• Luton Court House 1858-1937

Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: September 9th, 1916.

There was excitement at the local Police Court this morning. There was a rather bigger attendance than usual at a Saturday sitting, the gallery being full to overflowing, including many men of military age.

A pre-war picture of some of the players and officials of Luton's Cliftondale FC. It was carried in the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph of September 9th, 1916, to record that all of these 13 players and officials shown were engaged either in munitions work or had enlisted in the Army or Navy.

Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, September 7th, 1916.

The downing in flames of a German airship near Potters Bar, Herts, on Sunday [September 3rd, 1916] attracted souvenir hunters, despite a cordon of police and soldiers guarding the crash site.

With an eye to business, says a correspondent, several men had brought to the spot pieces of zinc and old iron which they were tendering at very fanciful prices and passing off as genuine parts of the airship.

The appeal made by the Ministry of Munitions this week for men to join building labour squads has met with a fair response, but the number applying for service is not yet nearly as large as is required.

A very large number of men are wanted immediately, and it is hoped that every man over military age who has the necessary physical strength will go to the Labour Exchanges and offer his services.

The sequel to a military visit "behind the scenes" at the Palace Theatre, Luton, was heard at the Borough Court [September 6th, 1916]. William Northcliffe, a travelling music hall comedy artiste from Blackpool, was charged with being an absentee under the Military Service Act. He pleaded ignorance on the subject and said he had no notice calling him up.

• Munition girls at a Luton factory.

The lure of pay at munitions factories was causing staffing problems for Luton's traditional hat manufacturers and firms in allied trades. A report in The Luton News of September 7th, 1916, told of one employer who had decided to make an example of one girl who quit without giving due notice.

Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: September 2nd, 1916.

The "rounding up" by the Luton Police of Belgians in the town who are of military age resulted in proceedings at the Borough Court this morning against two Belgian refugees for failure to comply with the Alien Restriction Consolidation Order by neglecting to furnish the Chief Constable, as the registration officer for the borough, about a change in residence and their intended new place of residence.

Bomb crater created by an airship on the Luton Hoo Estate in a later raid.

In its Thursday, September 7th edition, The Luton News carried this report of a rural correspondent's experiences of being close to the scene of the September 3rd airship raid:

Luton joined with London and the South-Eastern counties in the joy and excitement yesterday [September 3rd, 1916] over the bringing down of the first Zeppelin [1] on British soil.

Injuries other than permanent disablement are said to be regarded by some of the soldiers at the Front as blessings in disguise, because they mean "Blighty". We do not know if this is the case with Pte Stanley Barton, of the Essex Regiment, but we should think he has had as unfortunate an experience as any of the wounded.

The Mayor of Luton (Alderman J. H. Staddon) has been making note of the cases in which men, obviously unfit, have been passed for general service. Here is another.

Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, August 31st, 1916.

From the stirring battlefields of France to the peaceful cleaning of tramcars in Luton's depot is somewhat of a far cry, but that has been the experience of Pte Harry Smith, of 17 Arthur Street [previously 164 Leagrave Road], who after the din and strife of conflict, now finds ample time to ruminate upon the whole waste and folly of warfare.

A letter writer signing himself "H.H.," called for action against flash jewellery touts selling sham items at Luton market. He wrote:

When Cpl Harry Stillwell was brought home sick and wounded from Gallipoli it was to lead to a reunion with a brother who had emigrated to Canada five years earlier.

Under the heading "An honourable exile - men who helped to victory though they suffered defeat" The Luton News of Thursday, August 31st, 1916, paid its tribute to men with Luton area connections who fought for their country but had by then become prisoners of war. Twenty-five names were included along with pictures of 19 of them.