Details imported from Luton Absent Voters list

Details imported from Luton Absent Voters list

Details imported from Luton Absent Voters list and the National Roll of Honour (Section V). Killed in Action 1918

The National Roll of Honour (mostly submitted by families) describes his service as follows: Volunteering in October 1915 he was drafted to France the following year. He took part in much severe fighting in many engagements of importance, including those at St Quentin where he was killed in action on March 21st 1918.

Details imported from Luton Absent Voters list

Leonard was a professional soldier aged 28 when war broke out in 1914. He was one of the original old contemptibles. He saw action from 1914 to 1918 and survived the war.

Alfred H Bond was a career sailor who joined the Royal Navy in 1913 at 15 years of age. As a boy, his main ambition was to join the Navy, but his father was insistent that he should continue his apprenticeship with the family plumbing and decorating firm. According to family legend, things came to a head, when, on a occasion of being served spotted dick for dinner, said to the effect: "I wouldn't have to eat this....if I was in the Navy". His father was furious, and Alfred, along with two friends, enlisted soon after.

Stanley was the son of George Glenister of Adelaide Terrace, Luton. He drowned when the troop carrier Arcadian was torpedoed by an enemy submarine on 15th April 1917 in the Aegean Sea on the way to Egypt. His body was not recovered.

A survivor's account of the sinking can be found here.

Cyril was the son of William Scoats, a straw hat manufacturer of 70 Burr Street, Luton. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915 and was sent to Egypt in 1917. He drowned when the troop carrier Arcadian was torpedoed by an enemy submarine on 15th April 1917 in the Aegean Sea. His body was recovered and he is buried in a military cemetery on the Greek island of Syra with other casualties from the Arcadian.

An account of the sinking by a survivor can be read here.

Sergeant William Ellingham was the son of Arthur and Annie Ellingham of Jubilee St, Luton. He won the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1915 for Conspicuous Devotion to Duty near Ypres. His letter home to his parents telling them about the award was published in the North Buckinghamshire Times. He was killed in action on 18th August 1916, aged 28.

Percy was born in Luton and lived at 2 Hillside Road, Luton. He ran away from home at the age of 16 and signed up for the Highland Light Infantry some time in 1916. He wrote a number of letters home, the first from Palestine but later from France. It seems the older members of his unit took good care of him and he returned home at the end of the war.

Sidney Hoar was a professional footballer for Luton Town FC who played for several local teams and the the Luton youth team before signing professionally  in January 1914 aged 18. He served in the Bedford Regiment and the Royal Field Artillery and was gassed in August 1917 in France. He recovered and returned to play for Luton Town in 1919-20.

Westby Heath was a professional footballer for Luton Town FC in the 1914-15 season. He joined the Royal Army Medal Corps and was wounded. He did not return to play for Luton in 1919-20.

All images are used with kind permission of Roger Wash, Luton Town Football Club Historian.

Frank Gilder was a pre-war amateur player with Luton Town FC. He enlisted with the London Regiment and was sent to France in March 1915. He was killed in action at Loos on 30th December 1915, aged 19.

Ernest J Dodd of East Common, Harpenden was a pre-war amateur player for Luton Town FC. He was killed in action on 17th July 1917, aged 25 whilst serving with the Royal Field Artillery in Belgium.

All images are used with kind permission of Roger Wash, Luton Town Football Club Historian.

T T Wilson was a professional footballer with Luton Town FC when he enlisted in the Footballers' Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment at Kingsway, London on 16th December 1914 with his Luton team mates Wileman, Roe, Frith, Dunn and Simms.