Pte William Henry Wilson, 88025, 3rd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on August 9th, 1918. He was aged 25 and single.
His chaplain wrote to widowed mother Lizzie Ann Wilson at 10 South Road, Luton, that on the night of the 9th a bomb was dropped on the dressing station where William was working, killing him instantly.
Pte Frederick Halsey, 2473, 2/1st West Riding Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was one of three stretcher-bearers who died together under enemy shell fire in France on the morning of June 21st, 1918.
In a letter to Mrs Elizabeth Halsey at 6 New Town Street, Luton, Lieut-Col Walter Lister extended his sympathy and wrote: “Your son was on duty in the forward area as stretcher-bear when the relay post at which he was stationed was blown up by a direct hit from enemy fire.”
L-Cpl William Gentle MM, 13200, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action at Meteren in France on April 14th, 1918, while tending the wounded on the battlefield. He was attached to 11th Field Company Royal Engineers.
Chaplain the Rev Lincoln Dudley wrote to widow Kate that her husband had gone out on an errand of mercy and, on his return, was hit by a splinter of shell and killed instantly.
Pte Alfred Edward Draper, 80023, 16th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on March 21st, 1918, the first day of the final major German offensive of the war.
He was one of six sons of Emma Clara and the late Frederick Draper, of 13 Newcombe Road, Luton, and had been employed in the warehouse of hat manufacturer Mr H. Clark, of Dumfries Street, before joining up.
Pte Alfred Scales, 89760, 44th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps, died on August 23rd, 1917, of wounds received in action in Flanders. He was aged 36 and left a widow and six children, the youngest (Cissie) born just five days before his death.
Alfred had joined the R.A.M.C. at the Grove Road depot in Luton in September 1914. He was drafted to France in February 1917. He had been taken to the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, where he died from wounds to the legs and an arm.
Pte Stanley Glenister, 90031, Royal Army Medical Corps, was lost at sea when the troopship SS Arcadian was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea on April 15th, 1917. A total of 279 lives were lost, including another Lutonian, Pte Cyril Charles Scoats, R.A.M.C., as the converted cruise liner with 1,335 soldiers and crew on board sank within six minutes on a journey from Thessaloniki to Alexandria in Egypt.
Pte Cyril Charles Scoats, 90044, Royal Army Medical Corps, was lost at sea when the troopship SS Arcadian was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea on April 15th, 1917. A total of 279 lives were lost, including another Lutonian, Pte Stanley Glenister R.A.M.C., as the converted cruise liner with 1,335 soldiers and crew on board sank within six minutes on a journey from Thessaloniki to Alexandria in Egypt.
Pte Ernest White, 20201, 23rd Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on September 26th, 1915. He was aged 28 and lived at 109 Highbury Road, Luton.
He was in the RAMC when war broke out and was mobilised with his unit. He came home for the last time in September 1914 and went out to France the following month.
He left a wife, Mary, and three young children. Before the war he worked as a painter for Mr Jennings. He was well known among local footballers, being a member of the Silver Star FC.
Pte Ewart William Clark, 82, Royal Army Medical Corps, 54th East Anglian Casualty Clearing Hospital, was lost when the troopship Royal Edward was torpedoed off the island of Kandeloussa in the Aegean Sea by German submarine UB-14 on August 13th, 1915.
The son of Daniel and Emma Jane Clark, of 7 Park Road West [now Strathmore Avenue], Luton, he joined the RAMC the previous April. He was aged 17 and lived in Summer Street, Slip End, as a child.
Private Betts of Ashton Road Luton served with the Mounted Field Ambulance Division of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He arrived at Gallipoli on 7th October 1915 and died of wounds on 10th October 1915.
Letters from his commanding officer and fellow servicemen and his Memorial Plaque were donated to Wardown Park Museum by his great neice and will be on display at the WW1 Exhibition from 5th August 2014.