Pte Charles Gregory, 3/6858, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on July 27th, 1916.

Born in 1893, he was the son of Alfred and Florence Gregory, of 15 Langley Place, Luton. In the 1911 Census he is described as working in a foundry. No report of his death appeared in Luton newspapers at the time.

Pte Percy Haydn Day, 15608, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds sustained in action on the Somme on July 27th, 1916.

Born in the summer of 1895, he was the son of Arthur and Mary Jane Day, of 17 Holly Walk, Luton, where Percy was born and where the family had lived for 23 years. The couple had 11 children, eight of them boys.

Prior to enlisting, Percy was employed in the Bute Street warehouse of hat manufacturers Wright and Giddings. He had been educated at Queen Square School and his father was formerly a straw hat manufacturer.

L-Cpl Edwin Granville Harvey, 14925, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme at Longueval on July 24th, 1916. He was aged 21.

He had joined the Colours on September 4th, 1914, and went to France the following April. He was gassed at Hill 60 and blown up by a mine in November 1915, requiring eight weeks of hospital treatment. After 15 months in the trenches he was killed by a shell while serving his Lewis gun.

Pte Albert Smith, 27481, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was the second son of George and Sophia Smith, of 73 North Street, Luton, to be killed in action on the Somme within four days. He died on July 22nd, 1916, at the age of 21.

His brother, Cpl Frederick Smith, 6289, 2/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment, was killed on July 19th at the age of 24.

Pte Smith had been in the Army only four months, having been drafted as a "Derby" recruit. Prior to enlistment he had worked for blockmaker Mr F. Webb, of Lancrets Path.

Pte Sidney Thomas Fleckney, 13164, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the front line at Arras on June 4th, 1916. He had at first been reported missing by the War Office.

Born on April 4th, 1893, he was the son of the late George (died 1915) and Hannah (died 1906) Fleckney, of Mangrove Green, and he had been living with a married sister at Mangrove, near Luton.

Lieutenant Reginald Cumberland Green, 1st Beds Regiment, died on May 18th, 1916, within two hours of receiving a bullet wound in the thigh sustained while examining the wire entanglement in front of British trenches at Arras in France. He was aged 31 and the son of brewer Mr John W. Green and his wife Mary (Commandant of Wardown V.A.D. Hospital), of The Larches, New Bedford Road, Luton.

Pte Ernest Morgan, 3/7366, 1st Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on May 1st, 1916. He was aged 19.

Born in Dunstable in 1896, his home at the time of his death was 16 Wimbourne Road, Luton. He was the son of Agnes and the late Charles Morgan, who had died in 1910.

After arriving in Luton he was employed as a greengrocer's assistant at the Tuffnell grocery store in Dallow Road. He then worked at the Diamond Foundry and in late 1913 became a special reservist when he had just turned 17.

Pte Stephen George Hare, 8426, 1st Battalion, Beds Regt, was killed in action near Fricourt in France on January 6th, 1916. He was aged 29.

Born in July 1886 at Shillington, he was the son of William (died January 1911) and Emma Hare (nee Redman), who were married in 1872. He had not long finished seven years with the 1st Bedfords in South Africa and other parts of the world when war broke out. He was then working at Skefko and was called up as a reservist in August 1914.

Pte George Draper, 10763, 1st Battalion Beds Regt, was killed in action near Hill 60 on July 11th, 1915. He was aged 20.

The son of John and Annie Draper, who were living at 128 Chapel Street [Farley Hill], Luton at the time of the 1911 Census, he was a plumber before enlisting shortly after war broke out. He was killed at a listening post which the Germans blew up at 7 o'clock in the evening.

Pte Percy Impey, 9485, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed by a rifle grenade at Hill 60 on June 12th, 1915. He had been with the Bedfordshires for five years, returning from South Africa with them when war broke out.

The 23-year-old was born in Flamstead and was living with his widowed father Henry, brothers William and Harry and sisters Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Annie in London Road, Markyate, at the time of the 1901 Census. During his time with the Bedfords he was a member of the regimental football team and was the regiment's champion jumper.

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.

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.

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 Harry Hurst, 10449, 1st Battalion Beds Regiment, was killed in action on May 5th, 1915, during the German counter-attack on Hill 60 in which poison gas was used. He was born and lived in Luton.

Cpl Charles Smith, 7655, 1st Battalion Beds Regt, died at Base Clearing Hospital on May 8th, 1915, from the effects of poison gas inhaled while fighting at Hill 60.

The 31-year-old had been in the Bedfordshire Regiment for nine years, principally serving in Aden. He then spent three years in the reserve, during which time he worked at J. W. Green's brewery in Luton. But for the war he would have been out of the Army the previous Christmas.