Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph, June 5th, 1915.

The 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment will be marching up to the Luton Town Hall at 7 pm tonight, and will be given a civic welcome.

They were due at Wardown at noon, and at the Town Hall at 2pm, and some people have probably been wondering why their entry into the town has been delayed in this way. The explanation is simple. They have done over 60 miles with full war kit in the last three days, and have done it well.

But Yesterday they had the misfortune to strike a long patch of newly tarred road and, as on top of this the day was very hot, some foot trouble arose, and there were also two or three men who suffered a little with heat.

Today, therefore, Lieut-Col Brighten has given the men a long rest on the way, and since just before noon they have been taking it easy in a field at Barton.

The first day's march was from St Albans through Redbourn, Markyate and Dunstable to Houghton Regis. Yesterday morning the battalion marched from Houghton Regis through Toddington, Westoning, Flitwick and Ampthill to a civic reception at Bedford. They then marched to the Regiment barracks at Kempston to bivouac for the night.

At 6.10 this morning the battalion marched from Bedford through Clophill and Silsoe to Barton on their way to Luton.

It may seem to some of our readers that a more lavish entertainment might reasonably have been provided today for the 1/5th Battalion, considering the the whole battalion has never before visited the town. But is appears that the military authorities do not favour any such step as the organisation of a dinner for the men, who have been attended by their field kitchens which enable the cooks to prepare meals while actually on the march.

• Rifleman Sidney William Dorrington, 2630, 17th Battalion London Regiment, has been added to the list of those who have laid down their lives for their country. The son of Mr Jesse Dorrington, of 97 New Town Street, Luton, he met his death while on lookout duty on May 14th.

• The South Beds Recruiting Committee decided to widen the scope of its work, especially with regard to helping disabled soldiers to get employment to supplement their modest wounds pension and give them a reasonable livelihood.

• Pte F. G. H.Small, 1/23rd Battalion the London Regiment, wrote to former colleagues at Messrs E. G. Gurney and Co, Cheapside, telling of being involved in the capture of German trenches. "We had to dig ourselves in, and by the time this was finished dawn was breaking. My God, what a sight! Dead, dying and wounded absolutely smothered the ground. It makes one's heart very hard indeed, seeing so many pals 'down and out'."

• The parents of Pte Charles Frederick Hyde, 2724, "The Queen's" Regiment, were anxious for official news of their son after comrades wrote saying that he had Pte Percy Darby were both killed. Pte Hyde, of 93 High Town Road, Luton, enlisted in August 1914. [He was killed on May 26th, 1915, and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial].

• Mr Arthur Booth, of 138 Old Bedford Road, has now heard from his son, Cpl F. Stanley Booth, of "The Queen's," who is in the Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, where he had an operation on Wednesday. He was wounded first by a bullet through the left heel, then shortly afterwards by a bullet through the right knee, causing a fractured kneecap. He had been carried back to a dressing station during the night by a wounded comrade.

• Pte Percy Francis Darby, 2676, 1/24th Battalion County of London Regiment "The Queen's," was killed in action on May 26th, 1915, in trenches near Givenchy. He was 19 and had played for Luton Casuals FC. The Telegraph published a photograph (below) of the pre-war team, with Pte Darby (seated front on the ground, left) and six other wounded casualties from the team - Alec Webdale (back row first left, Queen Victoria Rifles), Leslie Hart (second right, Public Schools Corps, Middlesex Regt), Fred Webb (middle row, left, Queen Victoria Rifles), Harry Sharp (middle row, second left, 24th "The Queen's), Harry Webb (middle, centre, 24th "The Queen's") and George Hart (second, right, 24th "The Queen's").

• It was reported at a meeting of Luton Chamber of Commerce last night that an inquiry had been made through its New Industries Committee for land for the purposes of an explosives factory. The information required had been furnished by the secretary, and there the matter stood at present, An other firm was also reported to be negotiating, but matters were not sufficiently advanced for any further details to be given.

• The Chamber offered an alternative to a War Office proposed "straw hat or khaki cap" recruiting poster. Although not wholly approved, it was suggested the poster would show a khaki cap in the centre with a silk, straw, felt, bowler and Homburg hat surrounding it, to avoid an invidious distinction being given to the straw hat.