Pte Harry Edgar Silsby (Silsbey), 25437, 6th Battalion Northants Regiment, was killed in action on May 3rd, 1917, although it was nearly a year before official confirmation arrived with his family.

A letter from a sergeant in the Northants Regiment was the first indication widow Annie Silsby, of 96 Spencer Road, Luton, received that her husband was seriously wounded on May 3rd, when he was left in a shell hole to await help.

Annie and Harry's parents, Harry and Caroline, of 104 Ashburnham Road, issued an appeal through The Luton News on June 28th, 1917, for information about Pte Silsby's whereabouts. It was hoped one of his pals at the Front would read the appeal and contact them.

It was not until late March 1918 that official notification of Pte Silsby's death was received by Annie, who by then was living at 44 Pondwicks Road, Luton. Earlier official notification was only that he was missing.

Harry Silsby, aged 29, had joined up in May 1916 and was in training at Gillingham, Kent, until the following September. It was while in training that he was granted his only period of home leave, possibly to coincide with the birth of his second son, Jack.

Prior to enlistment, Harry Silsby was a straw hat blocker with hat manufacturers Debenham's Ltd. He had married Annie Myers at Luton Parish Church on March 9th, 1912, and they had two children - Horace, born in 1913, and Jack in 1916.