Lance Sergeant Joseph Frederick Plater

L-Sgt Joseph Plater, 8393, C Company, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on September 3rd, 1916. He was aged 29 and left a widow Ellen Beatrice (nee Bingham) and one son, Ronald (born 1913).

Writing to Mrs Plater at 73 Dudley Street, Luton, Capt S. Norrish said her husband was killed by a shrapnel bullet while leading his men in an advance. He died almost instantly.

St Plater had been in the Bedfordshire Regiment for six years, two of which were spent in India. In 1912, the year he married, he became a reservist and worked at the Diamond Foundry. He was called up at the outbreak of war and saw much fighting, including during the retreat from Mons. He was promoted to sergeant just two days before his death. His last home leave was four months earlier.

L-Sgt Plater was the son of Ellen and the late Joseph Plater (died 1900). His own mother remarried in 1906, her new husband being William Stokes.

In 1919 his widow Ellen married Harry W. Rodell. She and her new husband continued to live at 73 Dudley Street.