Pte Harold David Joad, 25196, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the banks of the River Ancre on the Somme on January 28th, 1917. He was aged 20.

Born at Weston, Herts, he was the son of the late Charles Joad (died 1896, the year Harold was born). He was also stepson of farmer and pig dealer George Desborough of Ansells End Farm, Kimpton, whom his mother, Annie Maud Appleton Joad (nee Tee), married in 1907.

In a letter to Mrs Desborough, Capt G. F. Wray wrote that her son was killed instantly on January 28th by a splinter from a shell. "He was taking a message for me and, although a shell burst quite near him, he did not stop till another dropped in almost the same place, causing his death."

Capt Wray added that Pte Joad did very well when the Battalion was in an attack the previous November - going back under rifle and machine gun fire to bring up some bombs for the officer he was with.

Before enlisting in January 1916, Pte Joad was on the staff on Barclays' Bank at Luton. He was the 14th Kimpton man to have been killed in the war.