Rifleman Alfred John Stanley Bruton, C/1669, 17th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, was killed in action on the Somme on October 21st, 1916. He was aged 24.

He was the second of the two sons of Alfred John and Sarah Jane Bruton, of East Hyde Mill Cottage, New Mill End, to lose his life on active service. Younger brother Rifleman Augustus Tennyson Bruton died in the Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington, Lancs, on April 10th, 1916, from wounds sustained accidentally in a bomb-throwing accident.

Pte William Dovaston, 3848, 9th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 11th, 1916. He was aged 19.

Born at Islington, London, he was the son of Robert William and Caroline Dovaston, of 18 Selbourne Road, Luton. He enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment at the age of 17 and had served in Gibraltar and Egypt before being transferred to the Middlesex Regiment and sent to France.

William was formerly employed by Commercial Cars Ltd and was a member of All Saints Church choir. He played football for the church club.

Pte Walter Henman, 19546, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 15th, 1916. He was aged 21 and the second son of William and Alice Henman, of Breachwood Green, to die in France in 11 days.

Born on April 24th, 1895, Walter Henman had undergone 11 months of training at Ampthill before going to the Front in January 1916. Prior to enlistment he worked as a farm labourer for Mr W. Ivory at Winch Hill Farm, near Luton.

Petty Officer Stoker William Wallace Gadsby, Royal Navy, was the second son of William and Isabella Gadsby to die within six weeks in 1916. He was at the time serving on submarine E4, which, on August 15th, 1916, was sunk in a collision with sister submarine E41 during exercises off Harwich. Both vessels went down, and all hands on E4 were lost.

Younger brother Arthur Edward was killed in action on the Somme on July 5th while serving with the Hampshire Regiment.

Sgt William Phypers, 2057, 12th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, died in a casualty clearing station in France on July 17th, 1916, after being severely wounded on June 29th and lying unattended in No Man's Land between the trenches for a whole day before being picked up. The spell of exposure was reported to be ultimately the cause cause of his death.

Signal Boy Arthur Olney, 16, drowned when HMS Queen Mary was sunk in the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916. His body was not found for burial.

Confirmation of his death came in an official intimation from the War Office to his widowed mother Susan at her home, 32 Hibbert Street, Luton.

Educated at Queen Square School, Luton, Arthur Olney served on the Great Northern Railway for 12 months before joining the Navy in which he served for 16 months, 11 months on the Queen Mary.

Lieutenant Reginald Cumberland Green, 1st Beds Regiment, died on May 18th, 1916, within two hours of receiving a bullet wound in the thigh sustained while examining the wire entanglement in front of British trenches at Arras in France. He was aged 31 and the son of brewer Mr John W. Green and his wife Mary (Commandant of Wardown V.A.D. Hospital), of The Larches, New Bedford Road, Luton.

Pte Charles Ellingham, 22462, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on April 19th, 1916.

Born in Luton, he was the youngest but one of six sons of James and Susan Ellingham, of 26 Spring Place, Luton. For some years before the war he was employed by J. Custance and Sons, sugar boilers, at 15 Chapel Street.

Pte Ellingham had been at the Front for just nine weeks. On the day of his death there had been a very severe bombardment by the enemy that was one of the worst so far experienced and lasted eight hours.

Pte Albert George Cox, 20172, 8th Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on April 19th, 1916. He enlisted on April 7th, 1915, and was trained at the Duke of Bedford's training camp at Ampthill. He was aged 33.

Born in Sundon, he was the son of Charles and Jane Cox. Like his father, George (as he appears to have been generally known) had been an agricultural labourer on Henry Gates' farm at Sundon. They lived in a farm cottage.

Pte Cox is commemorated on the Sundon Village War Memorial.

Pte Victor Charles Groome, 6/1042, 4th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, was killed in action in France on May 25th, 1915. He had been reported missing, but it was a year later before his death was confirmed.

Pte Groome was born in Luton towards the end of 1888, the son of Hermon and Martha Louise Groome, who in 1891 were living at 72 Lea Road, Luton. Mr Groome died at the age of 71 in 1912 after working at Hayward Tyler's for 36 years and being married for 45 years.

Pte Victor Charles Groome, 6/1042, 4th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, was killed in action in France on May 25th, 1915. He had been reported missing, but it was a year later before his death was confirmed.

Pte Groome was born in Luton towards the end of 1888, the son of Hermon and Martha Louise Groome, who in 1891 were living at 72 Lea Road, Luton. Mr Groome died at the age of 71 in 1912 after working at Hayward Tyler's for 36 years and being married for 45 years.

Pte Oswald Simmonds, 7948, 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regt, was presumed killed in action on October 31st, 1914. But it was 15 months later before his wife Rose Lilian received official notification of his death.

Pte Simmonds, who was aged about 30, was included in the lists of men who had joined the colours that were printed in the Luton News in 1914. His address was given as 56 May Street, Luton, the address also included on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Pte Robert Watson, 9652, King's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died on October 12th, 1915, from wounds sustained in action in France on September 29th. A piece of shrapnel had hit him in the back.

Born in Luton on February 19th, 1881, he was the son of Edmund (died 1889) and Tamar Watson (nee Humphrey).

Pte George Jenkins, 18252, 2nd Battalion Beds Regt, died on September 30th, 1915, from wounds sustained two days earlier in the Battle of Loos. Some military records suggest he resided in Stopsley, but Press reports at the time described him as from Hockliffe.

Born in Newbury, Berks, on November 5th, 1893, Pte Jenkins married Florence Rose Bleaney, the daughter of Walter and Annie Bleaney, from High Street, Upper Houghton Regis [now High Street North, Dunstable], in early 1914. Their daughter, Florence May, was born in July of that year.

Pte Alfred Fieldhouse Lloyd, 4245, B Company, 1/5th Bedfords, was killed in action at Gallipoli. Officially his death is recorded as August 16th, 1915, although one battlefield comrade said he had not been seen since August 15th. His body was found on October 9th.