Pte Bertram Wood, 41662, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, died as a prisoner of war in the Crossen Camp hospital at Kaehmen in Germany on October 22nd, 1918. The cause of death was influenza – inflammation of the lungs, as his Red Cross report stated. He was aged 29.
Pte Arthur Phillips, 33131, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was believed to have been killed in action ten months after he was reported missing on May 3rd, 1917.
The news was given to his family at 67 Wimbourne Road, Luton, in March 1918. Pte Phillips had joined the Bedfords (5587) in 1915 and went to France in November 1916, where he was transferred to the Leicesters.
Before joining up he was employed by the Davis Gas Stove Co at the Diamond Foundry, Dallow Road.
L-Cpl John Brown, 33017, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, died on October 22nd, 1917, from severe wounds sustained in action on October 9th. He was aged 34.
John was working at Hayward Tyler before joining the Bedfordshire Regiment about six weeks after the outbreak of war. Heart trouble kept him on home service until he was transferred to the Leicesters in 1916 and sent to France. He had had no leave since.
Pte Walter Stanley Peck, 33072, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action in Belgium on October 1st, 1917. He was aged 24, single and a former employee of the Diamond Foundry, Dallow Road.
The son of Walter and Eliza Peck, of 66 Oak Road, Luton, he had enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment (5608) in November 1915 and was transferred to the Leicesters in December the following year in France.
L-Cpl Sidney Thomas Andrews, 33003, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was listed killed in action in France on May 3rd, 1917, after at first being reported missing.
A letter from Capt J. Abbott to widow Alice at 93 Butlin Road, Luton, said nothing had been heard of her husband since he went into action on May 3rd. Several men of the platoon were cut off from the reminder of the company during the attack and were taken prisoner. The writer said he could only conclude at that stage that L-Cpl Andrews was also a prisoner in German hands.
Pte Victor Freeman Baxter, 33013, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on May 3rd, 1917. He died just days before his 19th birthday.
He had joined the Bedfordshire Regiment at the outbreak of war, but was later transferred to the Leicesters. He spent some time in England before being drafted from Halton Camp to France.
One April 22nd he had written to parents William and Minnie Baxter at 7 Villa Road, Luton, to say he had just come out of action and was quite well. That was followed by a letter from a pal to say that Victor was missing.
