Pte Stephen George Hare, 8426, 1st Battalion, Beds Regt, was killed in action near Fricourt in France on January 6th, 1916. He was aged 29.

Born in July 1886 at Shillington, he was the son of William (died January 1911) and Emma Hare (nee Redman), who were married in 1872. He had not long finished seven years with the 1st Bedfords in South Africa and other parts of the world when war broke out. He was then working at Skefko and was called up as a reservist in August 1914.

His widowed mother, then living at 8 Collingdon Street, Luton, first heard about her son's death via friends at Shillington who had received a letter from their son, Walter Armstrong, who was only 15 yards from Stephen when he was killed. Pte Hare was shot in the head and died within five minutes.

Pte Hare, a single man, had been in and out of the trenches since August 23rd, 1914, and was in the retirement from Mons. Since then he had had several narrow escapes, including digging himself out after being partially buried when the trench he was standing in was blown up. On another occasion a shrapnel shell burst over him, leaving him untouched but severing the arm of a "pal" he was with.

He had last been home in August 1915 after a year at the Front.

The Hare family had lived at Hexton prior to the death of William. At the time of the 1911 Census a few weeks later, his widowed mother was visiting her married daughter, Kate Goodman, at 58 Frederic Street, Luton. Stephen was at the time listed among men in barracks.

• Pictures in the slideshow below are courtesy of Alan Lapwood. Pte Hare was his wife's great uncle.