Pte George Shackleton, 41891, 13th Battalion Essex Regiment, died at Tournai in France on March 16th, 1918, from intestinal catarrh while a prisoner of the Germans. Parents Joseph John and Elizabeth Shackleton, of 8 Stanley Street, Luton, learned of his fate six months later.

Pte Shackleton, who was aged 31, joined up in January 1917 and went to France the following May.

Born in Clerkenwell, London, in 1887, he had previously helped in his father' hat factory.

Pte Thomas Alfred Cook, 204219, 1st Herts Regiment, died in a casualty clearing station in France on August 20th, 1918, from wounds sustained in action the previous day.

Born in Luton in 1887, a son of Thomas and Alice Cook, of 10 Clarendon Road, Luton, Thomas was engaged in the cost office at Vauxhall works before joining up in May 1917.

He had married Martha How from Round Green in 1909 and by the time of the 1911 Census they were living in Turners Road with two young boys, Harold Thomas (born 1910) and Dennis (1911).

Gunner Charles Richard Mellor, 656450, 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, died on August 19th, 1918, in the 12th General Hospital, Rouen, in France, as a result of having been gassed in action. He had been married only four months.

Born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on March 12th, 1899, he had joined the Staffordshire R.F.A. when aged only 16½. He was stationed at Biscot for eight months and met his future wife, Luton girl Daisy Holton, while there.

L-Cpl Charles Horace West, 40645, 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers, was killed in action in Flanders on April 11th, 1918. He was aged 30, married and had a son.

Charles, eldest son of Charles and Amy Jane West, of 47 Ivy Road, Luton, had been reported missing since April 11th, and his fate was still unknown when brother Fred, 881989, Royal Field Artillery, was confirmed kill in France on July 29th, 1918.

Gunner Fred Gordon West, 881989, 312th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action in France on July 29th, 1918. He was aged 28 and single.

Second son of Charles and Amy Jane West, he was born in Steppingley, Beds, in 1890. By the time of the 1911 Census, Fred was living with his parents and sister Lillian Edith and brother Jack at 47 Ivy Road. He was employed as a stiffener by hat manufacturer Mr Sidney Parker, of 47 Collingdon Street, Luton.

Pte William Henry Wilson, 88025, 3rd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on August 9th, 1918. He was aged 25 and single.

His chaplain wrote to widowed mother Lizzie Ann Wilson at 10 South Road, Luton, that on the night of the 9th a bomb was dropped on the dressing station where William was working, killing him instantly.

Sapper Walter George White, 60334, 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action in France on August 6th, 1918. He was married, had resided at 86 Cromwell Road, Luton, and had been wounded twice previously on the battlefield.

Born in 1889, he was at the time of the 1911 Census one of ten surviving children of George and Betsy White, of 83 Cromwell Road. Walter was then a straw hat warehouseman. He was employed by hat manufacturer Mr E. G. Bryant, of 39 Cheapside, until joining the Colours.

Pte Ernest William Armitage, 20432, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 25th*, 1918. He was single, and his widowed mother lived at 26 Albert Road, Luton.

In a letter to Mrs Sarah Armitage, Capt P. J. Reiss wrote that her son's death had occurred on June 26th*. Ernest was a member of a Lewis gun team in the front line, and he had been nearby when Pte Armitage was killed instantly by a piece of trench mortar entering his head from behind. His body was carried out the same evening and he had been properly buried in an English cemetery.

Pte Eddie (Edwin Frederick) Thompson, 307504, 2/7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was reported missing, later presumed killed in action, near St Quentin in France, on March 22nd, 1918.

Born in Luton in 1892, the son of rate collector Mr Fred Thompson and his wife Julia, he had enlisted late in 1915 with three friends from the Union Chapel, Luton. They trained with the 3/1 Signal Co at Bedford. He transferred to the Royal Warwicks in December 1916.

Sapper John Wesley, 524163, 82nd Field Company Royal Engineers, was killed in action in France on June 12th, 1918. He left a widow, Lillie, whom he had married in Luton a year earlier, and had been in France for only 11 weeks.

An officer wrote to Lillie: “I have to inform you of the death of your husband, who was killed on the night of the 12th whilst proceeding to work. Death was instantaneous. I am pleased to tell you he was saved the awful pain of a lingering death... He was buried officially, and his grave is kept in Army records.”

te Edwin Henry Billingham, 44636, 8th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, was killed in action in France on May 30th, 1918, just days before his 19th birthday and only weeks after being sent to France.

The son of William and Ellen Billingham, of 39 Westbourne Road, Luton, he had joined the London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles) in May 1917 and, after training at Winchester and Hounslow, was drafted overseas in April 1918 with the Gloucesters.

L-Cpl Archibald Christopher Allwood, 41386, 13th Battalion Rifle Brigade, had been in France only a month and in the front line trenches just a day or two when he was killed by a shell which dropped into his dug-out on June 2nd, 1918. He and his comrades died instantly.

The former Luton Modern School pupil was the only son of Luton Borough Special Constabulary Inspector Walter Leonard Allwood and his wife Florence Ruth, of 214 Dunstable Road, Luton. Archibald was two months short of his 19th birthday.

Pte Herbert Thomas Chambers, 130271, 59th Machine Gun Corps, was reported missing in Flanders on April 15th, 1918. But it was 11 months later before parents Herbert and Maggie Chambers, of 75 Wimbourne Road, Luton, learned that he had been killed in action on that date.

Herbert was 19 at the time of his death, but had enlisted in the 1/5th Bedfords just before the war, in May 1914. Following the outbreak of war, the regiment was drafted to Gallipoli, but although Pte Chambers volunteered twice to go with them he had to remain in England because of his age.

Pte Frederick Archer Marshall, 200315, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of typhoid fever on May 12th, 1918, while serving in Palestine. He left a widow, Charlotte, and three children living at 6 Albert Terrace, New Town Street, Luton.

Frederick had served as a volunteer for 15 years, and was with Col Brighten's forces in the early stages of the war

Gunner Thomas William Ivins, 235866, 312 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action on the Western Front on April 24th, 1918. Before joining the Army he had been licensee of the Painters Arms pub in High Town Road, Luton.