Pte James Loughton, 3/7466, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in Flanders on the night of September 13th-14th, 1917. He was aged 20 but had been serving at Landguard, Suffolk, since before the war.

He was the son of Walter and Annie Loughton, of 75 Chase Street, Luton. Walter was in the Royal Defence Corps, while his uncle, Mr F. Cooke, had been discharged from the Army in July 1917 after two years in hospital, having lost an arm and been wounded in both legs.

Pte Ernest James Elsdon, 18971, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was reported missing, later killed in action, at Hulluck, near Loos, on July 12th, 1917. He was aged 20 and single.

He had joined up when he was 18 and, after training at Ampthill, went to France in January 1916. He was wounded in the thigh the following April, but had recovered by October and returned to the firing line. He was then wounded in the face and, despite losing the sight of an eye, again returned to action in France, serving in the machine gun section.

Pte Arthur Carter, 203264, 1/4th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, was reported missing following a raid on June 11th, 1917, according to a letter writer at the Front. Officially his death is recorded as having happened on June 12th.

"I am very much afraid he is killed," said the writer, "as under the circumstances it is very unlikely he was taken prisoner. It was impossible to bring back our dead owing to the number of wounded."

Second Lieut Leslie Wyndham Mansell, Derbyshire Yeomanry attached to the Durham Light Infantry, was killed in action in France on April 22nd, 1917.

Although his family lived in Bromley, Kent, Leslie had lived in Luton for some time and his father, Mr Harry Milton Mansell, was involved in the cardboard box firm of C. A. Coutts, of the Victor Works, 106 Old Bedford Road, Luton. Leslie was about to enter the firm at London when war broke out.

Pte William Stanford, 33856, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action around Arras in France on April 18th, 1917. Born in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, he was appointed a postman there in December 1908 before later transferring to Luton around 1912.

He had married Mary Ann Scrivener, from Marsh Road, Leagrave, at Biscot Church on Monday, May 31st, 1909, before the couple initially set up home in Kings Lynn.

William Stanford had enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment in June 1916 and, after training at Tring, went to France on New Year's Day 1917.

Pte Arthur Joseph Wright, 33833, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Loos in France on April 15th, 1917. He left a widow, Florence Caroline, and a three-year-old son, Sidney, residing at 6 Clarendon Road, Luton.

Pte Wright was killed instantly by a shell which burst through the parapet of his trench two days after his 31st birthday. His last letter home was written on his birthday, but Florence had received no early news as her husband's chums were killed with him.

Second Lieut Edward Stanley Strachan, 8th Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), was killed in action on October 14th, 1915. A year later he was still reported "missing, believed killed".

The eldest son of a London wine merchant, his Luton connection was as a partner in the grocery and wines business of T. Forman & Co, of Market Hill. He is included on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Pte Herbert Victor Smith, 17938, D Company, 2nd Battalion Beds Regt, was killed in action in the Battle of Loos on September 25th, 1915.

Born in Luton on June 6th, 1898, he spent most of his life in Flitwick, living with his family in Church End as a three-year-old at the time of the 1901 Census. The family later lived in Chapel Road.

He was the son of straw hat goods factory manager/manufacturer Arthur Smith and the late Mrs Rebecca Swales Smith.

Pte Albert Newbury, 18360, 2nd Battalion Bed Regt, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in Flanders on August 25th, 1915. He had been reported missing and it was not until August 1916 that official notification of his death was received. He was aged 24.

A native of Luton, he lived at 35 Burr Street, Luton, and had married Mary Kirkwood (nee Penman) on July 26th, 1913, and the couple had one child, Alexander, born 1914. Pte Newbury was employed as an iron founder working on gas stoves pipes at the Diamond Foundry before he joined the Bedfords at the outbreak of war.

Pte Reginald Stuart Stares, 14809, C Company, 12th West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales' Own), is recorded as killed in action at the battle of Loos in France on September 26th, 1915. He was posted missing following an engagement on September 27th.

Born in Luton in late 1892, he was the son of Londoner George Stares, who died in early 1913, and Martha Harriet, who died in early 1905. The couple had married at Lambeth in 1873, and George remarried in late 1905, his new wife being Sarah Ann Parcell.

Pte Frederick Charles Everitt, 15432, 11th Battalion Essex Regiment, was killed in action in the battle of Loos in Flanders on September 26th, 1915.

The third son of Mr Thomas Everitt, of 12 Harcourt Street, Luton, he had been transferred to the Essex Regiment from the 8th Bedfords and had gone out to the front shortly before his death. Initially he was reported missing.

A comrade wrote to Mr Everitt to say they went into action on the Saturday night [September 25th], and early the next morning they left the trenches to attack the German position.

Frank Gilder was a pre-war amateur player with Luton Town FC. He enlisted with the London Regiment and was sent to France in March 1915. He was killed in action at Loos on 30th December 1915, aged 19.