Pte George Cox, 5233, 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, was killed in action at Ypres on June 22nd, 1915. He was aged 35.

Many Luton people will deplore the loss of a personal friend, said The Luton News. He was employed at the Luton Gas Works and resided at 68 Beech Road. He was called up as a reservist on the outbreak of war and drafted to the front in early September, having been there ever since.

Mrs Cox received only the bare official intimation from the War Office, but she received from Sgt W. Bartram, a letter in which he wrote:

"He was on duty in the trenches at Ypres, close to Hill 60, when the Germans opened fire with their big guns and fired shrapnel, and a shell burst quite close. A piece caught your husband in the head and entered his brain and he was killed instantly.

"The paper which you asked about is either a copy of, or the original paper which was thrown over in a jam tin by one of the German soldiers, and I expect your husband was keeping this as a souvenir of the war. This is a practice which is very frequent when the trenches are close together.

"Your husband was buried in the rear of the trenches, and a cross showing his regiment number, rank, name and date of his death has been made by the regimental pioneers, and all the graves are being nicely fitted up and railed in as well as possible under the circumstances."

"This, I think, is all the news I can give you regarding your husband's death...I hope this will prove a little comfort to you."

Pte Cox, who served right through the Boer War, leaves a widow (Bernice Julia) and two young children. He comes from an old Luton family, and his father fought in the Crimea. He has three brothers and Mrs Cox has one brother with the Colours.

[George Cox was slightly over 6ft tall and his military record shows that he first attested to the Grenadier Guards in June 1898 while living at 14 Villa Road, Luton, but bought himself out after 51 days. He enlisted with the Norfolk Regiment in June 1899.]

[Bernice married Frederick Clare in Luton in the summer of 1919 and lived at the Bull Inn, Offley.]