At a time when the Luton Local Tribunal and the military authorities were deadlocked over conditional exemption cases being automatically taken to the Appeals Tribunal, the death was reported of Pte Ernest Wright [A/311952, Army Service Corps], a 22-year-old Lutonian whose medical condition should have debarred him from service. But the military Medical Board at Bedford had overruled medical opinion in Luton. The following moving report appeared in The Luton News on Thursday, March 1st, 1917.

Just how heavily burdened out womenfolk are in these days we shall never know, but occasionally one gets a glimpse of their courage and bravery, and such an instance is that of Mrs Emma Jane Wright, of of 40 Buxton Road, Luton.

On Monday [February 26th, 1917], she buried the third member of her family within two years, under circumstances of a distressing nature for, in common with all who knew him well, she holds that he should never have been taken for military service.

Pte Ernest Wright (pictured right) was a twin and at the time of his death was 22. When the Derby scheme was engineered he presented himself for medical examination and was promptly rejected by Dr Birch, of the Luton Medical Institute, years of suffering from bronchial asthma having affected his heart.

He duly received a pink form, and again in September last underwent medical examination at Bedford and, to the surprise of the family and his friends, was catalogued B1, garrison duty abroad.

He was employed by Mr Cox, hat manufacturer of Hazelbury Crescent, on very light work at that time and, with a view to avoiding strenuous work he was advised to get into the A.S.C. canteen department, after he had failed in an appeal before the Local Tribunal to obtain exemption on the grounds of domestic hardship and physical disability.

At the time of his claim, said his mother, he had been in bed three weeks with bronchial asthma, attended by Dr Worthington, and he rose from his bed after his claim had been dismissed. Mrs Wright says she presented a medical certificate given by Dr Birch, but in view of the military medical examination, this certificate was ignored.

He joined the [A.S.C.] canteen department in October 1916, and on October 13th ws sent to France, where he was engaged at Boulogne, his duties being chiefly washing up and attending to fires. The lack of home care, however, was evident from the fact that he frequently wrote home telling how ill he felt. Last Thursday week [February 16th] he wrote saying that he had been vaccinated, and that he had been so bad that he obliged to go into hospital as he "could not keep up any longer. I have got it stiff this time, but hope to be out at duty shortly."

When Mrs Wright received that letter her son was nearly arrived at hospital at Bury St Edmunds, and on the following Saturday morning she received a printed hospital card informing her that he had been admitted. On the Saturday evening she received a letter from her son stating that he had been chosen to complete a hospital convoy, and that was the reason he was in hospital in England.

On the Monday [19th], Mrs Wright received a postcard from the nurses stating that he son was rather ill and that she could visit him. A telephone message in the evening brought a reassuring message from the house surgeon of the hospital, who said that "a glance at Pte Wright's face showed that he had been a lifetime sufferer," and "it was a downright shame that he had been passed for service. He will be in this institution for some time, and then get immediate discharge from the Army".

He added that there was no immediate danger, and that the patient was slightly better. But a relapse set in and death ensued at 11 o'clock the same night.

The Luton News said Mrs Wright had lost her husband, eldest daughter and this son within two years, and she had another daughter of 31 who had been a helpless invalid from infancy. He sorrow is patiently borne, and she asks us to suggest that the Tribunal should do their best to protect other sons from blunders by the military medical men.

It is generally admitted that there has been a considerable improvement at Bedford for some time past, but Medical Boards generally are not beyond reproach. It seems desirable that Tribunals should pay heed to local medical certificates just as much as those of the Medical Board.

The funeral of Pte Wright took place on Monday [February 26th] at the Church Cemetery, the Rev W. Curry, of High Town Primitive Methodist Church, conducting the service. The coffin was covered with a Union Jack, but the family did not desire a full military funeral.

[The Luton News: Thursday, March 1st, 1917]