From the outset of war, readers of The Luton News began to wax lyrical in verse. This neatly worked poem, reflecting the town's respect for the men of the North Midlands Division billeted here, was published on October 8th.

A Toast

Here's to the lads from the Valley of Trent,

From Potteries, Peak, Fosse and Fen,

Who left home and all to answer the call

Of their King and their country for men.

To fight for their country at home or abroad,

In far distant lands o'er the sea,

This poem was printed in The Luton News September 1914, and tells the tale of the harsh realities of life as a reservist when the call to take-up-arms is raised.

The Reservist

Why are you crying, Mummy dear,

What is it makes you fret?

Daddy's gone to the war, I know,

Won't he come back, not yet?

Yes, dear, he will, I hope, come back,

His Mother replies, but her eyes are dim.

We loved him so, our all in all,

Oh, they might have left us him.

But miles away, in another land,

This poem is found inside of a British Prisoner of War Magazine called - The Link - and was composed in 1917 by an anonymous author going under the name 'Nimbo'. It is an affectionate tribute to a French Colonial Soldier called Cissarat Kalifa, speaks of the realisation that people are the same under the skin, regardless of race/creed/colour and origin, and is remarkably progressive and tolerant considering the time and place it was written.

Keeping thousands of visiting troops entertained in their leisure time was one of the big challenges in Luton. While churches organised concerts for the troops, it was the YMCA that looked after their everyday welfare.

Luton's first YMCA marquee appeared on the Moor, off New Bedford Road, within two weeks of the declaration of war and as the North Midlands Division Territorials arrived in town.

We do not know who Tom is, nor where he came from. But we do know that he was a member of The Bedfordshire Regiment. These two notebooks contain thoughts, feelings and emotions expressed as poetry and mental doodles that we are now priviliedged to be able to read.

Book 1

Book 2

This 40+ page photo album contains pictures of tours served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

The quality of the images, the names, and the stories they can tell us are priceless. 

Download the album and read it using a .pdf viewer, via the Download the file here link on this page.

Produced by the officers of the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment whilst on active service "somewhere in France", The Mudlark is a magazine that offers an unflinching and unsparing portrait of time in the trenches. Full to the brim with dark humour and very similar to the much more famous The Wipers Times.

The December Edition can be read  via the 'download files here' link on this page. It is saved as a secured, watermarked, pdf format and so requires a free plugin/pdf reader to view.

Produced by the officers of the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment whilst on active service "somewhere in France", The Mudlark is a magazine that offers an unflinching and unsparing portrait of time in the trenches. Full to the brim with dark humour and very similar to the much more famous The Wipers Times.

The June Edition can be read via the 'download files here' link on this page. It is saved as a secured, watermarked, pdf format and so requires a free plugin/pdf reader to view.

Produced by the officers of the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment whilst on active service "somewhere in France", The Mudlark is a magazine that offers an unflinching and unsparing portrait of time in the trenches. Full to the brim with dark humour and very similar to the much more famous The Wipers Times.

The May Edition can be read  via the 'download files here' link on this page. It is saved as a secured, watermarked, pdf format and so requires a free plugin/pdf reader to view.

Produced by the officers of the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment whilst on active service "somewhere in France", The Mudlark is a magazine that offers an unflinching and unsparing portrait of time in the trenches. Full to the brim with dark humour and very similar to the much more famous The Wipers Times.

The April Edition can be read via the 'download files here' link on this page. It is saved as a secured, watermarked, pdf format and so requires a free plugin/pdf reader to view.

Recruiting for the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment has proceeded so satisfactorily that for the present, at any rate, no more recruits are wanted. Following is the final list of those accepted from Luton:

BARRETT  George, 53 Hibbert Street

BARRETT  William, 31 Saxon Road

BAXTER  John, 42 New Town Street

BRANDON  Thomas, Danesbury Cottage, Turners Road, Round Green

BROOKS  E.W., 108 Ridgway Road

BROWN  John, 9 High Street

BURGESS  G., 41 Dorset Street

CAIN  P.H., 33 Gloucester Road

Following is the list of the men who have enlisted since August 10th at the Luton Park Street recruiting depot in various units of the Regular Army and the Special Reserve (which takes the place of the old Militia). This list must not be taken as giving anything like the names of all the men who have joined these particular branches of the service from Luton and district, because many have gone to Bedford direct.

Recruiting was started in Luton last week for a new Eastern Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance unit to take the place of the present unit with the Field Army should the first? unit leave for foreign service, for which they have volunteered.

The new unit has now been completed with very little trouble, and volunteering for foreign service has been the general rule. The majority of the new recruits came from Luton, but there are some from Bedford and just a few from St Neots and Kimbolton.