Among the Luton lads wounded in the "Push" in France and Flanders is Pte Arthur R. Edwards, 8133, 17th Manchester Regiment. He had been in Manchester for some years when he enlisted, but prior to going to Cottonopolis he was at Vyse, Sons and Co Ltd, Luton. He was employed in straw trade by Messrs Wilson, Bothamley and Co, of Manchester, and was therefore constantly in touch with Luton.

He is 23 and single and is a brother of Mr Will Edwards, newsagent and vendor of The Luton News and Saturday Telegraph and "programme boy" at the Town football ground. Writing to his brother from St Mark's Ward, St Bartholomew's Hospital, Chatham, Pte Edwards says:

"Just a few lines to put that dear old head and heart of yours at ease, for I know that you will be worrying as to how I am. I am thankful to be able to say that I am fairly well - not a great deal of pain.

"I have a bullet wound right through my right leg, about eight inches above the knee. It has made rather a nasty wound to look at, for it seems to have been an explosive bullet. I have a rubber tube right through my leg. Thank God it did not catch the bone. All my bones are as before - that's what I think, anyway.

"I suppose you got my field card all right to say that I was wounded. As you see, I have managed to get to dear old England with it. I landed this morning. I would have liked to have been a bit nearer, but hadn't a chance. Anyhow, I am sure we ought to be thankful to be alive.

"It's marvellous how I kept my reason. Awful! Awful! All the boys dead all around me...but how they did it! Grand! We had to go and take a village nearly a mile and a half away. I was among the first 50 in. The village was Montauban.

"Well, the 17th Manchesters did it. I was shot when right through at the other side of the village, about 2.30 on Saturday afternoon. For the next 12 hours I lay in a bit of a cellar, shells dropping all around. I was nearly buried alive and my right leg was bleeding fearfully, and no one to take me away.

"At about 2 o'clock on Sunday morning, I decided to try and get back to our lines. Anyhow, I won't trouble you with how I did it. God! One and a half miles with a hole through the leg. Anyway, here we are, as merry as a cricket and very little pain, really, so don't worry."

Pte Edwards' brother, Horace, was serving with the 1/5th Beds Regiment in Egypt.

[The Saturday Telegraph: July 8th, 1916. Illustration: Wikipedia]

It was reported in the Luton News on 21st September 1916 of the death of 2/Lieutenant Alexander Pigott Wernher, youngest son of Sir Julius & Lady Wernher.

Alexander was born in Hambledon, Surrey in 1897. At aged 4 in 1901 he was living at Luton Hoo Mansion with his brother Harold under the care of their German governess & 27 servants.

By 1911 he was boarding at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire. It was whilst he was studying at Eton when war broke out & in March 1915 aged 18 he enlisted in the Royal Bucks Hussars. When returning from East Africa in April 1916, he transferred to The Welsh Guards & was sent to the front. He saw action at the Battle of Loos & the Battle of Delville Wood & it was during this battle, east of Longueval on the Somme that he was shot & killed.

He is buried in the Citadel New Military Cemetery, Fricourt, Somme, France in plot 2, row A, grave 5. At the request of his mother, Lady Ludlow, the words 'His sacrifice was the nature of his love for England' are inscribed on his cross.

There is a plaque to his memory on the family mausoleum which is in the  Holy Trinity churchyard, East Hyde, Bedfordshire.

Second-Lieut Arthur Haworth, King's Liverpool Regiment, attached to the Machine Gun Corps, was killed in action rallying his men against a German counter-attack on the Somme on July 19th, 1916. He was aged 20.

Born in Sowerby Bridge, Yorks, in 1896, he spent his childhood in Luton and attended Luton Modern School, becoming a member of the Old Lutonians Club. His father, Albert, was a machine tool manufacturer who brought his family from Yorkshire to Luton soon after Arthur, their second son, was born. They first lived in Cardiff Grove and later at 39 Brook Street until shortly before 2nd-Lieut Haworth's death.

Arthur Haworth had enlisted as a private in the King's Liverpool Regiment early in September 1914 and left for France on July 24th the following year. He saw hard service in the trenches and was quickly promoted to sergeant. On being gazetted as a second-lieut at the end of 1915 he returned to Britain and was training for some months at the Machine Gun School in North Wales.

Rejoining his regiment, he participated in the advance at the start of the Battle of the Somme and was killed after rallying his men to beat off a German counter-attack.

Along with a telegram of sympathy from the King and Queen, his parents received a letter from Lieut Oswald Coope, O.C. 92nd Machine Gun Corps. In the letter he said Arthur Haworth was in charge of two guns in the front line. By his example and courage he kept up the spirit of the men all through the bombardment prior to the assault.

Shortly after the assault was launched the enemy counter-attacked, but by his personal conduct and encouragement the enemy were beaten off. Unfortunately a bullet hit him in the neck and he died practically at once. He was buried in a tiny village called Bacquerot, south of Laventie.

Second Lieut Charles Frederick Burley, 4th Battalion (attached 10th) Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on November 18th, 1916. The younger son of leading Luton hat manufacturer Richard Burley, he would not have been 19 years old until December 1st - and still under military age for service abroad.

Richard and his wife Clara Ann, of 18 Leagrave Road, Luton, received the news that their son was missing, believed killed, six days later. A visit to the British Red Cross in London produced nothing further about his disappearance, although the authorities said it was possible for an injured man to remain in what shelter could be obtained for two or three days before being brought in.

Second Lieut Burley enlisted in October 1914 in the 2nd Battalion Public Schoolboys Corps, and went out to the front in November 1915. Returning to England the following April, he undertook a course of training at Lichfield and then received his commission, Gazetted second lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He returned to the Front and had been there only around seven weeks.

Prior to enlistment, Charles Burley worked in the office at Brown & Green's iron foundry, Windsor Street. His father's main hat factory was in Old Bedford Road.

Second Lieut Harold George Fyson, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 12th, 1916. He was aged 26.

Born in Luton in April 1890, he was a son of straw hat dyer employer George Austin Fyson and his wife Kate(nee Cooke), of 36 Leagrave Road.

His parents received a telegram on October 15th to say he had been wounded on the 12th and then a second to say he was wounded and missing. Then two letters from fellow officers confirmed his death.

Information initially received was that Second Lieut Fyson had taken part in an attack, leading his platoon into action under heavy enemy fire. He had fallen mortally wounded into a deep trench within 30 yards of the German position. Cpl Selby made many attempts to bring Lieut Fyson back to the British lines, but on two occasions stretcher bearers who were with him were killed and another was wounded.

Subsequently it transpired that Second Lieut Fyson had been a victim of German treachery. On the day six officers of the Bedfords were killed and four wounded, he had gone out with his men to talk to a German officer and 50 men who it was claimed wanted to surrender. But the Germans had their machine guns trained and opened fire on the British party as they approached.

Second Lieut Fyson was sent to negotiate with the Germans as he had learned their language during four years at a German university, studying engineering. His earlier education was at Dunstable Grammar School and afterwards at Bedford School.

On his return to England he joined the staff of George Kent Ltd before enlisting with the Public School Corps on the day it was created. He received his commission in the Bedfords in May 1915 and went to France a year later.

One of Harold's brothers, Arthur, was also a Second Lieut in the Bedfords.

Temporary Sec-Lieut Herbert George Merchant, 9th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment attached to the 7th Battalion, was killed in action on the Somme on September 28th, 1916. He was aged 22.

Born in Luton, he was the son of house furnisher and dealer James Herbert Merchant and his wife Ada Maud Ruth (nee Barford), of 134 Castle Street, Luton [now part of London Road]. A letter from a fellow officer informed his parents that Herbert was killed by a sniper within three seconds of the Battalion going into action on what may have been his first visit to the trenches as an officer.

Sec-Lieut Merchant, more familiarly known as George, was educated at Luton Modern School and then proceeded to Eastbourne for business training to enable him to carry on the family furnishing business of F. Merchant and Sons, Manchester Street, Luton. After five years in Eastbourne he entered the Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers as a private in September 1914.

He went to France with that Battalion in November 1915 and spent the following Christmas in the fighting line. He remained at the Front until March 1916, when he was one of about 125 men sent backto England to join a Cadet School in the West Country. There he was given the rank of corporal and, after four months' training, passed examinations to gain his commission.

Lieut Merchant was gazetted on August 5th, 1916, to a Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment that was subsequently broken up and then attached to the 7th Battalion with some 30 colleagues from Cadet School. On arrival in France he was posted to a training school for officers, and he had been killed before his parents were aware he was in the fighting line.

However, two days before his death he wrote to say he and his men had been served out with shrapnel helmets and other trench accoutrements and he anticipated it would not be long before they were in the first line.

Second-Lieut Richard Norman Butcher, 20th The King's (Liverpool) Regiment, died on August 5th, 1916, from wounds sustained on the Somme on July 30th. He was aged 26 and the son of Bute Street pawnbroker William Joseph Butcher and his wife Lily Rhoda, who lived at Bendrose, Braithwaite Road [later Malzeard Road], off Studley Road, Luton.

He had joined the 24th County of London ("Queen's") Regiment in the ranks on September 12th, 1914, and was promoted to lance-corporal while serving in France. He was wounded on May 26th, 1915, in the charge at Givenchy. After he recovered, he rejoined his regiment in September 1915 and took a commission he was offered and was gazetted to the 15th King's (Liverpool) Regiment.

Lieut Butcher rejoined the Expeditionary Force on June 19th, 1916, and was attached to the 20th King's (Liverpool) Regiment. He was slightly wounded for a second time on July 11th and rejoined his regiment after the wound was dressed. His third and fatal wound came on July 30th, as a result of which he died in hospital in France.

Richard Butcher was educated at St Gregory's School, Luton, and at Mill Hill School, where he distinguished himself in swimming and rugby. Prior to enlisting, he was employed in the straw trade with Messrs William Walsh and Sons, Chapel Street.

He had a brother, Ralph Wycombe Butcher, who had also risen from the ranks to earn a commission with the 4th Manchester Regiment. He was killed on March 14th, 1917, while attached to the 22nd Manchesters, aged 21.

Second Lieut Richard Reeve Emmens, 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 4th, 1916. He was aged 23.

Born in Birmingham, the public school boy was engaged for 12 months before the war as a chartered accountant with Mr Thomas Keens, Secretary of the Luton Chamber of Commerce. He is included on the Luton Roll of Honour with an address at Cardiff Road, Luton.

Richard Emmens joined the Motor Transport Section of the Army Service Corps, and since September 1914 had been on continuous active service in France. He received his commission in September 1915 and received his second start in August 1916.

At the time he was killed he was in charge of a trench mortar battery. Writing to his mother Jessie in Birmingham, his Commanding Officer wrote: "Your son volunteered to reconnoitre a dangerous trench with another officer, and so met his death. He was one of the bravest men I have met."

Second Lieut William Samuel Scruby, 12th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action near Thiepval on the Somme on September 26th, 1916. He was aged 25 and had planned to marry during his next leave.

He had joined the Coldstream Guards in the ranks (Pte 11338) at the outbreak of war and only received his commission three months before his death in recognition of meritorious conduct in the field. He was gazetted to the Middlesex Regiment.

Second Lieut Scruby was born in Newbury, Berks, the eldest son of the Rev William J.T. Scruby, who was minister of High Town Methodist Church from 1899 to 1908. Rev Scruby died in Hinckley, Leics, in 1911, but at the time of his son's death his widow, Alice, was living at 37 Westbourne Road, Luton, her home given the name Hinckley House.

Details of his death published in both The Luton News (October 5th, 1916) and The Luton Reporter (October 9th) are confirmed on William's medal rolls index cards, but the date on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and in "UK Soldiers Died in The Great War" is given as June 29th,1916 (29-6-1916 instead of 26-9-1916).

Well over one million men on all sides perished or were wounded in the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in history that spanned five months from July to November 1916. Men from Luton and nearby villages naturally played their part, many making the ultimate sacrifice.

Initially using contemporary Luton newspaper reports, including published casualty lists and stories of local men who lost their lives - and backed up by recognised authoritative sources, this is an attempt to build up a comprehensive roll of honour devoted specifically to the Somme in 1916.

Click here to see the list as it develops day by day over the coming weeks. Then click on individual names to find out what was written about them at the time and see any picture that were published.

Information about soldiers with a Luton connection who may inadvertently be omitted, perhaps through no information being published about them at the time, would be welcome.

Bombardier Charles William Asbury, 33560, 39th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action on September 12th, 1916, on the Somme. He was aged 32.

Born in Harlington, he became an assistant porter with the Midland Railway at Flitwick in 1899 when aged 15. He attested as a 20-year-old with the R.F.A. in 1904 and served in India before joining the Reserve.

At the time of the 1911 Census, Charles was a visitor at 134 Ridgway Road, Luton, the home of the Carter family and their daughter Millie Cornell Carter, who Charles would marry at St Thomas's Church, Stopsley, on May 11th, 1912. The couple had a daughter, Frances May, born the following October.

Charles was a clerk in the Territorial Force Office at Bedford, but, as a reservist, was called up at the outbreak of war and at once sent to France. He received only one period of leave, about a year before his death.

The Carter family, including Millie and her child, had moved to live in Colin Road, Luton, when the news arrived from the War Office of Bombardier Asbury's death.

Company Sgt Major Arthur Fountain, 15400, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 27th, 1916.

Born in Markyate in 1881, he was a son of the late William Richard and Sarah Ann Fountain,of Luton Road, Markyate. He enlisted on September 7th, 1914, and had served at the Front without a scratch for about 18 months, with just one brief spell of home leave.

At the time of the 1911 Census Arthur was living with his married sister Annie and her husband William G. Champkin and their son at 184 Wellington Street, Luton. He was a labourer at the Henry Brown and Sons timber yard in Dunstable Road, and his interests included football.

He had three brothers serving with the Colours - Pte Harry Fountain on active service, Pte Thomas Fountain, also in France, and Pte William Fountain, in training at Felixstowe.

Cpl Alfred John Axtell, 19/312, 19th Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Pioneers) was killed by an explosive shell on August 23rd, 1916, during the British advance on the Somme.

Born in Dunstable in 1888, he later lived with parents Alfred and Martha Hannah (nee Ramsden) at 19 Biscot Road, Luton, and attended Old Bedford Road Boys' School, where he was a pupil teacher. After attending Westminster Training College, he became an assitant master at an elementary school in County Durham and lodged with a family at Dunston-on-Tyne, near Gateshead.

He joined the Northumberland Fusiliers at Newcastle-on-Tyne in the early days of the war, and left for France in January 1916.

Writing to Cpl Axtell's parents in Luton, Cpl A. Ellingham said they were at work consolidating some recently taken positions on the evening of the 23rd while the enemy were shelling their approach. While moving towards his work, a high explosive shell exploded close to where Alfred was, wounding four men.

"Since then Alf has not been seen or heard of, and it is greatly feared that he was killed," said the letter writer. "Sgt Davidson and I have made inquiries at the Dressing Stations to find out if he had been brought in for treatment, and we would have gladly gone back to look for him but our officers considered it too dangerous and refused us permission. Thus, after these few days of inquiries and waiting, nothing has come to hand to give us any hope."

Cpl Fred Smith, 6289, 2/4th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 19th, 1916. He was aged 24 and one of five sons of Thomas George and Sophia Smith, of 73 North Street, Luton, serving with the Colours.

The Rev A. R. Tucker, a Church of England Chaplain, wrote to Mrs Smith to inform her of the death of her son. He wrote: "I have buried him in a cemetery for British troops. A cross will be erected to his memory over the grave."

And, in another letter, Capt R. Whittaker, Royal Berks Regiment, wrote: "We were in the first line, and Cpl Smith was one of the first to advance under a heavy machine gun fire. He was killed almost immediately, and the whole company joins with me in offering you our heartfelt sympathy."

Cpl Smith had served for four years in the Territorials. He was formerly 2717, Bedfordshire Regiment, and is commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour as a lance-corporal serving with the 5th Bedfords.

Prior to enlistment he was employed at the Diamond Foundry, Dallow Road, as a gas stove moulder.

The Smiths' four other sons were Pte Arthur and Pte Albert Smith, of the Bedfordshire Regiment, in France; Pte Walter Smith, who was wounded in action in October 1914 and is now a prisoner of war at Muster in Germany; and L-Cpl Ernest Smith in training at Harrogate with the Bedfordshires.

Pte Albert Smith was to die on the Somme just three days after his brother - on July 22nd, 1916.

Cpl Herbert Henry Strange, 18463, 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 18th, 1916. He was aged 31.

Born in Calne, Wiltshire, in 1885, he married Elizabeth Jarvis, from Markyate who was then living in Russell Street, Luton, in Luton in 1909. Living at 7 Dunstable Place, they had three children - Phyliss, born 1909, Herbert in 1911 and Arthur, born in 1914, just two months before his father enlisted in January 1915.

Herbert Strange had been foreman gardener at Stockwood up to the death of Mr Francis Crawley, after which he worked for building materials merchants Charles Bird and Sons, of 112 Collingdon Street, Luton.

He had been at the Front 17 months. On October 17th, the day before he was reported missing in action, he gave his watch to a pal to send home to his wife.

Cpl William John Andrews, 22020, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in an attack on the Schwaben Redoubt, near Thiepval on the Somme, on September 28th, 1916.

He was aged 17 and not legally compelled to have been on the battlefield. He was also wearing two stripes to indicate that he had previously been wounded.

L-Cpl A. Bellamy, a friend who was beside William when he died wrote to parents John and Beatrice Mary Andrews, at 4 Hartley Road, Luton, to say their son died immediately he was hit. "As I was by his side I know he did not suffer any pain."

A parcel Mr and Mrs Andrews had sent to their son was distributed among other members of his platoon, as William had wished.

Born in Hatfield, the young soldier had joined up on his 16th birthday and went into training at Ampthill. He was the eldest of six children and had been previously apprenticed to the joinery trade with Mr Davis, of Church Street, Luton. He was also a member of St Matthew's Church, High Town.

At the time of the 1911 Census,the Andrews family were living at Marsom Terrace [now in St Thomas's Road], Stopsley. William's father was a farm labourer and his mother a midwife. His sisters were Elsie May, Lillian, Olive Joan and Mary Louisa and his brother was Joseph.

Driver Sidney John Indge, 52590, Royal Horse Artillery, was killed in action on the Somme on July 1st, 1916. He was at first reported missing.

The son of Harry George and Elizabeth Mary Indge, of 45 Ramridge Road, Round Green, he was born in late 1890.

Casualty lists gave his surname as Judge.

The story of a Samaritan German prisoner was revealed in a letter from a Bedfordshire man who had been wounded twice on the Somme battlefield. The Luton News told the story in its August 3rd, 1916, edition.

Pte Sidney Folds (pictured), 19347, Bedfordshire Regiment, son of Vince and Sarah Ann Folds, of Breachwood Green, was an inmate of the V.A.D. Hospital, Quarry Place, Shrewsbury, as a result of leg wounds.

In a letter to his sister, Mrs W. [Ada] Warren, of 35 Albert Road, Luton, he said: "I was very lucky. About my experience of the 'Big Push' I can tell you a little. We went into the trenches on the Saturday, holding the line for four days in the bombardment, and after lively retaliation by the Germans we came out on Thursday night for 36 hours' rest. We had a few casualties during the four days.

"It soon came round that we were to go back on the Friday night, and got back to our positions about 2 o'clock on Saturday morning. We had our orders what to do, and we knew exactly where to go when we got on the job, and the 'zero' time was that we were to be in the German trenches by 7.30.

"On rolled the time, and there was a thick mist. Then our platoon had orders to get ready. Just before we got up the parapet we cried, 'Over the top, boys; with the best of luck'. We were the fourth wave, and the shells and bullets were flying about., and I couldn't say if all our section reached the first German trench, but I know our sergeant did. He is a Luton man.

"We had six lines of trenches and a redoubt to capture, and on we went from the first trench to the second. All the time it was like hell, and there were poor Germans throwing up their hands and shouting for mercy. Of course, we sent them back to our lines, for we didn't stop to send any men back with them, and our boys who went over first must have done a lot in, for there were lots of dead and wounded in the trenches.

"Then on we went to the third trench, and when we got there the boys seemed quite pleased. They said to each other, 'Isn't this fine sport?'

"After we had been there a few minutes, of course, before we went forward each time, our artillery shelled the next trench and we laid flat, and our fine artillery dropped shells in their trenches a treat. As soon as it lifted, up we jumped and into the trench.

"Of course we were getting on fine, so we went to the fourth trench, and that's where I got my lot. We were rushing along when a bullet went through my left leg just above the knee. I said to my pals on each side, 'I am wounded' and they told me to get along. I had a try and managed to get a few more yards, and I was obliged to drop in a shell hole. I lay there some time, and then the Germans started shelling our supports, which were coming up, and the shells dropped so close to me I was obliged to move, and I started to get back out of the way.

"No sooner had I started than I got another bullet through the same leg, about the same place, and it broke the bone. Some lad came by and I asked him to carry me to some shallow place, and he did. I managed to get on his back, and he laid me out flat in a place and on he went again.

"I lay there about three hours and saw our supports coming up. Some fell, for the shells were dropping all around, and I was lucky enough to get only the lumps of dirt on me instead of the shrapnel. I was lucky. It was only 'the One above' who saved my life.

"While I lay there our boys were bringing the prisoners back in gangs of tens and twenties. A wounded German came by and seeing us he stopped and laid down with us, and fetched out water bottles out and gave us some drink.

He was very kind, and what amused me was the way he kept talking about, 'What will they do with me? Will they shoot me?' Of course, he didn't say that, but that was what he meant, and I kept saying, 'They won't hurt you,' and he wanted to shift us out of the way of the shells, but my leg hurt me too much to be shifted. So he spotted our Red Cross chaps and called to them. I had it bandaged and we were soon fetched by the stretcher-bearers, and this German walked down with us.

"When we got in between our first line and the German first there is a valley, and that is where we lay till five o'clock. Of course, there were a lot of us, and then were were carried down to Carnoy by the prisoners. They carried us nice and gently for half a mile, and then we were soon in a motor and off to the first dressing station.

"While I was in the hospital I saw our platoon sergeant and he said the boys were going on fine when he got wounded, for they had captured the lot of the trenches. They had to advance about another thousand yards and dig themselves in, which they did, and the time from when we left our trenches till they had dug themselves in was two hours and ten minutes."

Gunner Horace George Dunham, 2783, 24th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 24.

Horace was the son of baker and confectioner Alfred Dunham and his wife Mary, of 1 North Street, Luton. He and his two brothers had worked in the family bakery.

Officially, Gunner Dunham is recorded as having been killed in action on November 13th. A letter to his parents from the Front from Capt W. S. Green, however, said his death occurred on November 14th. The machine gunner had suffered no pain and had been buried.

Horace was a fast bowler with Luton Town Cricket Club and was the holder of medals for cricket and football. He joined up in January 1915 and had been at the Front for 12 months. His last letter home was written on November 11th.

Younger brother Albert was home on leave from the Army Service Corps, while older brother Percival had a certificate of exemption as the mainstay of the family business.

Gunner Montague George Fountain, 132456, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action on the Somme on August 24th, 1916, less than a fortnight after arriving in France.

He was aged 32 and had joined the R.F.A. at Biscot Camp in March 1916. He was billeted there for some time, and after four months training was drafted to France.

Gunner Fountain was born in Markyate in 1884, a son of William and Emily Fountain. In 1901 he was living with relatives in Wellington Street, Luton, and in 1904 he married Kate Mardle (Mardell in some records) and they had three children - Ivy (born 1905), Harold (born 1909) and Elsie (born 1915).

Prior to enlistment Montague was employed as a shop assistant by Webdale's in Wellington Street. The family was living at 52 St Saviour's Crescent, Luton.

L-Cpl Alfred Warren, 8134, 1/2nd Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action on the Somme on September 23rd, 1916. He was the son of Frederick William Warren of and his wife Jane (nee Williams), of 3 Dunstable Road, Leagrave.

Born at Olton, near Solihull, Warks, in 1897, he enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment (3548) at the age of 17, but before going to France was transferred to the London Regiment.

A report of his death said he was going to inspect sentries when he was killed by a shell. He was buried behind Combles at night. [His grave may have been lost as he is now commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial].

Alfred attended the Old Leagrave School, and immediately prior to enlistment was an employee at the Davis Gas Stove Co Ltd. He is commemorated on the Leagrave War Memorial.

L-Cpl Bert Holdstock, 2836, 1/24th County of London Regiment (The Queen's), was killed in action on the Somme on September 16th, 1916. His role was as a bomber.

Born around Christmas 1894, he was the youngest of five serving sons of Charles and Annie Holdstock, of 22 South Road (formerly Foundry Lane), Luton. He was single, aged 21 and 6ft 2in tall.

Prior to enlistment in the Londons when war broke out, he worked in the straw trade. He trained at St Albans and was wounded twice while serving for nearly two years in Flanders.

He was shot through the nose at Givenchy in May 1915 and a year later was wounded by shrapnel at Vimy Ridge. He was also one of five bombers who held the left flank at Loos.

Bert, who celebrated his 21st birthday at the Front at Christmas 1915, had been a member of Luton's Central Mission Brotherhood and played football as centre-half for Granville FC.

L-Cpl Charley George Cox, 19213, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 1st, 1916. He would have been 22 years old the following week.

Born in Barkway, Herts, he was single and the eldest son of Walter and Elizabeth Sophia Cox, of 166 North Street, Luton. Prior to enlistment he worked at the hat manufacturing premises of Messrs G. Dimmock & Co, Melson Street, Luton, in the felt department.

He had been in France since July 1915. In April 1916 he was wounded and returned to the Front on May 26th. His last field card home was written the day before his death.

His brother, Pte Herbert John Cox, was serving in the North Midland Division, having enlisted when they were stationed at Luton and was billeted at Wardown House. He was drafted to France with his unit from Bishops Stortford.

L-Cpl Cyril Stone Terry Short, 19477, 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (Bankers' Battalion) was killed in action on the Somme on or a day or two before 18th September, 1916.

Born in Southsea, Hampshire, where he spent most of his life, L-Cpl Short had arrived in Luton by 1911 as a bank clerk employed by the Capital and Counties Bank on the corner of George Street and Bute Street [now the premises of Lloyds Bank].

He shared a house with two other bank clerks at 68 Dunstable Road, Luton. He was a well-known tennis and hockey player and a member of South Beds Golf Club.

L-Cpl Edwin Granville Harvey, 14925, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme at Longueval on July 24th, 1916. He was aged 21.

He had joined the Colours on September 4th, 1914, and went to France the following April. He was gassed at Hill 60 and blown up by a mine in November 1915, requiring eight weeks of hospital treatment. After 15 months in the trenches he was killed by a shell while serving his Lewis gun.

Although born in East Ham, London in 1895, he was a pupil at Christ Church School in Luton. He had lived at 56 Grove Road, Luton, but at the time of his death parents Edwin and Alice had moved back to London.

Edwin was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field in 1916, but the award was made posthumously to his parents at Warley in 1918.

L-Cpl Ellis Henman, 27814, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 4th, 1916. He had been in France foronly a month when he was reported missing in an attack on Falfemont Farm.

The 31-year-old had married in Luton just before going to the Front, and was the first of two sons of William James and Alice Priscilla Henman, of Breachwood Green, to die on the Somme within 11 days. Pte Walter Henman, 19546, 8th Bedfords, lost his life on September 15th, 1916, and both brothers are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Ellis Henman was born in the early summer of 1885 at Breachwood Green. In 1911 was described as a contractor's labourer. He had worked for builder Mr A. W. Butt, of Cromwell Road, Luton, before attesting under the Lord Derby scheme in February 1916. He was called up the following month and married 27-year-old Clara Wiles, of 46 Cobden Street, Luton, while doing his military training.

He was drafted to a base in France with the Bedfords in August and within a month was sent to the trenches. A letter informing Clara of her husband's death said he was killed during the attack made by the Bedfords on Falfemont Farm. He was "one of the first over the top and must have died instantly".

Widow Clara Henman never remarried and at the end of the war was living at 5 Cavendish Road, Luton. That was still her address when she died on January 1st, 1964, at the age of 75.

Brother Walter, aged 21, had undergone 11 months of training at Ampthill before going to the Front in January 1916. The former worker at Winch Hill Farm, near Luton, was killed on September 15th, 1916. The brothers were among 13 children of William and Alice Penman.

L-Cpl Ernest Edward Fowler, 42765, 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, died on October 27th, 1916, from wounds sustained on the Somme four days earlier. He had transferred from the Bedfordshire Regiment.

Born in early 1896, he was the son of George Henry Fowler and his wife Louisa Elizabeth (nee Wright), of 126 Castle Street, [now in London Road], Luton.

Prior to joining the Colours he was employed by Hart, Baxter and Co, bleachers and dyers, of New Bedford Road, Luton.

L-Cpl Frank Primett, 14026, 8th Battalion Beds Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 15th, 1916. He was the first of two sons of Albert and Agnes Primett to be killed on the battlefield - Pte Charles Augustus Primett, 2nd Bedfords, also died on the Somme, on October 12th,1916.

Born in Ickleford on March 9th, 1886, he spent most of his life in the Hitchin area. By 1915, and possibly after he had enlisted, his parents were living at 18 Spencer Road, Luton, the address on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Frank married Alice Gertrude Emms in 1905 and the couple had three children - Frank, Dora and Florence - living in Hitchin. Alice remarried in 1919 in Richmond, Surrey, to become Alice Leach.

L-Cpl John Prime, 14102, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 31st, 1916. He was aged 23 and the younger son of John and Eliza Prime, of 2 Front Street, Slip End.

He joined the Bedfords in September 1914, having been employed, like his father, by builders T. & E. Neville, Castle Street, Luton. He was one of the Neville workmen who helped in the building of the Luton News building in Manchester Street that was opened in 1913.

L-Cpl Prime had been at the Front about 18 months and escaped wounds, although he had been gassed just before Christmas 1915 and was home on leave soon afterwards.

News of L-Cpl Prime's death came on August 6th in a letter to his parents from Pte D. Field. He wrote: "It is with the deepest regret that I write to inform you that your son Jack was killed in action on July 31st about 10.30 in the morning. He was struck by an enemy shell which mortally wounded him. He was unconscious for a short time, about half-an-hour or so, and later was buried by another shell.

"He died a hero, only a few yards from the enemy, after having gone through the most intense bombardment that we have known on this front. Everything he had was buried with him."

John Prime is commemorated on the Slip End/Woodside roll of honour.

Military Medal winner L-Cpl Robert Stokes, 12329, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on August 9th, 1916. He was still listed as "missing" when parents Samuel and Phoebe Stokes, of 10 Alfred Street, Luton, learned that their eldest son, Pte Samuel Stokes, aged 30, had also been killed in France - on October 25th, 1916.

In a letter to Mrs Stokes a lieutenant wrote: "I deeply regret to tell you that L-Cpl Stokes has been reported as missing, and I very much fear that he has been killed. The company were carrying out a night raid on the German lines when they came under very heavy machine gun fire. When the party returned to our trenches it was found that several men were missing, of whom L-Cpl Stokes was one.

"A party went out to see if any could be found, but there was no trace of L-Cpl Stokes. The night was very dark and I can get no definite information from those who were near him. It is feared that he was killed close to the German line. It was very hard to find even the wounded who were able to call, as the whole ground was cut up by shell holes."

Prior to the war, L-Cpl Stokes was employed by Messrs Alfred Warren & Sons, hat manufacturers, of 34-36 Bute Street, Luton. He was also a member of Luton Harriers and Wheelers who had won many medals for running and cycling.

He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in August 1914 and was trained at Aldershot. The award of his Military Medal was announced in the London Gazette on November 11th, 1916, without detailing how he had gained the award.

Lance-Corporal Stanley Dean Swift, 20735, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on July 6th, 1916, from wounds he had received during the opening of the Battle of the Somme. He was aged 22, a native of Luton and went out to the front on February 24th, 1916.

He had married Emily Lydia Carter at St Paul's Church on November 1st, 1915, and it was to her at her family home, 37 Tavistock Street, Luton, that Church of England Chaplain the Rev J. M. S. Walker wrote from the 21st Casualty Clearing Station where her husband died.

The Chaplain said Stanley did not seem to suffer. He carefully prepared for and received Holy Communion before the end came, and his body was laid to rest in the grounds of the hospital.

Before enlisting, L-Cpl Swift was employed as a stiffener at Messrs Gillam's hat factory in Hibbert Street, Luton.

Emily was remarried in Romford, Essex, in the early summer of 1918. Her new husband was called Gordon Kerr.

L-Cpl Tom Brown, 27938, 7th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 13th, 1916. He left a widow and a young son, who received official notification of his death two months later after he had initially been reported missing.

Tom Brown had attested under the Derby scheme and joined the Royal Fusiliers in April 1916. After three months training he went to France, where he was given his first stripe for good conduct and merit.

On November 13th, 1916, he went into action with his unit. A Luton chum of L-Cpl Brown later wrote to Mrs Brown to say he had seen nothing more of her husband after the charge, or when the roll was called.

The son of Alfred William and Kate Brown, of 246 High Town Road, Luton, Tom was an old boy of Hitchin Road Schools who joined the Co-operative Stores in Luton. He gradually gained promotion until he became manager of the boot department.

He married Nellie Louisa Olney at St Matthew's Church in early 1914 and later that year they had their only child, also named Thomas Frederick. At the time of Tom's death his young family were living at 45 Hartley Road, Luton.

L-Cpl Thomas John (Jack) Heley, 15743, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on September 29th, 1916, from wounds sustained on the Somme.

Born in Leighton Buzzard in 1883, he had moved to Luton by 1911 and was living at 180 Wellington Street with his widower father, Fred, and a younger brother and two sisters. He was employed as a carpenter by builder Mr Arthur Cole, of 183 High Town Road.

He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in September 1914 and was drafted out to France. In May 1916, while on ten days leave, he married Elizabeth Simpson, of High Town Road. She remarried in 1922.

At the time of Jack Heley's death,his father was living at 12 Winsdon Road, Luton, and brother Fred was in Reading Hospital receiving treatment for wounds. A third brother, Bandsman Tom Heley, was serving with the Bedfordshire Regiment, having rejoined his regiment after three months in hospital in Malta for treatment for dysentery contracted while serving as a stretcher-bearer at Gallipoli. The two younger brothers lived in Leighton Buzzard.

L-Cpl Heley is commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour as John Heley with an address at 305 Hitchin Road, Luton - by then the home of Elizabeth, her parents and siblings.

L-Sgt Joseph Plater, 8393, C Company, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 3rd, 1916. He was aged 29 and left a widow Ellen Beatrice (nee Bingham) and one son, Ronald (born 1913).

Writing to Mrs Plater at 73 Dudley Street, Luton, Capt S. Norrish said her husband was killed by a shrapnel bullet while leading his men in an advance. He died almost instantly.

St Plater had been in the Bedfordshire Regiment for six years, two of which were spent in India. In 1912, the year he married, he became a reservist and worked at the Diamond Foundry. He was called up at the outbreak of war and saw much fighting, including during the retreat from Mons. He was promoted to sergeant just two days before his death. His last home leave was four months earlier.

L-Sgt Plater was the son of Ellen and the late Joseph Plater (died 1900). His own mother remarried in 1906, her new husband being William Stokes.

In 1919 his widow Ellen married Harry W. Rodell. She and her new husband continued to live at 73 Dudley Street.

Lieut Arthur Hugh Johns, Royal Sussex Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 1st, 1916. Although born in Pembrokeshire, he was the son of the Rev Roger Owen Johns, who had been Pastor at Park Street Baptist Church, Luton, for about five years until shortly before World War One.

Arthur Johns, born on May 3rd, 1893, was employed by hat manufacturers Messrs J. C. Kershaw & Co until he joined the London Regiment in August1914. He was given a commission about 18 months before his death and had been in training until six months before.

At the time of the 1911 Census the Johns family were living at 'Hazelmere,' 189 Castle Street, Luton [now in London Road]. Arthur was a member of South Beds Golf Club.

Before coming to Luton, the Rev Johns and his wife Jessie Marianne, were in London, and afterwards moved on to a ministry near Horsham in Surrey, where they were living at the time of Arthur's death.

Lieut Ernest Isaac Barrow, 3rd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment attached to the 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 23rd, 1916. He was aged 27 and before enlistment in at the outbreak of war had been an assistant master at Luton Modern School.

The eldest son of a JP at Westhoughton [near Bolton, Lancs], he was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University, where he gained a BSc degree. He was teaching in Penzance, Cornwall, before joining the staff of Luton Modern School in September 1911.

He had joined the ranks of the Public School Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers as a private, soon being promoted to corporal. He was about to be promoted to sergeant-major in the early part of 1915, when he was offered a commission in the South Lancs Regiment. He passed through his courses in record time and in June 1915 went to the Front as an attached officer to the East Lancs Regiment. He had been recommended for decoration on seven occasions.

In the early part of 1916 he was promoted to First Lieutenant in recognition of his patrol work, and twice acted as a temporary Captain. He was slightly wounded on two occasions, first having a rib broken through being hit by a shell case, and was later injured by the blowing up of a mine but refused to leave his post as he was then acting as Captain.

It was only after his regiment was sent for a rest after fighting the Prussian Guard at Contalmaison that he went into hospital for a fortnight for nerve strain. He had only just returned to the Front at the Somme when he was killed.

During his three years in Luton he was also associated with adult school work and was a member of the Leagrave Invicta Tennis Club.

Ernest Barrow is included on the Luton Roll of Honour and Manchester University war memorial.

Sgt Albert Hugh Wingrave, son of a Luton hat manufacturer, was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry while serving in Flanders with the No 2 Signals Section, 108636 Canadian Engineers, 3rd Canadian Contingent.

He learned of the award on July 22nd, 1916. The citation read: "For his splendid and gallant conduct during the action in the Ypres Salient on the 4th June, 1916, in assisting the establishment of telephone communications with a Yeomanry post and successfully maintaining this line under heavy and incessant shell and rifle fire while important messages were being transmitted at a very critical period of the operation." The award was formally announced in the London Gazette on August 23rd.

The Luton News of August 3rd, 1916, said Sgt Wingrave (pictured right) and four other signallers were cut off without food or rest for 48 hours on a ridge between Hill 60 and Hooge, while a German attack was met with a Canadian counter-attack. It was their devotion to duty that earned Sgt Wingrave and two others the Military Medal. A war correspondent at the time described the artillery duel around them as the severest of its kind up to that point. A later report said he had also been recommended for the D.C.M.

Born on November 1, 1888, Sgt Wingrave was a son of Sydney and Martha Ann (nee Wheeler) who were married in 1881. The hat business was at 14 Inkerman Street, where the family also lived for a time before moving to Brook Street and finally to 'St Kilda,' Cumberland Road [later Cumberland Avenue], Leagrave, by the time of the First World War.

Albert had already emigrated to Canada some years earlier and his parents had seen him on only four days since. He had joined the North West Mounted Police, with whom he was in charge of a large district and received special training. He was engaged in telephone work in Edmonton when war broke out, and he enlisted as a signaller with the Canadian Engineers.

Albert Wingrave survived the war and later emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalised citizen and married Helen. He died in Florida in April 1957 and was buried in a cemetery in New York, the city where he had lived while in the USA.

Pte Albert Ford, 25327, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on July 17th, 1916, of wounds sustained on the Somme. He was aged 19 and the second son of John and Emma Ford, of 48 Burr Street, Luton, to die on the battlefield.

Pte Ford was a "Derby" recruit and was called up five months previously. He was drafted into the Bedfords and had been at the Front only a short time. A letter from the Record Office to his mother said he son had been buried in the Dive Copse Cemetery,

Before enlisting he work at the bleaching and dyeing firm of Mr Stewart Hubbard.

Older brother Fred East, 29 - he used his mother's maiden name and was John's stepson - was killed by a shell in the retreat from Mons in November 1914. Born in 1885, he is perhaps the only man to be commemorated twice on the Luton Roll of Honour - as Pte Frederick John East, 3/6435, 1st Bedfords (no address), and as Pte Frederick Ford, 3/6435, 3rd Bedfords, of 48 Burr Street, Luton. Military records show he was in the 1st Bedfords when he died.

A third son, John, aged 27, was with the Army Service Corps. He had served several years in South Africa and had been in France since the beginning of hostilities.

Pte Albert Rolfe, 18312, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on August 1st, 1916, from wounds sustained in action on the Somme. He had been in France since July 27th, 1915.

Born in Chesterton, near Cambridge, he had joined the Army in December 1914, and before enlistment was employed on the Luton Hoo Estate. He was included on a Luton Hoo roll of honour provided by Lady Wernher's agent, Mr James Baker, that was published in The Luton News in July 1915. In that he was listed as Pte R. Rolfe, Beds Regt.

Official intimation of Pte Rolfe's death was received by his wife Jennie (nee Burrows) at 33 Russell Rise, Luton, on August 18th, 1916, just days after his last letter to her arrived. The couple had married in October 1913 in Berkhamstead.

Pte Albert Smith, 27481, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was the second son of George and Sophia Smith, of 73 North Street, Luton, to be killed in action on the Somme within four days. He died on July 22nd, 1916, at the age of 21.

His brother, Cpl Frederick Smith, 6289, 2/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment, was killed on July 19th at the age of 24.

Pte Smith had been in the Army only four months, having been drafted as a "Derby" recruit. Prior to enlistment he had worked for blockmaker Mr F. Webb, of Lancrets Path.

Pte Alfred 'Bert' Walker, 12062, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 10th, 1916. A letter from the Front said the 23-year-old had died while adding dressings to a wounded man while under heavy bombardment.

His home was at 130 Wellington Street, Luton, and he had married Ethel Elizabeth Hewitt, an electric fuse filler from Sheffield, in the early months of 1915. His mother Elizabeth had died in 1898 at the age of 42 and father Alfred, a railwayman, in late 1914 at the age of 63.

Prior to the war Pte Walker was employed at Messrs Hayward Tyler. He was had also been a choirboy and server at St Saviours Church. On joining up in 1914 he received preliminary training at Aldershot and on Salisbury Plain.

In a letter to Mrs Walker, Sgt J. Lawson, another Lutonian serving with the Bedfords, said: "Poor Bert was killed last night whilst busy dressing a wounded man under a heavy bombardment. We had copped it hot for over two days, and I had just told him an hour before that he deserved recommendation for his bravery and devotion to duty. He was here, there and everywhere, dressing the wounded, and he fully deserved at least a DCM."

Pte Alfred Edward De Fraine (Defraine), 20615, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 12th, 1916. He was aged 37.

Born in Luton in May 1879, to Joseph De Fraine, from London, and Mary (nee Jellis), from Luton, he is recorded in family history documents as living with grandparents William and Mary Jellis in Luton from a baby and during his childhood. His parents had married as teenagers in Lambeth in London in 1878 and seem to have continued to live there.

Following Joseph's death, Mary married hairdresser John Marsh in 1896 and by the time of the 1911 Census were living with three daughters by their marriage at 60 Castle Street, Luton. At the time of Alfred's death they were living at 112 Leagrave Road, John continuing there as a hairdresser.

Beds Regiment records show that Alfred enlisted at Kingston-on-Thames and was living at Wembley Park in London. The family's Leagrave Road address is included on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Father of ten children, Pte Alfred George Brown, 21170, 7th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 16th, 1916. He was aged 38, and his enlistment documents stated that he was fit for home service only.

Pte Brown had served in the Bedfordshire Regiment (22249) before joining the Northants Regiment in July 1915. Despite the home service only clause, he was posted to a garrison battalion in Egypt for about nine months before being transferred to France about four weeks before his death. His military record states that he was buried at the Maricourt Military Cemetery,

Born in Woolwich in 1878, he married Mary Ann Burr at St Matthew's Church, Luton, on July 30th, 1898. His widow and ten children, aged up to 17, were living at 146 Hartley Road, Luton.

Before enlisting he was employed as a straw hat blocker at Messrs Carruthers and Creak, Bute Street.

Pte Archibald Odell (O'Dell), 8094, 1/2nd London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action on the Somme on October 9th, 1916. He was aged about 40.

Popularly known as Joe, he left a widow, Violet, and three daughters - Mabel, Doris and Irene - living at 4 Ebenezer Street, Luton.

The old soldier had seen 12 years service in the Regular Army, seven of them abroad in countries like India, Aden and Canada. Back in civilian life he was a blocker employed by Mr Jack Durrant, who was also a well-known local footballer.

At the outbreak of war he rejoined the Bedfordshire Regiment (4313) but was transferred to the London Regiment. After a period of training at Newmarket, he was drafted to France and had been at the Front just a few weeks at the time of his death.

Pte Arthur Dumpleton, 27845, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 25th, 1916.

Born in 1877 at Stopsley, he was a son of Daniel and Ann Dumpleton. He was living with his then widower father in Gardenia Avenue, Leagrave, at the time of the 1911 Census and, like his parent, had become a gamekeeper. Daniel was bailiff at Little Bramingham Farm in 1881 and gamekeeper at Wigmore Hall Farm in 1891, when the family lived at Ramridge End Cottage. Both father and son were gamekeepers at Little Bramingham Farm in 1901.

At the time of his death, Arthur had five brothers - Daniel, Edward, Philip, George and Walter - and three sisters - Amy, Nellie and Ethel. A sixth brother Eliab, died in 1909 in a workhouse in St Albans. Their father died aged 73 on January 24th, 1916, his address then given in a family announcement as Waller Avenue, Leagrave.

Pte Arthur Edward Gadsby (served as Gadstone), 3/4165, 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment, was killed in action on July 5th, 1916. He was aged 32.

Born in Camberwell, London, he was the third son of Georgina Isabella and the late William Gadsby. At the time of the 1911 Census he was a milkman at Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead.

On arrival in Luton his family lived at 34 Stuart Street. He became a member of Luton Parish Church and was employed as a carman (delivery driver) by Mr Matson, of High Town.

After enlisting he underwent a period of training before serving in Gallipoli, where he was wounded by a bullet piercing his neck. He was brought back to England and on recovery sent abroad again. Letters from him suggested he had served in Serbia before being transferred to the Western Front, where he was killed in action. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Pte Gadsby was one of four serving sons. His older brother, Petty Officer William Wallace Gadsby, 294719, was to die on August 15th, 1916, while serving as a stoker on submarine E4, which sank in a collision with a sister submarine during exercises off Harwich. He is buried at Shotley Churchyard, near Harwich.

Pte Aubrey Stanbridge, 27467, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, attached to the 10th Worcesters, was killed in action on the Somme on July 23rd, 1916.

Born in Luton in 1877, his birth registration shows his full name as Haydn Aubrey Stanbridge. He was the son of the late Frank Shapcott Stanbridge (died 1907, aged 54) and Caroline Stanbridge (died 1913, aged 60). His last known address was 77 Wellington Street, Luton, where his mother lived until her death.

Around the time of Pte Stanbridge's birth the family were living at 19 Collingdon Street, Luton. They moved to 45 Stuart Street before living in Wellington Street, where in 1911 he was described as a boot maker and repairer.

His death was not reported in Luton newspapers at the time.

Pte Bertram Hubert Spalding, G/14865, Bedfordshire Regiment attached to the 13th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 27th, 1916. He was aged 19.

Comrade and close friend Pte J. G. Stevens wrote to parents Bertram and Emma Spalding at 204 Hitchin Road, Luton, to inform them that their son and he were engaged on operations late at night under German fire when Bert was struck and killed instantly. He was buried the next morning.

Bert and Pte Stevens had transferred together from the Bedfords to the Royal Sussex while they were stationed at Harrogate. Bert's grave site was probably subsequently lost as he is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial.

Before enlisting, Bert was a clerk at Messrs Pickford's courier office in Cheapside. He had also been a server at St Saviours Church.

Pte Charles Augustus Primett, 4/6279, 2nd Battalion Beds Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 12th, 1916. He was the second son of Albert and Agnes Primett to be killed on the battlefield - Cpl Frank Primett, 8th Bedfords, also died on the Somme (September 15th,1916).

Born in Ickleford on September 9th, 1887, he spent most of his life in the Hitchin area. By 1915, and possibly after he had enlisted, his parents were living at 18 Spencer Road, Luton, the address on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Pte Charles Gregory, 3/6858, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 27th, 1916.

Born in 1893, he was the son of Alfred and Florence Gregory, of 15 Langley Place, Luton. In the 1911 Census he is described as working in a foundry. No report of his death appeared in Luton newspapers at the time.

Pte Charles Henry Grace, 23835, 12th Battalion South Wales Borderers, was killed in action in France on August 13th, 1916. He was the son of Arthur and Kate Grace, of Aley Green, and is commemorated on the Caddington War Memorial.

He had gone to the Front at the beginning of June 1916 and was a bomb-thrower. In a letter to Mrs Grace, Sec-Lieut F. Sidney Green wrote: "It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that your son has been killed during a raid on the enemy trenches, for which he volunteered. He was struck by a piece of shrapnel and I am glad to say he suffered no pain, as he was killed instantly."

Born in Salford, Manchester, in the late spring-early summer of 1894, he was described, like his father, as a farm labourer living with his family at Aley Green, Caddington, at the time of the 1911 Census. His Kensworth-born father had married Kate Tideswell (from Macclesfield) in Nottingham in 1891. At the time of Charles's birth he was employed as a foundryman in Salford who then returned to working in agriculture in Bedfordshire.

Pte Charles William Webb, 13085, B Company, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action around Trones Wood on the Somme at the age of 18. Military records say he was killed on July 10th, while in a letter home his brother Eli in the same regiment said it happened on Sunday, July 9th.

Military records also say Charles was born in Barton, whereas the 1901 and 1911 Census returns say he was born in the parish of Caddington and he and his family were living at Farley Green, near Luton.

Charles was born in 1898 and baptised at St Andrew's Church, Woodside on July 10th of that year. He was the youngest of five sons of John Thomas and Ellen Webb. His father was a cowman on a farm and his mother a straw hat machinist.

News of Charles' death came in a letter to the family from the Rev A. D. Millen, a Chaplain to the Forces. He wrote: "I write to give you the sad news that your boy was killed yesterday, and to offer you my most sincere sympathy. It will, I am sure, bring you some consolation in your sorrow to know that we were able to bury him today quietly and reverently in a cemetery just behind the firing line which can be easily identified. We shall erect a little cross over his resting place as soon as possible."

And older brother Eli wrote: "We were in support trenches, and they were shelling us all the time. Charley was hit in the back and loins and died while being carried down to the doctor. I was not near him at the time and I did not get the news until next day. It was done on Sunday, the 9th."

Of his own experiences, Eli wrote: "This is an awful war. I don't know how I got out of it. The shells were dropping all round me. I have lost all my chums. I am at present all right, and I hope to come home safely some day."

Although there appears to have been no report in the Luton Press at the time, another of Mr and Mrs Webb's sons died of wounds sustained near Trones Wood on July 12th, 1916. Pte Josiah Webb, 18083, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was 26 years old.

Pte Charles Wood, 27844, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 5th, 1916.

Born in 1878, he was one of ten children of widow Mrs Louisa Wood and the late Mr George Wood (died 1908), of 74 Hitchin Road, Luton. Three sisters living at home were sent news of Charles' death.

Before enlistment he was a straw hat blocker working for Mr E. Burgess, 28 Old  Bedford Road. He attested under the Derby Scheme and was called up in March 1916. He went to the Front just five weeks before his death..

Pte Christopher Perry, 22395, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 15th, 1916. He was aged 47.

Born in Luton in 1869, he married Emily Jane Crook in Luton in 1893. He had a married daughter, Rose, and a son, William, and in 1911 the family were living at 24 Spring Place, Luton. The address on the Luton Roll of Honour is given as 4 Park Place, Luton.

Pte Edwin Benjamin Eales, 12902, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 11th, 1916. He was aged 24.

Born in Hammersmith, London, in 1891, he was the son of Kate and the late Edwin Eales, who died in Luton in 1902 at the age of 42.

At the time of the 1911 Census Edwin Jnr was a straw hat blocker living at 19 South Road with his widowed mother Kate, who in 1913 married Arthur Atkins in Luton. His mother and stepfather were living at 12 Frederic Street at the time of Pte Eales' death, and later moved to 24 Boyle Street.

Older brother Pte Horace William Eales, 17866, 12th Royal Fusiliers, who enlisted in June 1915, was discharged as medically unfit in September 1916 after spending five months with the British Expeditionary Force in France. He died in June 1918.

Both brothers are commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Lutonian Pte Ernest Arthur Pestell, 2428, Australian Infantry, died in a Stationary Hospital in France on August 19th, 1916, from wounds sustained in action on the Somme.

Hospital Chaplain the Rev E. Milner White wrote to his mother then living in City Road, East London: "He passed away quietly and very suddenly. I was with him to the end. His system could not throw off the poison in his wound. He was buried in the lovely cemetery of Abbeville with military honours and church service." He added that a cross already stood upon his grave, and French ladies had laid flowers there.

Born in Luton early in 1886, he was a son of London-born William Henry Pestell (died early 1916) and his Lutonian wife Annie Elizabeth, who in 1891 were living at 128 High Town Road, Luton. Ernest and his parents were lodging in Edmonton, London, by 1901.

A Luton News report said he enlisted at the beginning of the war in the 28th Battery (Australian Artillery) in Melbourne, where he had been living. He was a nephew of Thomas and Emily Ellis, of 111 High Town Road, Luton.

Elder brother Frederick William was also killed in action - on April 28th, 1917. He was married and still living in Luton and had several children.

Pte Ernest George Foord, 27058, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment attached to the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, was killed in action on July 22nd, 1916, after serving only three weeks on the Somme. He was aged 29.

Born in Islington, London, in 1886, where parents George and Sarah Ann still lived, he had been a booking clerk at the Great Northern Railway Station in Luton for ten years. At the time of the 1911 Census, Ernest Foord was lodging at 'Kimberley,' Old Bedford Road, Luton. He was the second Bute Street booking clerk to died while with the Forces - Herbert William Sexton died in Malta in October 1915 after being invalided from Gallipoli.

Pte Foord enlisted under the "Derby" scheme in March 1916 and had only recently been drafted to France. He was killed in action by a shell.