E39 Actor

Able Seaman Henry Shedrick Joseph Hill

 

Seaman Henry Shedrick Joseph Hill, 19, son of Henry and Mary Ann Hill, of 94 Cobden Street, Luton, was reported lost in the Battle of Jutland while serving on HMS Turbulent (sunk).

Naval records reveal, however, that he was wounded and taken as a prisoner of war before being repatriated in 1918 and invalided from the service. He married Gertrude Currie in Luton in 1919.

Leading Stoker Frederick Neville

 

Leading Stoker Frederick Neville was lost with the sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary during the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916. He was 28 years of age.

Born in Luton and a former pupil of Dunstable Road Schools, he had served in the Navy for five years before returning to work at Luton Gas Works for about a year. He then rejoined the Navy about four years before his death.

R.N. John McLennan Hine

 

Engineer-Lieut John McLennan Hine was died or was killed as a result on enemy action during the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916, while serving on board the battlecruiser HMS Invincible, which was sunk.

Born in Maryport, Cumberland, in 1872, he and his family had lived in Rothesay Road, Luton, for two or three years prior to 1910. He had married Lydia Emma Booth in Suffolk on May 5th, 1901. They had four children - Alfred, Lydia Margaret, Joan McLennan and Nancy Mary McLennan. Nancy was born in Luton.

Signaller Frederick George Darby

 

Signal Boy Frederick George Darby was a month short of his 17th birthday when he was drowned when HMS Black Prince was sunk during the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916. His body was not found for burial.

The former Beech Hill pupil had been in the Navy for 18 months at the time of his death. Prior to going to sea he was a straw worker employed by Mrs Kerridge of Bute Street. He served with HMS Powerful and HMS Ganges before joining HMS Black Prince.

Gunner Edmund Charles Dexter

 

Gunner RMA12399 Edmund Charles Dexter was killed or died as a direct result of enemy action while serving with the Royal Marines Artillery on the battlecruiser HMS Invincible, which was sunk during the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916. His body was not found.

He was the eldest son of old soldier and sailor Mr Edmund E. Dexter and Mrs Sarah Dexter, of 5 Warwick Road, Luton. The son had been in the navy for seven years, was 26 years old, had been married for three years and had a wife and three-month-old baby living in Southsea.

Signaller Arthur Olney

 

Signal Boy Arthur Olney, 16, drowned when HMS Queen Mary was sunk in the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916. His body was not found for burial.

Confirmation of his death came in an official intimation from the War Office to his widowed mother Susan at her home, 32 Hibbert Street, Luton.

Educated at Queen Square School, Luton, Arthur Olney served on the Great Northern Railway for 12 months before joining the Navy in which he served for 16 months, 11 months on the Queen Mary.

Sergeant Albert Edward Holdstock

Albert Edward Holdstock was born in Luton in 1896.

In 1911 he is 15 years old & working as a manufacturer's assistant. He is living with his family at No 20 Stanley Street. His father Samuel is 43 & working as a labourer for a timber merchants, his mother Lizzie also 43, is a straw hat machinist & his younger brother Hedley is 13 and at school.

Sergeant Levi Welch Gazeley

Levi Welch Gazeley was born in October 1877 in Round Green, Luton.

In 1891 he is 13 years old. He is working as a tailor & living with his family at 170 North Street. His father Frederick Welch Gazeley is 34 years old & working in the hat trade as a plait collector. Levi's sister, 18 year old Florence Butterfield is also working in the hat trade as a straw hat finisher. Their mother Rose Anna 39 is at home looking after the younger siblings, Benjamin aged 10, 8 year old Charlotte & Alice May who is 5.

Private Ernest Morgan

 

Pte Ernest Morgan, 3/7366, 1st Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on May 1st, 1916. He was aged 19.

Born in Dunstable in 1896, his home at the time of his death was 16 Wimbourne Road, Luton. He was the son of Agnes and the late Charles Morgan, who had died in 1910.

After arriving in Luton he was employed as a greengrocer's assistant at the Tuffnell grocery store in Dallow Road. He then worked at the Diamond Foundry and in late 1913 became a special reservist when he had just turned 17.

Private Frederick Edward Garrett

Frederick Edward Garrett was born in 1899 in Luton.

In 1911 he is living with his family at 80 Queen Street. His father Frederick Edward is 31 years old & a house painter, his mother Ellen Daisy is 30 & a straw hat finisher. Frederick is 11 years old & at school with his 8 year old sister Olive May & brother Horace who is 6.

Frederick joined the 2/1st Sussex Yeomanry, a cyclist brigade, providing home service.

Lance Corporal Bert Gardner

Bert Gardner was born in Luton in 1884, 1 of 12 children born to Philip & Mary (aka Kate).

In 1911 Bert is 20 years old & working as an assistant for a straw hat manufacturer. He is living at No 25 Stockwood Crescent, a 6 roomed house with his father Philip, 64 a mercantile clerk, his 64 year old mother Mary & 2 of his siblings. His sister Maud is 32 & a straw hat finisher & his brother Frederick William is 30 & is also an assistant for a straw hat manufacturer. Florence Joy is living with them as their general domestic servant.

Private Sidney George Higgins

 

Pte Sidney George Higgins, 19752, 8th Bedfordshire Regiment, died on April 25th, 1916, from wounds sustained in action at Poperinghe that day. He was aged 36 and had enlisted in February 1915.

The son of Elizabeth and the late John Higgins, of Islington, he was born in 1879. In 1907 he married Mabel Richardson, from Dunstable, and in the 1911 Census they were living in Southampton, Sidney as a butcher's shop manager. By then Sidney and Mabel had two children, a girl aged two and a boy (also named Sidney George) aged one.

Private Frederick Thomas Sharp

 

Pte Frederick Thomas Sharp, 3/8705, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on April 19th, 1916. He was aged 29 and the father of six children.

Pte Sharp, of 21 Essex Street, Luton, joined the colours in October 1914 and was drafted to the Western Front in October 1915. He fought at Ypres, Messines and Vimy Ridge and was gassed in December 1915. On recovery he returned to the trenches.

He formerly worked as an iron moulder at the Diamond Foundry in Dallow Road. He was also well-known in athletics circles and was a harrier.

Private John Alfred Marlow

 

Pte John Alfred Marlow, 19944, 8th Battalion Beds Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on April 19th, 1916. Initially he was reported missing and his mother asked for his picture to be published in the Luton News in the hope that comrades who read the newspaper would be able to provide positive news.

Pte Marlow was only 18 years old and lived with parents John and Louisa Marlow at 30 Spring Place, Luton. He had begun working as a nine-year-old as an errand boy for hat manufacturer H. Rosson and Co, of 90-92 Collingdon Street. He later worked in the firm's factory.

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