Cpl Thomas Henry Lodge, 200864, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds in Palestine on November 17th, 1917.

Born in Shoreditch, London, he was a son of William and Esther. At the time of the 1911 Census he was living with his brother Edmund and sister-in-law Emma at 60 Hampton Road, Luton. Thomas, Edmund and Emma all worked for a cardboard box manufacturer.

The Lodge family were later recorded as living at 70 Bury Park Road, Luton.

Pte Fred Linger, 57693, 18th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on November 15th, 1917, from wounds sustained on the battlefield the previous day. He was buried in a French cemetery on November 16th.

The son of Walter and Kate Linger, of 123 Biscot Road, Luton, he had enlisted in the East Anglian Royal Engineers at the outbreak of war and had been drafted to the Front with the Northumberlands just two months before his death.

Pte William Thomas Loughton, 200280, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in Palestine on November 14th, 1917. A Luton News brief report of his death said the cause was heart failure.

William Loughton, son of William and Emily, joined the Bedfords at the outbreak of war after being employed by coal merchants How & Byfield, of King Street, Luton. He had married Edith Edwards in 1908 and his address was given as 80 New Town Street.

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.

Sapper Frederick Charles Woodhouse, 99510, 220th Army Troops Company Royal Engineers, died in the No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt, on November 5th, 1917, from malaria.

The husband of Maggie, of 82 Langley Road [now Latimer Road], Luton, he left eight children. He had joined the Army in June 1915 and served in the Mediterranean with a Fortress Company of the Royal Engineers until he contracted the deadly malaria.

Born in Norfolk in 1882, he had married Maggie Pieraccini in Luton in 1904.

Pte George Leonard Hawkes, 204221, 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, died of wounds in Belgium on November 5th, 1917. He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment (No. 3443) at the outbreak of war and was severely wounded in the jaw and shoulder at Gallipoli, requiring two years of medical treatment. Within a fortnight of later being drafted to France with the Norfolks he was so severely wounded in the head that he died a few hours later.

Pte William Stenhouse, 200962, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on November 3rd, 1917, during the climax to the Third Battle of Gaza.

The death of the Scottish-born soldier went unreported in Luton newspapers, but the 1911 Census reveals that he was then living with the family of his brother Thomas, along with his widower father John, at 40 Clifton Road, Luton. He was an iron dresser in a foundry.

Pte Albert Edward Hill, 200054, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in Palestine on November 3rd, 1917, from wounds sustained in the battle for Gaza.

In his last letter to his invalid sister Minnie at 38 Cowper Street, Luton, Albert wrote: "We lost our platoon officer and three men on Monday morning. They were taken prisoners, so we had to go out last night to find 'Johnny Turk'. We waited on them and they ran right into my mate and I. We had a Lewis gun with us and gave them 'pepper.' I can tell you.

Pte Frederick William Dickens, 200582, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on November 2nd, 1917, during the 3rd Battle of Gaza. He was aged 34.

An in memoriam notice in The Luton News of November 29th, 1917, from his "sorrowing wife and family at Rugby" was the sole public acknowledgement of his death.

Pte Herbert Bysouth, 201034, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the 3rd Battle of Gaza on November 2nd, 1917. He was aged 26.

He had enlisted in the Beds Regiment in November 1915 and served in Egypt. Prior to joining up he was an employee of the Luton Co-operative Society.

Pte Sidney Walter Seabrook, 200453, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Gaza on November 2nd, 1917, during the Palestine campaign. He was aged 27.

He was the eldest of three sons of Walter Joseph and Sarah Seabrook, of 7 Baker Street, Luton. The couple also had three daughters living at home in 1911. Sidney was then described as a plait salesman.

Pte Sidney George Ward, 33678, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on November 2nd, 1917, from wounds sustained near the front line in Belgium the previous day. He was aged 28.

In a letter to parents Herbert John and Louisa Ward, of 94 Dallow Road, Luton, CSM A. Cook wrote: "Your son was one of a working party which went to dig a trench not far from the front line, and whilst digging it he was hit by a bullet which pierced his side. He was immediately taken to the field ambulance, but unfortunately his wound proved fatal and he died the following morning."

Pte Stuart John Webb, 42358, 2/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment, died in the 26th General Hospital at Etaples, France, on October 23rd, 1917, from gunshot wounds sustained at the Front on October 8th. He was aged 21 and had seen only seven months service in the Army.

Stuart had three times been rejected for military service owing to a weak heart, but in March 1917 he joined the Northamptonshire Regiment (No. 45954) as a private. After three months training he was drafted to France with the Manchester Regiment.

Pte William 'Sonny' Lawson, 89750, 65th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, died on October 27th, 1917, from gunshot wounds sustained two days previously. The son of Luton Town FC trainer Billy Lawson, he had been serving as a stretcher bearer at the time.

Writing from the No 3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in France, the Rev W. L. Archer said: "Your son William was brought to our hospital on the night of the 25th, very severely wounded in the legs. In spite of every care, he lived only to the 27th. I promised to write to you and say that 'Sonny sends his love'.

Gunner Thomas Williamson, 39307, 180th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed in action on September 21st, 1917. He had first arrived in France on August 20th, 1914.

Capt S. W. Harvey, in a letter to parents Lewin and Ellen Williamson, of 9 Alfred Street, Luton, said: "Our position was so far forward that we could shoot into Boche batteries that no one else could reach. Knowing this, the Boche shelled us heavily. It was while we were moving into another position that you son was killed."