{"id":1829,"date":"2023-05-02T15:57:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/favell.org.uk\/wp\/?page_id=1829"},"modified":"2025-10-07T18:49:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:49:19","slug":"j-s-favell-beds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.favell.org\/index.php\/j-s-favell-beds\/","title":{"rendered":"J S Favell Beds"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Joseph samuel Favell MM<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Private 14237 Joseph of the 7th<\/sup> Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment was awarded the Military Medal in August 1917 when he was just nineteen years old.\u00a0\u00a0Joseph was born in Bedfordshire on the 3rd<\/sup> of December 1897 to Joseph Favell and his wife Alice. In 1901 the family were living in Clapham, Bedfordshire, where his father worked from home as a Bootmaker.\u00a0 3 year old Joseph, had older siblings Allan, Frank and George, (9,7 and 5 years old) and a younger infant brother John.\u00a0 By 1911, 13 year old Joseph was working as an errand boy for a Baker.\u00a0 His mother had died and there were now a total of nine children in all, some of whom had already left home.\u00a0 His older brother George was for a Butcher, while another was at school.\u00a0 There were younger sisters, nine year old Rosemary and four year old Ivy.\u00a0 Also, listed as living with them as \u2018house keeper\u2019 is Marther Chamberlain, a 59-year-old married woman.\u00a0 Shortly, Joseph\u2019s older brother George, aged just 16, headed to Canada.\u00a0 He landed at Quebec with a 6 year old younger sister Mary and was headed for Ottowa, to stay with an older sister.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In late 1914 war broke out with Germany.\u00a0 Like many young men, Joseph may have jumped at the opportunity to join the army, believing that the war would be short lived, and not wanting to miss the opportunity of some excitement and travel.\u00a0 Maybe he was also attracted by the possibility of being housed, clothed, paid and well fed.\u00a0 Joseph would have been 16 years old in September 1914 so would not have been able to sign up unless it was to become a bugler or act in some similar boy soldier role.\u00a0 He should have been 18 years old to sign up and 19 before he could fight.\u00a0 Like many others, he most probably lied about his age and an unscrupulous recruiting sergeant turned a blind eye or failed to ask any searching questions.<\/p>

His brother George, only recently arrived in Canada and now a carpenter, was doing the very same thing.\u00a0 On the 12th<\/sup> November, George signed up in Kingston, Ontario, for the duration of the war at the age of 19 years and 1 month and was assigned to the 17th<\/sup> Battery, 6th<\/sup> Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, Expeditionary Force.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Joseph joined the 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment that was formed at in September 1914, as part of Lord Kitchener\u2019s second call to arms for another 100,000 men to enlist into the rapidly expanding British Army. \u00a0The newly formed Battalion became part of the Second New Army and were attached to the 15th (Scottish) Division whilst training. \u00a0On 25th February 1915, the Battalion were moved into the 54th Brigade of the 18th (Eastern) Division.<\/p>

The 18th Division was formed from the 53rd, 54th and 55th Infantry Brigades, who were all formed from battalions drawn from East Anglia, the Home Counties, south-east and south-central England. The following battalions formed the 54th Brigade and served together as a tactical unit:<\/p>