Thomas Alfred Ernest Rickard was the eldest of 4 children born to Thomas Ernest an iron foundry labourer & Charlotte Eliza a straw hat machinist.

In 1911 he is living with his parents & siblings, Nellie Rose aged 10, Frederick Aubrey Cecil aged 5 & 9 month old Violet May at 34 North Street Luton.

On 12th March 1915 he attested at Bedford into the 2/1st East Anglian Division Signal Corps of the Royal Engineers as a driver. He was 19 years old & 5ft 7 1/2 inches tall, using Alfred as his first name.

Rifleman Sidney George Lewin, 2154, 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade, was killed in action on March 1st, 1915. Only son of Sarah Lewin and the late George William Lewin, of 23 Winsdon Road, Luton, he was aged 24.

Official War Office notification received by his mother that resulted in a The Luton News report at the time said he was killed in action on March 2nd. The March 1st date is contained on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

William Henry Payne was 1 of 10 children born to Arthur, a brass finisher & Mary. He was born in Luton in January 1890.

In the 1911 census he is 15 years old, living at 15 Chobham Street & working as a straw hat packer. Also living at the address was his 52 year old widowed mother,2 sisters & 3 brothers.  Ada, a 28 year old milliner & Jane aged 19, a domestic servant. Sidney, 23, an electrician, Frank, 14 worked as a grocer's errand boy & 10 year old George.

Driver Alfred Shillcock was born in Liverpool in 1877.

His father Joseph died before 1891, which left his mother Isabella to bring Alfred & brother Albert up. In 1891 she was 49 years old & working as a tailoress. 19 year old Albert was a tiler's labourer & Alfred, 15, was a printer's assistant. They were living in Toxteth Park, Liverpool.

Alfred married Dorothy Ann Walker in 1905 & in the 1911 census they are living at 5 Elveston Street, Park Street, Derby with their 2 children William Alfred, 5 & 1 year old Constance.

Luton-born Pte Alfred William Simpson, 8928, 2nd Durham Light Infantry, was killed in action in France on February 24th, 1915. He was aged 38.

He was the eldest of three sons of Mr and Mrs Alfred Simpson, who had lived at 15 Liverpool Road, Luton, for over 30 years. Alfred Simpson was born in Park Street, Luton, and was educated at Buxton Road School.

Pte Henry George Pateman, 13260, 2nd Battalion Beds Regt, was killed in action near Ypres on February 24th, 1915. He was aged 19.

The son of William and Elizabeth Pateman, of 42 Ivy Road, Luton, he was a native of Dunstable but lived nearly all his life at Houghton Regis, being educated at the British School. Before enlistment he had been a butcher's assistant in the district.

Lance-Corporal Alfred Ward, 5697, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Wulvergem in Belgium on January 31st, 1915. He was aged 24.

Generally known as Samson, he was the son of Robert and Mary Ward, of 3 East Avenue, Park Street, Luton. His death had been mentioned in letters from friends at the front before the family received official news. They were not told by the War Office where he had been killed.

Alfred Barton was captured at Cremery (France), unwounded, by the Germans on the 26th May 1918. 

In 1911 Alfred was living with his father Albert Barton & his Scottish wife Mary Ann, at 13 Henry Street.

His 5 siblings were also living with him, Susan, 23, was a hat finisher, Daisy was 18 and a hat machinist, both were working in a factory in the town. William, 17, was a brass finisher and 16 year old Edward was assisting in brass moulding. His 14 year old twin Walter was not yet working.

Alfred died in captivity of gastroenteritis.

Walter Barton was captured at Arras, unwounded, by the Germans on the 23rd March 1918. 

In 1911 Walter was living with his father Albert Barton & his Scottish wife Mary Ann, at 13 Henry Street.

His 5 siblings were also living with him, Susan, 23, was a hat finisher, Daisy was 18 and a hat machinist, both were working in a factory in the town. William, 17, was a brass finisher and 16 year old Edward was assisting in brass moulding. His 14 year old twin Albert was not yet working.

Walter Smith was captured on the 22nd October 1914, and interned in a POW camp near Munster when he wrote to his sister asking for food.

He was found by the Germans suffering froma grenade wound to the right shoulder.

Mary Anne Green, centre, flanked by her daughters who all worked at Wardown V.A.D. hospital during WW1. 

When she was 65, Mary Anne Green, wife of the Brewery Director John Willam Green, became Joint Commandant of Wardown V.A.D. hospital. She served in this role from 1915 - 1919. She is often referred to as 'Mrs J.W. Green' as per convention of the time i.e. she is the wife of John William green.

Pte John Harris Conway, 7869, 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on November 20th, 1914. He was born in 1891.

The eldest son of James Stephen Conway and Emma Jane Conway, of 94 Hampton Road, Luton, the 5ft 5in tall soldier had been in the Army since February 1909, joining at the age of 18 years and one month, and left for the front with the Norfolk Regiment at the end of August 1914.

From 09/1914 to 25/03/1919, Nora Durler (nee Cumberland) was the Joint Commandant of Wardown VAD Hospital Luton, responsible for its management and supervising its administration. The other Commandant was her auntie, Mrs Green.

She was a member of an old distinguised Luton family, the Cumberlands, and married into the Durlers who were a family of Swiss plait merchants who emmigrated to Luton to be close to the pulse of the hat trade.

The 1911 Census shows she was married to Robert Durler, a plait merchant, and had a daughter, Pauline, born in 1910.

Lance Corporal Harry Hack, 9564, 1st Battalion, Beds Regt, was killed in action near Wulvergem in Belgium on January 8th, 1915. He was aged 26.

For his widow, who was living at 71 Ivy Road, Luton, it was the first of two tragedies within a week - the couple's only child, Harry Robert, died on January 14th, aged just five months.

Pte Frederick William Miller, 7469, 1st Battalion, Beds Regt, was killed in action near Ypres on November 7th, 1914. He was aged 35.

Born at Writtle, near Chelmsford, on November 5th, 1879, he moved from Essex to Luton shortly before the First World War and worked for about three years at the Skefko Ball Bearing Co Ltd, Leagrave Road. In 1912 he married widow Salome Annie Standbridge, who had a family of five or six children, and they lived at 70 Highbury Road, Luton.