Pte Gustavus 'Will' Eames, 2537, 24th County of London Regiment, died on February 13th, 1916, from wounds sustained in action in Flanders. He was buried at Bethune Town Cemetery, Pas de Calais.
Born in Luton in 1897, he was christened Gustavus but appeared in some Census returns as Augustus and in military records as William or Augustus William. He was popularly known as Will.
He was the son of retired painter and decorator William Eames and his wife Harriet, of 107 Cambridge Street, Luton. Before enlistment, Will worked in the office of the Luton Co-op Society.
Drummer Albert Edward Cockle, 8041, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Hill 60 in Flanders on April 19th, 1915. He was aged 29.
Drummer Cockle, son of Walter and Emma Cockle, had served in the Bedfords for nearly 11 years, mostly in India and South Africa. He had returned from South Africa the previous September.
Private Joseph Harcourt, 3/5014, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on November 9th, 1914. Although commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour, Warwickshire-born Joseph's death does not seem to have been reported in newspapers in Luton, where his brother William was living at the time.
Drummer Richard Leonard Freeman, 9752, 1st Battalion, Beds Regt, was killed in action on October 25th, 1914. He was aged 20.
The only son of the late Sgt Richard L. Freeman, of Park Street, Luton, he lived with his sisters at 74 Cambridge Street, Luton, before he went out with his battalion at the beginning of the war.