Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: June 17th, 1916.

A jury at an Under Sheriff's Court at Bedford awarded £400 damages to Mr E. Graham Falcon, proprietor of the Grand Theatre in Luton and the Royal County Theatre at Bedford, against Mr Donald Arthur, a London proprietor of touring theatrical companies, for breaches of contract.

Not all World War One stories came to light at the time. It was not until October 1936 that the Beds & Herts Evening Telegraph, one of the the Luton News titles, revealed the remarkable story of Frederick Walter Allen, by then a police constable in Luton.

Cattle on Leagrave Marsh (undated)

An ancient controversy with respect to Leagrave Common was revived at the Court Leet of the Manor of Luton on Thursday, when Mr E. A. Cumberland introduced proposals on behalf of the owners of the common rights of the Marsh.

Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, June 15th, 1916.

Great interest was centred last Thursday in a unique Bedfordshire event, namely a women's agricultural demonstration at Biddenham, near Bedford.

When the 1st/5th Bedfordshire Regiment, as it is now known, marched away from Luton to take up their mobilisation quarters after the hurried break-up of their summer camp in Ashridge Park in that memorable August week in 1914, their Battalion band had for the moment become non est.

A reminder that the Great War was a world war came with a letter to Mrs Mares, of George Street, from her grandson, Pte J. Mares, 193, of the Medical Section of the 1st South African Rifles, from N'Gara Hospital near Lake Nyasa. Unlike her letter to him, which had taken five months to arrive, his reached Luton in three months.

Last autumn the Saturday Telegraph's revelations of the conditions of Luton men who are prisoners of war in Germany stirred the whole town, and we believe that much good resulted, that the funds for the unfortunate heroes were considerably assisted, and that many of our gallant lads have been cheered and comforted more than they were before.

Dr Jessie Gray, sister of Mr Milner Gray of Luton, who has offered her services to the Baptist Medical Mission and is working in the Dholpur Hospital, India, writes of her experiences in a letter to the Rev C. Evelyn-Charlesworth and the friends at Wellington Street Baptist Church, Luton.

HMS Warspite and Malaya, seen from HMS Valiant (Wikipedia)

Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: June 10th, 1916.

Further news has reached Luton of the loss of gallant sons in the recent naval battle [of Jutland] and the loss of HMS Hampshire since publication of the Luton News on Thursday.

An unidentified Lutonian serving on the East Coast told the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph of his experiences during a Zeppelin raid. And he gave his advice about what to do to prevent Luton becoming a target of the new flying terror.

Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, June 8th, 1916.

Luton casualties and survivors of the Battle of Jutland, the biggest wartime action on the high seas of World War One, and the tragedy presented by the drowning of Lord Kitchener while sailing on a diplomatic mission to Russia not unnaturally grabbed the headlines from the past week.

Not many minutes ago I was quick-marching in the rear of a section of our gallant Navy, stepping out briskly towards a harbour where lay some of the ships which the "victorious" German fleet had run away from a week earlier. Sunshine had succeeded a drenching shower, a Marine band played a lively tune, and apparently everything was bright and gay.

For the second time in a little over seven months, the body of a young woman was recovered from the lake in Wardown Park.

HMS Hamphire (Wikipedia)

" A good son, a true patriot, respected by all who knew him, he gave his all for King and country. He died with Kitchener, his coffin a battleship, the wide ocean his tomb."