William Fensome was born on 23rd January 1883 in Luton to Henry & Matilda.
In 1900 William joined the 3rd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment. He is described on his service record as 5ft 4 inches tall with a fresh complexion, hazel eyes & brown hair. He has many scars on his body including burns to his chest. He was working as a moulder in an iron factory & living at 14 Round Green. He spent 6 years with the Bedfordshire Regiment.
Pte Albert Henry Clark, 10245, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Hill 60 on June 10th, 1915. He was aged 22, according to a report at the time.
Pte Clark, the son of Mr James and Emma Clark, of 34 Dumfries Street, Luton, joined the Bedfordshire Regiment four years previously. He had been at the Front since the outbreak of hostilities, and in October 1914 was wounded in the back while on a dangerous errand. His death on June 10th was instantaneous - he was struck on the head by a piece of shell.
Edwin Matthews was born in Kensworth, a village on the outskirts on Dunstable in about 1879.
In 1891 he is a 10 year old schoolboy & living in the village with his father David 38, an agricultural labourer & mother Letitia 36, a straw plaiter. His 14 year old sister Louisa is working as a live-in domestic servant for the King family at 5 Gladstone Avenue, Luton.
In January 1903 Edwin married Annie Elizabeth Nicoll in Luton.
Pte Hedley Euinton, 2726, 1/24th London Regiment, was killed in action in a charge near Givenchy on May 26th, 1915.
Born at Wingfield in 1895, he was a brass finisher living with Parents Alfred and Hannah at 19 Bailey Street, Luton, at the time of the 1911 Census. He had two younger brothers, Ernest and Alfred, and a toddler sister, Janet,
Pte Bert (Bertie) Euinton, 2720, B Company, 24th Battalion County of London Regiment ("The Queen's"), died on May 29th, 1915, from wounds sustained in action three days earlier.
The son of Henry and Lizzie Euinton, of 48 Park Road West [now Strathmore Avenue], Luton, he was the third of three cousins to die on the battlefield in just over six weeks.
Pte Arthur Euinton, 2731, 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action at Hill 60 on April 14th, 1915. A Luton lad, his parents lived in London.
Pte Charles Frederick Hyde, 1/24th Battalion, London Regiment ("The Queen's"), was killed in action on May 28th*, 1915. He was a single man aged 20.
The old boy of St Matthew's School lived with parents George (a brass finisher) and Lavinia, plus an older brother George and younger sister Agnes, at 93 High Town Road at the time he enlisted. He had worked for builder Mr Martin before joining the colours and was a member of Luton United Harriers and West Ward Rangers. At the time of the 1911 Census, Charles was an errand boy in the straw trade.
Pte Frederick Bingham, a native of Luton serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, was killed in action on April 24th, 1915.
Pte Bingham, 24291, 13th Battalion (Quebec Regiment) Canadian Infantry, was in Canada with his brother Arthur when war broke out. Frederick had been in Canada for 13 years and Arthur for seven. They were natives of Luton but were living in Studham before leaving England.
In May 1915 it was feared from casualty lists that Arthur had also been killed in action, but a subsequent letter from him proved he was still fighting.
Pte George Jarvis, 9344, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regimen, was killed in action near Hill 60 on May 28th, 1915. He was aged 28.
He had attested with the Bedfords in September 1907 and then spent six or seven years with the 2nd Battalion. He was living at the time at 122 Langley Street, Luton.
He was wounded in the thigh at Ypres and had returned to England for a short sick furlough. He returned to the front about a month before his death.
Rifleman Sidney William Dorrington, 2630, 17th Battalion London Regiment, was killed while on lookout duty in the trenches on May 14th, 1915*, according to comrades. He was struck in the head by a dum-dum bullet.
In a letter to Mr Jesse Dorrinton, the deceased's father, Rifleman C. A. Scales wrote: "He was not conscious any part of the time, as morphia was injected. But he was already too far gone to feel any pain. He succumbed one hour 40 minutes after being hit, and is buried in the village beside a fallen comrade, name unknown."
Pte Murray Walter Harrison, 2797, 2nd Battalion East Surrey Regiment, was killed in action on April 11th, 1915, about five weeks after going into the firing line. He was aged 22.
The son of Mr and Mrs James Harrison, of 46 Maple Road, Luton, he had enlisted in September 1914 and went to the front during the first week in March. Before the war he had been employed by a Bedford firm.
Pte Francis James Blake, 13406, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on April 19th, 1915. He was aged 19.
He and his family had moved to Luton from Stamford, Lincolnshire, shortly before the war and he enlisted in the Bedfords in September 1914, serving much of the time at the front.
At the time of the 1911 Census, Francis - along with six sisters and four brothers - was living with parents George and Carrie at 19 Bentley Street, Stamford. His father was a chandler and he was a chandler's apprentice.
Pte Percy Francis Darby, 2676, 1/24th Battalion, County of London Regiment ("The Queen's"), was killed in action in a charge against German trenches near Givenchy on May 26th, 1915. He was aged 19.
He was the son of George and Emily Darby, of 31 Biscot Road. His father was manager of the hat manufacturing factory of Messrs Smith & Small in Bute Street.
Cpl Douglas Blake Brodie, 2433, 1/24th Battalion County of London Regiment ("The Queen's), was killed in action in a great charge on German trenches near Givenchy on May 26th, 1915. He was aged 23.
The son of William and Amelia Brodie, of Rathfarlam, 157 Dunstable Road, Luton, he was among a group of 19 young men from Luton photographed by The Luton News at the Midland Road station on their way to St Albans on September 1st, 1914, to enlist in the Londons. Although named in the newspaper, he was not specifically identified in the W. H. Cox picture at the time.
Cpl Ernest Butterfield, a Lutonian serving with the Australians in Gallipoli, died on May 4th, 1915, of wounds received in action.
Born in Markyate but brought up from a young age in Luton, Cpl Butterfield, service number 79, joined the 15th Battalion, 4th Brigade, Australian Expeditionary Force. He was previously with the Royal Garrison Artillery and served during the Boer War, being in Kimberley during the siege.