Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: July 8th, 1916.

A little procession of motor-cars, filled with soldiers, went along New Bedford Road yesterday afternoon about 2.30. They constituted the biggest batch of wounded men who have yet gone to Wardown V.A.D. Hospital.

These lads - 17 of them - came from Cambridge Hospital to Luton, and although there were no "stretcher cases" among them, still, they had plenty of troubles to be going on with. However, they could all get along, and those who could not walk hobbled, and smiled the smile that would not come off as they were met at the Great Northern Station by a number of friends of the real kind.

It is needless to discourse upon the splendid situation and efficiency of Wardown Hospital. Suffice it to say that since the local branch of the Red Cross Society took control of the hospital over from the military they have done big things in an unostentatious way, and have had no fewer than 481 cases through their books since last December.

News of yesterday's batch coming was received 24 hours in advance, and just about then a fair number of convalescent men of the R.F.A. were ready to leave. So they were discharged by Dr Lloyd, and the staff got busy for the new arrivals. At the hospital the reception of the 17 men by Mrs Nora Durler (Commandant) and Sister Cooper was again splendid.

• An official notification has been received by Mr and Mrs J. Nelson, of 2 Crawley Road, Luton, that their son Albert has been wounded in the severe fighting in France. The wound is not serious, although it has necessitated his return to England, where he is now in hospital.

• The Royal Humane Society's certificate for bravery was presented on Wednesday at the Worthing Petty Sessions to Miss Joyce Cunningham, the 13-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs Christopher Cunningham, of 325 Cardiff Road, Luton. Miss Cunningham was staying with her mother at Worthing on May 15th when, on a quiet stretch of beach, she went to the rescue of a woman with a baby tied to her who was drowning in the sea.

• Some marvellous escapes on the part of a Luton lad at the front have just come to light. Cpl Sidney Philpott, serving with the Canadian contingent, revealed how a pocket book, photos and cards over his heart had been holed by a piece of bomb shrapnel but he himself had escaped without a scratch.

• A report a month earlier said Able Seaman Henry Shedrick Joseph Hill, son of Mr and Mrs Henry Hill, of 94 Cobden Street, Luton, had been lost in the Battle of Jutland while serving on the torpedo boat destroyer HMS Turbulent. However, an unofficial report received through the British Red Cross now said he was rescued by the enemy and was a prisoner of war in Germany.

• News has been received of the recent promotion of the double D.C.M. winner, Qtr-Master Sgt Arthur Andrews, of the Highland Light Infantry, whose home is at 15 Adelaide Street, Luton. He had now been made Company Sgt-Major.

• From the advancing Army in France, a field postcard has been received from Sgt Sam Impey, 7th Beds Regiment and nephew of Miss Impey, of 7 Stanley Street, Luton, intimating that he is among the casualties, but doing well while lying wounded in hospital.

• A field postcard has been received by Mr and Mrs Harry Silsby, of 104 Ashburnham Road, Luton, stating that their son, Pte Bertram Silsby, of A Company, 7th Bedfordshire Regiment, was wounded in the shoulder on July 1st and is in hospital in Birmingham. Prior to enlistment Pte Silsby was employed at Messrs Shoolbred and Connell, Cheapside, for eight years, and has been at the Front for 12 months.

• Next door, at 106 Ashburnham Road, Mrs C. P. Stevens, whose husband is chief reporter on The Luton News and Saturday Telegraph, heard that her son, a sergeant in the 2nd Middlesex Regiment, had been admitted to hospital in Birmingham with a shrapnel wound in the forehead. He had been in the first line to advance on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he considered himself very fortunate indeed to be out of it so soon.

• Officers and men wounded in any of the campaigns since August 4th, 1914, will at last receive a badge of honour. An Army Order issued on Thursday will wear gold stripes on service dress.

• We understand that Mr Arthur Powdrill, the well-known Luton contractor, has secured from his personal friend Mr T. Fenwick Harrison, the original of the famous Kitchener letter calling for 300,000 men. Mr Harrison gave £6,000 to the funds of the British Red Cross for the letter and has agreed it should be used for some charitable purpose in Luton.

• The annual Children's Field Day of the Luton Industrial Co-operative Society is being held today in Stockwood Park, by kind permission of Mrs Crawley. The Co-op Central Stores presented an animated appearance when 2,200 children assembled to form into a procession and march via Regent Street, Victoria Street, Castle Street and London Road to the park. The procession, nearly a mile long, was headed by the Red Cross Band, with a Salvation Army Band in the middle and the band of the Central Mission bringing up the rear.