Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, April 6th, 1916.

Unidentified women munition workers in Luton

At the annual meeting of the Beds Branch of the National Union of Women Workers on Tuesday, Mrs Trustram Eve, the President, referred to what was happening at Luton as an instance of how the union could help the war workers.

She said Mrs Prothero, as convenor, had asked her for a report as to what was being done with regard to housing munition workers at Luton to lay before the Legislation Committee of the union.

Recently Mrs Eve had visited Luton and inquired about the housing conditions. She found that in these works at Luton the heads had in every case got lists of lodgings which were looked out for the girls coming into the town. The rooms were clean and respectable, and the landladies were asked, as far as possible, to mother the girls who came from away.

The union were learning by slow degrees what they were to look out for and where they could help, and also where it was better not to insist upon small amendments, because they had to remember that it was emergency work and there must be a certain amount of pressure about it.

One important thing was the long hours worked. That seemed to her much more in need of amendment than the housing, which appeared to be well done by the people in authority in Luton.

• After just six weeks in France and being severely wounded in the neck and face and losing his right eye in the fighting at Loos in October, Pte Henry George Dunham (pictured right) is in consequence awaiting War Office discharge from the 2nd Beds Regiment. He had been brought from France to a hospital in England, from where he was sent to a rest camp at Landguard in early December. He then went to a similar camp at Shoreham and then to Brighton Hospital, from which he was discharged on February 28th. The East Hyde soldier was a married man who had been a platelayer on the Midland Railway before he joined the Duke of Bedford's Training Camp at Ampthill and going to France on August 17th, 1915.

• Several important questions of principle as to exempting men engaged in the straw trade were heard by the Bedfordshire Appeals Tribunal sitting at Luton Town Hall yesterday. One point was the argument of the small manufacturer that his business must go if his man goes, and the other was the question of the national importance of not taking away a man who is engaged in the export trade. Most of the appeals were made by the military representative and most were dismissed after the military representative submitted that the businesses were not essentially of national importance.

• Yesterday at Buckingham Palace, Second-Lieut Joseph Wilson, 6th Battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, was one of a number of officers who received the Military Cross at the hands of His Majesty. Lieut Wilson was before the war one of the technical representatives of the Skefko Ball Bearing Co Ltd, Leagrave Road, Luton. He won his decoration for conspicuous gallantry in the terrible fighting at Hill 70 on September 26th, 1915.

• Early on Tuesday morning an accident occurred at the Chaul End works, and Leonard Gower, of 18 Albert Road, Houghton Regis, was severely bruised and internally injured. He was attended at the works and then taken to the Bute Hospital, where he is going on well.

• Plans were passed by Luton Town Council for a temporary wooden building to be erected on the Post Office site in Upper George Street, to be used as a Young Women's Christian Association hostel.

• The Bedfordshire Soldiers and Sailors Families Association came in for criticism at the meeting of Beds County Council on Friday. This arose on the drafting of a scheme for a new public body for Bedfordshire to deal with cases of hardship which did not come within the scope of existing agencies, and it was decided a certain representation should be allotted to the association and to the Soldiers and Sailors Help Society. Mr Leeds Smith said that while admitting the S.S.F.A. did valuable work it would be better entitled to public confidence if its members were not almost exclusively from one party and one class "tainted with an odour of sanctity".

• The chairman of the Parks Committee was to fix the date for opening the Wardown Park lake for boating, the grass tennis courts, bowling greens etc for the coming season. The Parks Superintendent reported that out of the summer staff of nine men, six would be on military service, and consequently it would be impossible to perform all the usual work in the park. The Borough Engineer and Parks Superintendent were to endeavour to obtain sufficient labour for keeping the park facilities open.

• Shopkeeper Archer Cunningham, of 82 Wellington Street, Luton was charged at Luton Borough Sessions with offering margarine for sale without the label being visible to the purchaser. In the first case of its kind in Luton, it was said he had margarine on display in the window with a label, "Fresh 1s". He said he did not think anyone would be so simple as to think they were going to get fresh butter at one shilling a pound. He was fined 10s.