Mr and Mrs Edwin Collier, of 3 Clarendon Road, Luton, had four sons serving in the Army - including one son rescued from a torpedoed ship - and one in the Navy. Three other sons were working in munitions, as were two daughters and Mr Collier himself - 11 members of the family in total.

Cpl Leonard Collier (Northamptonshire Regiment) was the son rescued. The 29-year-old had been working as a master baker at 4 Boyle Street before joining up. He was on the torpedoed transport ship Transylvania and was in the water for four hours before being picked up. He was then taken to France and by August 1917 was in Egypt.

Pte Walter Collier (Royal Engineers) was aged 20 and had assisted his brother in the bakery business before joining up in November 1915. He went to France in February 1916.

Pte Arthur Collier, aged 21, was formerly employed by George Kent Ltd before enlisting in the Bedfordshire Regiment in February 1916.

Pte Thomas Collier joined the Army Veterinary Corps in January 1917 and the following month was sent out to Salonica. The 26-year-old had been a coal merchant living in Stopsley before the war.

Seaman Albert Collier joined the Navy in January 1917 and was at Chatham. He was also previously a master baker, in High Town Road. [Thomas appears to have been the only member of the family not to survive the war. He contracted malaria while in Salonica and was reported to have died from pneumonia on October 9th, 1918, after being brought back to Southampton. He is buried in St Thomas's churchyard at Stopsley and commemorated on the Stopsley and Luton War Memorials.]

[The Luton News: Thursday, August 30th, 1917]