Pte Frederick Harold Wightman MM, 14761, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras in France on April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 22.

No report of his death appears to have been published in local newspapers around that time, although he is commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour as a recipient of the Military Medal. However, a report in the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph (February 1st, 1919)said Pte Wightman had been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry during the Battle of Arras.

Pte Alfred George Titmuss, 32174, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was presumed killed in action during the second Battle of Arras in France on April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 21.

A letter from Lieut Dudley to parents George and Sarah Kate Titmuss, of 40 Milton Road, Luton, said their son was reported as missing and he was afraid he must now be either dead or a prisoner of war. Many inquiries had been made, but none of his comrades could say what happened to him.

Pte Harry Taylor, 31918, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Arras in France on April 23rd, 1917.

Parents Henry and Minnie Taylor, of 5 Pondwicks Road, Luton, were informed by platoon Sgt S. C. Laurence that their son had been posted as missing on April 23rd. The last time he had seem Pte Taylor was when they had dug in the trenches ahead of the order to advance.

Pte Garner, who was in Harry's section reported that Pte Taylor had been wounded, but beyond that there was no further information.

Pte Albert Jesse William Day, 32114, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on or soon after April 23rd, 1917, at the Battle of Arras. Two months later his widowed mother Emily at 25 Brache Street, Luton, was still awaiting definite news of the fate of her son, who had been reported missing since April 23rd.

Pte Leonard Anderson, 33586, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the Battle of Arras in France on April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 28.

He was the eldest son of Frederick and Annie Anderson, of Ferndale, 57 Russell Rise, Luton. Lieut T. H. Warren, of a Canadian Infantry Battalion, wrote to Mrs Anderson to say the body of her son was buried reverently on the field of battle by a party from his battalion.

Pte Henry Steer, 31483, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 23rd, 1917. He left a widow, Clara May, and two children, Henry William and Marjorie Louise, living at 144 Baker Street, Luton.

Although no official news had initially been received, one of his officers wrote to Clara to say her husband had been killed in action on April 23rd. He did not suffer any pain as his death was instantaneous.

Acting Cpl David Dilley, 33620, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 23rd, 1917. He had celebrated his 23rd birthday just four days previously.

A pal wounded by the same shell that killed David wrote to parents William and Mary Ann Dilley at 8 Milton Road, Luton: "Your son was killed in the same shell hole I was in. I was wounded and managed to crawl from the hole. He did not suffer at all, but died quickly." The letter was written from a base hospital.

Pte Arthur Dillingham, 18421, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras in France on April 19th, 1917. His death was reported to be instantaneous.

He was 30 years of age and had enlisted in the Bedfords at the outbreak of war. He had served in France for two years and three months, during which period he was gassed, mined and spent a spell in hospital suffering from shell shock.

Pte George Hull, 15287, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France some time between April 9th and 12th, 1917. He was 28 and single from Upper Sundon, and had worked at the Sundon Cement and Lime Works before enlisting.

He was first reported to be missing on April 9th but it was not until early June that his mother Anne had confirmation that George had been killed in action.

Pte Albert Edward Nicholson, 233543 (8090), 1/2nd Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action in Flanders on April 12th, 1917. He was aged 28.

A Roll of Honour advert in The Luton News appears to the only local mention of Pte Nicholson's death. That was placed by his widow, Florence (nee Phillips), whom Albert had married in Luton in June 1915, and who was living at the time at 68 Tavistock Street, Luton. Florence later returned to live with her widowed mother, Hannah, at 50 Ivy Road, Luton, and never remarried.

Pte George Soffe, 32262, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on April 11th, 1917. He was aged 20 and was the third member of the Luton News staff to have died on the battlefield.

Second Lieut Frederic George Thompson, 7th Bedfords attached to 6th Bedfords, was killed in action by a shell in France on April 11th, 1917. He was aged 30.

Although living in Castle Road, Bedford, he had spent 12 years as a cashier at Barclays Bank in Luton, whom he joined in 1904.

He had offered himself for service in he early stages of the war but had been rejected. About a year before his death, however, he got into the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps and was later gazetted to the Bedfordshire Regiment, with whom he went from Landguard to serve in France.

Pte Frederick Reginald Allen, 27968, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action while serving as a stretcher bearer in Flanders on April 9th, 1917. He was aged 27.

Pte Horace George McDonnell, 31903, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 9th, 1917. This date was supplied in two contemporary letters received independently from the front by parents Walter and Alice McDonnell, of 29 Malvern Road, Luton, although later records give a date of April 12th.

Pte Sidney Thomas Fleckney, 13164, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the front line at Arras on June 4th, 1916. He had at first been reported missing by the War Office.

Born on April 4th, 1893, he was the son of the late George (died 1915) and Hannah (died 1906) Fleckney, of Mangrove Green, and he had been living with a married sister at Mangrove, near Luton.