A poppy in remembrance of Pte Arthur William Brown, 56724, 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, who may have been the last Lutonian to be killed in action in the Great War, on November 10th, 1918 – the day before the armistice.

Others died subsequently from wounds incurred earlier or from diseases like influenza, smallpox and malaria. But unfortunately, no record has been found in local newspapers about Arthur's death.

Arthur's birth was registered in the first quarter of 1901. He was born in Luton to Minnie and William John Brown, and by 1911 was a schoolboy living with his parents and younger brother Stanley at 26 Cambridge Street, Luton. Minnie's address is later recorded as 14 Albert Road, Luton.

Arthur's death was among seven in the same incident being researched by Bury Grammar School in Lancashire ahead of a visit to the Irchonwelz Cemetery, near Ath in Belgium. Researching the Lancs Fusiliers, they found out that Arthur and his comrades were killed by German artillery fire while sheltering behind a farm wall. The incident was recorded in a first-hand account by an old boy of Bury Grammar School, 2nd Lieut Tom Floyd, who knew several of those killed.