Lance Corporal Robert Stokes

Military Medal winner L-Cpl Robert Stokes, 12329, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on August 9th, 1916. He was still listed as "missing" when parents Samuel and Phoebe Stokes, of 10 Alfred Street, Luton, learned that their eldest son, Pte Samuel Stokes, aged 30, had also been killed in France - on October 25th, 1916.

In a letter to Mrs Stokes a lieutenant wrote: "I deeply regret to tell you that L-Cpl Stokes has been reported as missing, and I very much fear that he has been killed. The company were carrying out a night raid on the German lines when they came under very heavy machine gun fire. When the party returned to our trenches it was found that several men were missing, of whom L-Cpl Stokes was one.

"A party went out to see if any could be found, but there was no trace of L-Cpl Stokes. The night was very dark and I can get no definite information from those who were near him. It is feared that he was killed close to the German line. It was very hard to find even the wounded who were able to call, as the whole ground was cut up by shell holes."

Prior to the war, L-Cpl Stokes was employed by Messrs Alfred Warren & Sons, hat manufacturers, of 34-36 Bute Street, Luton. He was also a member of Luton Harriers and Wheelers who had won many medals for running and cycling.

He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in August 1914 and was trained at Aldershot. The award of his Military Medal was announced in the London Gazette on November 11th, 1916, without detailing how he had gained the award.