Second-Lieut Ralph Wycombe Butcher, 4th Battalion Manchester Regiment (attached 22nd Battalion), was killed in action in France on March 14th, 1917. The 21-year-old had initially been reported wounded and missing.

Parents William Joseph and Lily Rhoda Butcher, of Bendrose, Braithwaite Road [later part of Malzeard Road], Luton, were told by their son's commanding officer that Ralph's body had been found by a search party close to the enemy's wires.