Pte John Vincent Blackburn, 20731, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died at Gezaincourt in France on August 24th, 1918, from wounds sustained in action the previous night. He was three weeks short of his 21st birthday.

Pte Harold Wilfred Shadbolt, 92960, 14 Platoon, D Company, 2/4th London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action in France on August 24th, 1918. He was aged 18 and single.

Parents John and Louisa Shadbolt lived at 87 Cromwell Road, Luton. John had been a grocer, and by 1911 was a Congregational Church caretaker. Prior to Harold's death, ten of the couple's 13 children were surviving, with Harold a schoolboy.

Pte Frederick Leslie Bland, 77681, 13th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (County of London Regiment), was killed in action in France on August 23rd, 1918. He was the youngest son of Martha Elizabeth and George William Bland, stationmaster at Chiltern Green [station pictured just before closure in 1952].

Frederick had been called up on December 28th, 1917, and underwent training at Brocton Camp. He was placed in the Royal Fusiliers and sent out to France at the end of March 1918. He was 18 on October 14th, 1917.

L-Cpl Alfred Thomas William Bird, 97515, 47th Battalion Machine Gun Corps, was killed in action in France on August 22nd, 1918. He had been back in France only ten days after being home on leave.

Pte Thomas Alfred Cook, 204219, 1st Herts Regiment, died in a casualty clearing station in France on August 20th, 1918, from wounds sustained in action the previous day.

Born in Luton in 1887, a son of Thomas and Alice Cook, of 10 Clarendon Road, Luton, Thomas was engaged in the cost office at Vauxhall works before joining up in May 1917.

He had married Martha How from Round Green in 1909 and by the time of the 1911 Census they were living in Turners Road with two young boys, Harold Thomas (born 1910) and Dennis (1911).

Gunner Charles Richard Mellor, 656450, 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, died on August 19th, 1918, in the 12th General Hospital, Rouen, in France, as a result of having been gassed in action. He had been married only four months.

Born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on March 12th, 1899, he had joined the Staffordshire R.F.A. when aged only 16½. He was stationed at Biscot for eight months and met his future wife, Luton girl Daisy Holton, while there.

Pte Fred Clark, 103495, 10th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment), died in the 2nd Canadian Hospital in France on August 19th, 1918, as a result of gas shell poisoning while in action. He was aged 38 and married.

Fred had joined the Beds Regiment (No 30811) in July 1916 and went to France the following November. In May 1917 he was wounded by a bullet in the chest, but recovered to go to France again in March 1918, when he was transferred to the Notts & Derby Regiment.

Pte Richard Cyril ('Dick') Eads, 69348, 6th Battalion The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), died in the 55th Casualty Clearing Station in France on August 18th, 1918, from wounds sustained in action.

His father, corn merchant William John Richardson Eads, of 24 Rothesay Road, Luton, received a telegram on August 19th to say his fifth and youngest son was dangerously wounded. A second telegram, on August 22nd, said Richard had died on August 18th.

Pte Richard Cyril ('Dick') Eads, 69348, 6th Battalion The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), died in the 55th Casualty Clearing Station in France on August 18th, 1918, from wounds sustained in action.

His father, corn merchant William John Richardson Eads, of 24 Rothesay Road, Luton, received a telegram on August 19th to say his fifth and youngest son was dangerously wounded. A second telegram, on August 22nd, said Richard had died on August 18th.

Pte Edward Gatward, 19785, 1st Battalion Northants Regiment, was killed in action in Flanders on or soon after November 15th, 1917. Ten months later, parents George and Sarah Ann Gatward, of 61 Hartley Road, Luton, had heard no news of him but were still hopeful that he was alive.

Widow Rose and her four children Violet, George, Winifred and Phyllis, of 27 Cumberland Street, Luton, had previously received notification that her husband had been wounded earlier in France, on February 17th, 1917.

Sgt Harry Abbott, 104336, 1st Garrison Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment), died on duty in Egypt on July 1st, 1918. He was one of three sons of widow Mrs Agnes Abbott, of 11 Moreton Road, Luton, who had been serving in the Forces.

Harry, born in Markyate in August 1892, had joined up at the outbreak of war and was initially serving the Bedfordshire Regiment from 1914. He was afterwards transferred to the Sherwood Foresters and attained the rank of sergeant.

Lance-Sgt Reginald Charles Goodridge Weeks, 23070, 2nd Battalion Beds Regiment, died of wounds in a battlefield casualty clearing station in France on August 7th, 1918. He was aged 21 and single.

Parents Goodridge Charles and Rose Harriet Weeks at Upper Sundon were informed in a telegram on August 9th that their son was dangerously wounded, followed quickly by a second with the news that he had died. A chaplain had buried Reginald.

L-Cpl Charles Horace West, 40645, 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers, was killed in action in Flanders on April 11th, 1918. He was aged 30, married and had a son.

Charles, eldest son of Charles and Amy Jane West, of 47 Ivy Road, Luton, had been reported missing since April 11th, and his fate was still unknown when brother Fred, 881989, Royal Field Artillery, was confirmed kill in France on July 29th, 1918.

Gunner Fred Gordon West, 881989, 312th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action in France on July 29th, 1918. He was aged 28 and single.

Second son of Charles and Amy Jane West, he was born in Steppingley, Beds, in 1890. By the time of the 1911 Census, Fred was living with his parents and sister Lillian Edith and brother Jack at 47 Ivy Road. He was employed as a stiffener by hat manufacturer Mr Sidney Parker, of 47 Collingdon Street, Luton.

Pte William Henry Wilson, 88025, 3rd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on August 9th, 1918. He was aged 25 and single.

His chaplain wrote to widowed mother Lizzie Ann Wilson at 10 South Road, Luton, that on the night of the 9th a bomb was dropped on the dressing station where William was working, killing him instantly.