Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, April 13th, 1916.

Crowds turned out in Luton on Monday for a Royal visit. Princess Victoria Louise, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, arrived by train from London to open a new YMCA hut at Biscot Camp after being the guest of Lady Wernher at Luton Hoo.

The route from the Hoo was lined with people who had left their workplaces for a glimpse of the Royal visitor, who was greeted at Biscot Camp by a military guard of honour and a fanfare from trumpeters of the London Royal Field Artillery. After speeches and the formal naming of the previously known Hubbard hut (Councillor Stewart Hubbard had donated the building) as the Princess Victoria Hut, the Royal visitor inspected the premises.

Later the Princess visited the hat factory of Messrs Vyse, Sons and Co in Bute Street and selected a design that was subsequently forwarded to her. She was then driven back to Luton Hoo to join the 5.30 express train back to London from Chiltern Green station.

Later a concert party sent down from London by the Three Arts Club gave a successful concert in the newly opened hut to a capacity audience.

The Princess is pictured at Luton Hoo with Lady Wernher on the right.

• Luton Mayor, Alderman J. H. Staddon, who was at the opening of the Biscot YMCA hut, was looking forward to spending the weekend at Folkestone for the opening of the YMCA huts provided by fund raising in Luton for Colonial troops stationed at the Sussex town. The Mayor would formally hand over the huts on Monday.

• After being home on leave recently, news has been received of the death from pneumonia of Pte Cyril Snoxell, of the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters, in the 6th Stationary Hospital, Le Havre, on March 23rd. He was aged 23 and his home was at 31 Chase Street, Luton.

• News has just been officially received of the death of L-Cpl Alfred Bateman, 2/2747, son of Pte and Mrs Robert Bateman, of Cross Street West, Dunstable. A member of the Luton Harriers, the 23-year-old was attached to the 7th Battalion East Surrey Regiment and went to France in November 1914. He was fatally wounded on March 16th and buried at Vermelles Military Cemetery.

• A tramcar motorman was appealed for by the Tramway Company at last night's meeting of the Luton Borough Tribunal. The manager said they had no surplus of tramcar drivers, and had released as many as possible of their men. It would not be safe to employ girls as drivers in Luton. The man had had a rejection paper taken from him and if he was taken it would mean one car less, and they were carrying 6,000 workpeople every week. Conditional exemption was given.

• If the military authorities continued in the same attitude they took up that no man was indispensable, Luton's Education Committee decided it might be well advised to try to fill vacancies for school caretakers with women.

• In a letter home, Cpl C. E. Newbury, "the only mounted military policeman from Luton in Salonica," described the area he was in as a place of squalor. There were a few fine buildings but the rest were built of a few posts and petrol cans cut open. "Fowl houses at home are a palace compared with some of them," wrote Cpl Newbury, a married man with three children, whose home was at 62 Ridgway Road, High Town.

• Yesterday leading professional golfers who gave their services so many time in the cause of charity last year played on Lady Wernher's private course at Luton Hoo with the object of of helping the Luton branch of the British Farmers' Red Cross Fund. From this fund and ambulance is to be provided and sent abroad during the next few days. To this end over £1,000 had been raised and now efforts are being made to complete £1,300, which will provide two ambulances instead of one and also maintenance for six months. Those who took part yesterday were James Braid, of Walton Heath (champion of 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910), J. H. Taylor, of Mid Surrey (champion in 1894, 1895, 1900, 1909 and 1913), Edward Ray, of Oxhey (1912 champion) and James B. Batley, of Bushey Hall (the English international golfer and one of the winners of the London Foursome Tournament).