Charles was born 8th March 1885 in Kobe, Japan, the eldest son of the Right Reverend Hugh James Foss, Bishop of Osaka.

He enrolled into the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1902 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1904. Charles Foss was serving in the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment in South Africa when the war broke out and the battalion made it to the Western Front in time for the First Battle of Ypres. He was one of only four Officers to survive the battle during which he won his Distinguished Service Order (medal).

Second Lieutenant Collings-Wells was commissioned into the Bedfordshire Regiment on 14th March 1904 having previously served with the Hertfordshire Militia. He became a Lieutenant in September 1904 and Captain in January 1907. On the outbreak of war he was recalled to the colours and arrived in France with the Bedfordshire Regiment on the 22nd August 1914, where he served in the 2nd Battalion once they had arrived from South Africa. By October 1916 he was promoted to acting Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the 4th Battalion and remained at that post until his death.

Samuel Needham was born in Great Limber, Lincolnshire on the 16th August 1885, to Septimus and Mary Needham. His father was one of Lord Yarborough's grooms and Sam was to follow in his fathers footsteps. When he left the Brockesby Stables, he worked in several other hunting stables, including the Duke of Westminster's and the Earl of Fitzwilliam's.

Tom Edwin Adlam was born at Waterloo Gardens in Salisbury, on the 21st October 1893, the son of John and Evangeline Adlam. Following his education at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury, he joined the Territorial Force in September 1912, and in November 1915 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Regiment.

Christopher Augustus Cox was born Christmas Day 1889 in Kings Langley. In 1912 he married Maud Swan with whom he eventually had eight children. Christopher enlisted into the army weeks after war broke out and became a Private and Stretcher Bearer in the 7th battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment.

Frank Young was born on the 2nd October 1895, at Cherat in the North West Province, India. As his father, also called Frank Young, was a regular soldier, it is likely he was serving in the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment who were stationed there at the time.