L-Cpl Percy John Cobb, 42279, 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 3rd*, 1918. He was aged 19 and single.

An old boy of Queen Square School, he was the son of John and Alma Cobb, of 126 New Town Street, Luton, he worked as a blockmaker for Mr Edward Mouse, of Gordon Street.

He joined the Bedfordshire Regiment on reaching his 18th birthday, and was transferred to the Essex Regiment on crossing the Channel in January 1918. He had been in France for three months.

Pte William Arthur Smith, 13302, 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (The Buffs), was killed in action on March 28th, 1918. At the time his widow Nellie was making desperate attempts to contact her husband in the hope he could get leave, as his father was dangerously ill. But it was a year later before her husband's death was confirmed.

Pte John Wood, 30700, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on March 27th, 1918. He had joined the Beds Regiment in July 1916 and was wounded about a year before his death.

Born in Luton in 1882, a son of George and Louisa Wood, he married Annie Louisa Young at St Matthew's Church, Luton, on October 7th, 1908. The couple had one child, Percy John, born in late 1909.

Pte Frederick William Hoar, 25528, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds in France on March 27th*, 1918. He was aged 23, single and a member of the Lewis gun section.

He was the son of Alfred and Ellen Hoar, of 37 Cowper Street, Luton. Before the war he was a boot maker employed by Mr Edward Hudson, of Dunstable Road.

Newspaper reports said his family had been informed that Frederick died on March 22nd. A family announcement in The Luton News from his "devoted sweetheart Edith" also carried a date of March 22nd.

Pte Albert Joseph Tomlinson, 41419, 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, was killed in action on March 21st, 1918, the opening day of the German spring offensive.

He was the only son of Alfred Joseph and Harriet Ann Tomlinson, of Sundon, and had worked for Luton butcher Mr William Panter in Park Street before enlistment. [Mr Panter died soon afterwards, on April 16th, after a long illness.]

Albert had joined a Training Reserve in February 1917 at the age of 19, and was transferred to the Suffolk Regiment in the following September.

Pte Walter Henry Halsey, 37787, 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, was killed in action in France on March 26th*, 1918, during the German spring offensive. He was aged 37 and been married a little over a year.

He had married Alice Maud Womwell by special licence at Christ Church, Luton, on January 24th, 1917. In a letter to Alice at 20 Ivy Road, Luton, her husband's captain wrote: "Your husband was unfortunately killed on the evening of the 26th. It will console you to know that he suffered no pain, as he was killed instantly by a machine gun bullet."

Pte Leonard Arthur Maynard, 118324, 56th Battalion Machine Gun Corps, died of gas shell wounds in hospital in France on March 25th, 1918. He was aged 24 and newly married.

Pte William James Bass, 29668, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on March 24th, 1918, early in the German spring offensive.

He had seen 18 months service in France and was previously employed by Mr T. G. Hobbs in Luton.

The 1911 Census shows him living in Limbury Road, Leagrave, one of eight surviving children of James and Clara Jane Bass.

On July 29th, 1912, he married Louisa Scrivener, who also lived in Limbury Road, and records suggest they had two children - Elsie born in 1914 and William in 1916.

Pte John ('Jack') Poole, 52107, 12th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action in France on March 24th, 1918, during the German spring offensive of that year. He would have been aged 19 on May 12th and was single but with "a sorrowing sweetheart".

Sgt G. Hamilton wrote to parents John and Mary Poole, of 100 Albert Road, Luton, informing them of their son's death, stating that he died gallantly at his post.

Sgt William Buckingham, 33776, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on March 23rd, 1918, during the German spring offensive on the Somme. He was aged 28 and single.

A son of Charles and Annie Buckingham, of 29 Buxton Road, Luton, he had before enlistment been a straw hat blocker in the family business.

Sgt John Goodson, 19064, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on March 23rd, 1918, during the German spring offensive. He was aged 25 and married.

John Goodson was born on the East Coast at Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, and by 1911 was working as a baker in the business of his his uncle and aunt, Ernest and Jane Bloomfield, of 22 Hitchin Road, Luton. Before enlisting he was working in the bakery department of the Luton Co-operative Society.

Pte Albert Claude Woodward, 41541, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on March 22nd, 1918, during the German spring offensive on the Somme. He was aged 19 and single.

At the time of enlistment at the age of 18 in February 1917, Albert was employed by cycle dealer Ernest Starke, of 44 Castle Street.

He was one of ten surviving children of Thomas Robert and Emma Woodward, of 132 Dallow Road, Luton. He was an old boy of Waller Street School, attended King Street Congregational Sunday School and had been an amateur footballer.

Sgt Sidney Fensome, 19789, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on March 22nd, at the start of the German spring offensive of 1918. He was aged 28.

The son of Samuel and Ellen Fensome, of Ramridge End Lane, Stopsley, he was the third of the couple's sons to die in battle. Sidney is commemorated on both the Stopsley and Luton War Memorials.

Pte Horace Fensome, of the Beds Regiment, had died on the Somme in September 1916, just days before the loss of his brother, Arthur William (Machine Gun Corps).

Pte Harold Edward Steevens Phillips, 8344, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was posted missing, later presumed killed in action, on March 21st, 1918, at the start of the German spring offensive on the Somme.

Shortly before being missed, Ted, as he was known, was escorting prisoners when heavy shell and machine gun fire broke out and the escort were ordered to take cover. Since then there had been no trace of him.

Pte Sidney Louis Felks, 33000, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was posted missing, later presumed killed in action, in the German spring offensive on the Somme on March 22nd, 1918.

After joining the Bedfords in September 1914 and undergoing training at Newmarket and Darlington, he went to France in December 1916. On December 1st, 1917, he was wounded at Marcoing in the battle of Cambrai.

Prior to enlistment, Luton-born Sidney was employed by George Kent Ltd. Parents Albert and Clara Felks lived at 39 Collingdon Street, Luton.