Pte Arthur William Housden, 23606, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on May 24th, 1917, from wounds sustained in France.

He was admitted to hospital on May 2nd and underwent two operations. Both seemed to have been successful, although he could hardly see. But on May 18th the hospital Sister wrote that his condition had worsened, and on May 25th she wrote to Pte Housden's parents to say: "I regret to say your son died yesterday afternoon at 4.30 very peacefully. He was much worse in the night and quite unconscious towards the end, but did not suffer any pain."

Pte Harry Edgar Silsby (Silsbey), 25437, 6th Battalion Northants Regiment, was killed in action on May 3rd, 1917, although it was nearly a year before official confirmation arrived with his family.

A letter from a sergeant in the Northants Regiment was the first indication widow Annie Silsby, of 96 Spencer Road, Luton, received that her husband was seriously wounded on May 3rd, when he was left in a shell hole to await help.

Pte John William Cooper, 55240, 16th Battalion Welsh Regiment, met a particularly tragic death at the Front in Belgium on May 22nd, 1917, drowning in a deep water-filled shell hole from which he was unable to escape before help could reach him.

Pte Frederick Herbert Smith, 228139, 1st Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action, having been reported missing on April 28th, 1917.

The 19-year-old was the eldest son of Henry William (Harry) and Harriett Smith, of 109 New Town Street, Luton. He enlisted in the Cambridge Regiment as an 18-year-old and, after training at Halton, went to France on March 24th, 1917. In April he was transferred to the Royal Fusiliers.

Frederick Smith was an old boy of Surrey Street School and a member of Park Street Baptist Church.

Pte Sidney George Burnage, 50638, 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment, was killed in action in France on May 8th, 1917. He was aged 28 and had been married for just under a year.

The news was sent by a chaplain to his widow, Florence, whom he had married in June 1916. Florence was living with Sidney's parents, Walter John and Agnes Burnage, at 108 Tennyson Road, Luton. Sidney was their second son, who was educated at Waller Street School, Luton.

Pte George Davis, 202772, 7th Battalion Norfolk Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 28th, 1917. He was the son of William and Lizzie (Elizabeth) Davis, of Stopsley Green.

Aged 23, he worked at the Hayward Tyler Foundry and was engaged to Stopsley girl Edith Jarvis. He is commemorated on the Stopsley War Memorial.

Gunner Frederick Charles Mead, 315376, 1st (Wessex) Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, died of wounds in France on May 6th, 1917. He was aged 23.

 Leighton Buzzard-born Gunner Mead, the son of William and Fanny Mead, of 54 Dallow Road, Luton, enlisted in the R.G.A. in October 1915 and went to the Front at Easter 1916. Prior to joining up he was employed at the Cocoa Works in Dallow Road, Luton.

Pte Arthur Thomas Cain, 29204, 13th Battalion Essex Regiment, was killed in action on April 28th, 1917. The 36-year-old had initially been reported missing.

Born and bred in Stopsley, he was the son of Cyrus and Selina Cain, who lived in the village. He had married Minnie Winifred Buckingham in 1902 and the couple had seven children. At the time of Arthur's death the family lived at Ramridge End, Stopsley. He is commemorated on the Stopsley War Memorial.

Minnie remarried in 1919, her new husband being Albert Pratt.

Pte Sidney Soper, G/42342 (G/5152 in some records), 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on April 23rd, 1917.

A letter from Capt Pollard, a Lutonian in his regiment, wrote to parents Walter and Elizabeth Soper at 241 High Town Road to say their son was missing after going over the top with his company in an attack on the morning of April 23rd. He was not present when the roll was called the next day.

Pte Albert Charles Smith, 3/6620, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on or soon after May 14th, 1917. He was aged 22 and left a widow, Daisy, living at 3 Surrey Street, Luton.

The eldest son of Albert and Elizabeth Smith, of 25 Buxton Road, Luton, he enlisted in the Beds Regiment at the outbreak of war. He was drafted to France in October 1914 and received a bayonet wound just below the heart three weeks after his arrival. In August 1916 he was again wounded, by a shotgun wound to the leg.

Pte Sidney Cleaver, 3433, 4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action on or shortly after April 28th, 1917. He left a widow, Florence Kate, and a baby daughter, Phyllis Ellen.

Sidney had written three or four letters a week to Florence before they suddenly ceased. It was then that a lady church worker at St Saviour's gave the first intimation of Sidney's fate. As he was on the church roll of honour, Sidney was sent a monthly letter from the church. The last one sent had been returned with "wounded" written on the envelope.

Pte Arthur George White, 266358, 5th Battalion Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, was killed in action on or soon after May 3rd, 1917. After not hearing from her son, Mrs Minnie White, sent a food parcel addressed to him that was received by her son's friend, Pte Rolfe.

It was he who wrote to say that Pte White was last seen on May 3rd by a comrade who saw him lying in a shell hole. Official notification that he was missing arrived shortly afterwards.

Pte George Pratt, 200870, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds at the No 54 Casualty Clearing Station in Palestine on May 13th, 1917.

The son of Sophia (and the late William Pratt), of Pyne Cottages, Chalton, he enlisted in the Beds Regiment two years earlier and gained promotion to corporal (5240). He then sacrificed his stripes on transfer to the 1/5th Battalion and went out to Egypt a year before his death.

Pte Ernest Arthur Smith, 6254, 11th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, died of wounds in Flanders on May 1th, 1917. He had been in the firing line for just a few days.

His widow, Fanny at 6 St Paul's Road, Luton, was informed in a letter from the matron of a casualty clearing station in France that her husband was admitted badly wounded. All that was possible was done for him, but he lived for only a few hours. He was hardly conscious any of the time and was unable to send a message himself. He was buried in the British Cemetery.

Pte Frederick John Moorhead, 50151, 11th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on May 4th, 1917.

Second Lieut Guy Chipperfield, in charge of his her husband's platoon, wrote in a letter to widow Eleanor that Pte Moorhead was killed by a shell while on a night carrying party. "He was unfortunately buried by the shell, and will probably be reported 'Missing, believe killed' but there is, I fear, no doubt as to his fate."