, they formed an Old Contemptibles Association. The phrase comes from a mistranslation of a dismissive remark made by Kaiser Wilhem II about "Sir John French's contemptibly small army". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JWallis Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 hello and thankyou very much for responding to me. I see that you have a lot of knowledge on this subject! What do you think is the likelihood of my being able to look his records up at Kew? It is a bit confusing you know because the Ladies Guild badge must have belonged to my grandmother - his wife, so I don't know. If the 2nd Bedford shire is not the Buffs, how did that came about because I know that they met when she was helping out in a place where they gave food to soldiers (they lived in east kent) Could he have served in both? Again any advice would be much appreciated. thankyou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmsk212 Posted 28 February , 2004 Share Posted 28 February , 2004 Hi If you give us the full details on the back of the star plus what is on the rim of the other 2 medals (number rank name regiment) we may be able to help you further. Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 29 February , 2004 Share Posted 29 February , 2004 The regimental motto of the Buffs was vonderi frondescit honore. Their badge was a dragon, not a winged horse and looks like this Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JWallis Posted 1 March , 2004 Share Posted 1 March , 2004 Hello and thank you for replying - of course you're right - it's a dragon! I just didn't see that or perhaps didn't think of anything other than a horse. With regard to name and rank I'd really be interested to know what can you tell from this information. thankyou again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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