From Bedford to the Somme - Tim Machin

The stark truth is that Denzil Heriz-Smith, former pupil and Head Boy of Bedford School, died of his wounds on 17th February 1917 at Boom Ravine on the Somme. He was in the 6th Northamptonshire Regiment, and he was one of 463 lives lost in the Great War by Old Bedfordians in the carnage of 1914-18. Ironically the battle may not have been necessary as the Germans were about to pull back from their positions. What makes his death "special" is not that he was more brave than others, but that the School possesses very large archives left by the family, and we can trace his career from 1910-17, both at school and in the Army. These archives give a fascinating insight into British life at a time when she had a huge empire, but when her world domination was being challenged by Germany and the USA.Denzil came from a middle class background and his father had been a civil servant in India, a typical background for boys at public school. Denzil was at Bedford School and he describes in great detail the multifarious career he had there - debating, Chapel and sport in particular. Whilst there he, with other members of his family, began a magazine called Noon Star, a mix of poetry, art and serious articles on the subjects of the day, such as Ireland and Suffragettes. He was due to go to Queens College, Cambridge to study divinity, and later go into the church, but war intervened. Writing about the war he tells of his training and the frustrations at not going out to France earlier than he did; he also describes the death of his best friend. Finally, he was an active service on the Somme and he graphically describes the events of summer and autumn 1916, and on going over the top, he survived three pushes with barely on scratch, but his luck ran out in February 1917.