Sapper Bert Tomlinson, 1749, East Anglian Royal Engineers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 14th, 1916. He was aged 32 and had enlisted in January 1915.

Sapper Tomlinson, a painter and house decorator employed by Mr Smith, of West Hill Road, was secretary of the Luton branch of the House and Shop Decorators' Union.

Second Lieut Charles Frederick Burley, 4th Battalion (attached 10th) Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on November 18th, 1916. The younger son of leading Luton hat manufacturer Richard Burley, he would not have been 19 years old until December 1st - and still under military age for service abroad.

Pte Samuel Stokes, 43241, 6th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 25th, 1916. He was the second son of Samuel and Phoebe Stokes, of 10 Alfred Street, Luton, to perish on the battlefield in three months - L-Cpl Robert Stokes was killed in action on August 9th.

At the time of Samuel's death, Robert, a holder of the Military Medal, was reported missing with hopes that he may have been taken as a prisoner of war.

Sgt William Ginger, 18144, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 12th, 1916.

The father of three sons and three daughters, he had married Mary Jane Goodge in 1898 and was living in Summer Street, Slip End. The Flamstead-born soldier was a labourer working for builders T. & E. Neville, of Castle Street, Luton, before he joined up on December 7th, 1914.

Gunner Horace George Dunham, 2783, 24th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 24.

Horace was the son of baker and confectioner Alfred Dunham and his wife Mary, of 1 North Street, Luton. He and his two brothers had worked in the family bakery.

Officially, Gunner Dunham is recorded as having been killed in action on November 13th. A letter to his parents from the Front from Capt W. S. Green, however, said his death occurred on November 14th. The machine gunner had suffered no pain and had been buried.

Pte George Henry (Harry) Puddephatt, 40119, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 19.

The son of Henry and Ann Puddephatt, of Summer Street, Slip End, he worked for Messrs F. Merchant and Sons, furnishers, of Manchester Street, Luton, before enlistment. He was in training in England until three months before his death.

Pte Fred Allen Kilby, 23310, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on the French front on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 27.

He was one of ten children of Henry John and Letitia Kilby, of 41 Winsdon Road, Luton. Before enlistment in November 1915, when he joined the Duke of Bedford's Training Camp at Ampthill, he was employed by Mr J. L. Frenay, bleacher and dyer, as a town collector.

Pte John Dyson, 23182, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on November 13th, 1916.

Regimental records say he was born in Bolton, Lancashire, and resided in Luton. He is commemorated on the Luton Roll of Honour, but without an address. Sadly nothing appears to have been recorded about him in Luton newspapers.

Pte William Fensome, 18837, Machine Gun Corps, and formerly with the Essex Regiment (9882), was killed in action on July 1st, 1916, in the "Big Push" at the start of the Battle of the Somme.

Military records show him to have been the son of widower Mr Thomas Fensome, of 5 Ebenezer Street, Luton, and give his age as 28. The Ebenezer Street address is included on the Luton Roll of Honour.

Pte Lionel Ralph Worsley, 3/7730, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the Big Advance at the start of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st, 1916. He was aged 33, married and lived at 24 Ash Road, Luton.

He and his comrades had leapt over the parapet, and Lionel, a bomber, was pointing out to his gunner pal a number of enemy troops in a trench when a sniper shot him in the head. He fell back into his comrades arms and died instantly. The Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph said he had been buried in a hero's grave at Carnoy.

Prominent Luton athlete Sgt Percy Edward Rickard, 3/8141, 7th Bedfords, was killed instantly while in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme - July 1st, 1916.

Well before official confirmation was received, parents William and Lucy Rickard, of 45 Crawley Road, Luton, had had letters from comrades who saw him fall.

Rifleman Arthur Thomas Mahon, 301057, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade), was killed in action on July 1st, 1916, at the age of 19. Born in Aberdeen, he was the son of the Rev Edward Mahon, Pastor of King Street Congregational Church, Luton, and Mrs Agnes Catherine Mahon, of 48 Napier Road, Luton.

Pte Stanley Walter Fensome, 15296, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on July 1st, 1916. He was aged 20 and the eldest son of Luton bootmaker Mr Walter Fensome and his wife Elizabeth, of 63-65 Duke Street, High Town.

The sad news for his family was contained in a letter from the Wesleyan Chaplain to the battalion, the Rev G. Jarvis Smith. He said Stanley was killed in action on the Saturday morning and he had found his body soon after the battle was over. Stanley was given a Christian burial and the spot where he fell had been carefully marked.

Pte Frederick Herbert Carter, 15249, D Company, 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 1st, 1916. He never again got to see his wife, Jessie (nee Walters), of King's Road, Luton, after he married her while on leave a year earlier and had had to make a hurried return to his regiment.

Jessie received the official notification of he husband's death on July 20th. He had gone to France on July 26th, 1915, and was never fortunate enough to get home leave afterwards.

Pte Frederick William Armstrong, 19794, 7th Bedfords, was killed in action on July 1st, 1916 - the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was aged 20.

Born in a cottage at Eaton Green Farm, Stopsley, in 1896, he was the son of Thomas and Annie Elizabeth Armstrong. His brother Charles, also a private in the 7th Bedfords, wrote to his parents with the sad news of his death. Frederick had been homes on leave five weeks before his death.