Rifleman Arthur Hawes, 41477, 11/13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, was killed in action on August 16th, 1917. Three months later he was still listed merely as missing, leading to an appeal by his widowed mother for information.

Sapper Frederick Charles Woodhouse, 99510, 220th Army Troops Company Royal Engineers, died in the No. 17 General Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt, on November 5th, 1917, from malaria.

The husband of Maggie, of 82 Langley Road [now Latimer Road], Luton, he left eight children. He had joined the Army in June 1915 and served in the Mediterranean with a Fortress Company of the Royal Engineers until he contracted the deadly malaria.

Born in Norfolk in 1882, he had married Maggie Pieraccini in Luton in 1904.

Pte Percy Herbert Moulden, 200847, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on November 3rd, 1917, during the climax to the Third Battle of Gaza.

Hitchin-born Percy Moulden was living at 74 Ivy Road, Luton, when he enlisted in the Beds Regiment in 1915. He had served two years in Egypt.

A letter from one of his comrades gave the news of Percy's death to his widow Eva, then living at 56 Dudley Street, Luton. Percy had married Eva Mary Ann Jackson in Luton in 1909.

Pte Albert Edward Hill, 200054, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in Palestine on November 3rd, 1917, from wounds sustained in the battle for Gaza.

In his last letter to his invalid sister Minnie at 38 Cowper Street, Luton, Albert wrote: "We lost our platoon officer and three men on Monday morning. They were taken prisoners, so we had to go out last night to find 'Johnny Turk'. We waited on them and they ran right into my mate and I. We had a Lewis gun with us and gave them 'pepper.' I can tell you.

Pte Frederick William Dickens, 200582, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on November 2nd, 1917, during the 3rd Battle of Gaza. He was aged 34.

An in memoriam notice in The Luton News of November 29th, 1917, from his "sorrowing wife and family at Rugby" was the sole public acknowledgement of his death.

Pte Herbert Bysouth, 201034, 1/5th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the 3rd Battle of Gaza on November 2nd, 1917. He was aged 26.

He had enlisted in the Beds Regiment in November 1915 and served in Egypt. Prior to joining up he was an employee of the Luton Co-operative Society.

Pte Sidney George Ward, 33678, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on November 2nd, 1917, from wounds sustained near the front line in Belgium the previous day. He was aged 28.

In a letter to parents Herbert John and Louisa Ward, of 94 Dallow Road, Luton, CSM A. Cook wrote: "Your son was one of a working party which went to dig a trench not far from the front line, and whilst digging it he was hit by a bullet which pierced his side. He was immediately taken to the field ambulance, but unfortunately his wound proved fatal and he died the following morning."

Pte Harry Crawley, 205822, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Passchendaele on October 30th, 1917. He was aged 24.

Born in Luton in 1893, he was the son of Harry and Amy Gertrude Crawley, of 12 Rothesay Road, Luton. Before joining up he had been employed as a clerk in the Borough Surveyor's office of Luton Corporation for about four years. He had joined the Beds at the outbreak of war and was stationed at Maresfield and in Ireland for training. He went to the Front in April 1917.

Pte Frederick Titmuss, 67893, 7th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action in Belgium on October 30th, 1917. He was the second son of George and Sarah Kate Titmuss, of 40 Milton Road, Luton, to have lost his life on the battlefield.

A letter to the parents from one of Frederick's chums said he had died a hero and it was the writer's regret that he was not with him at the end as they had been the closest of chums during the short time Frederick was out there.

Following his death on the evening of Saturday, October 27th, 1917, Dunstable, Luton and South Beds mourned the passing of prominent antiquarian, botanist, author and illustrator Worthington George Smith. He was aged 82 and had lived in Dunstable forjust over 30 years..

Sgt Stanley Edward George Day, 235790, 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action in Belgium on October 15th, 1917.

A former Bedfordshire Territorial (No. 3098), the 23-year-old was mobilised with the Northumberlands at the outbreak of war. He did not go to the Front until September 17th, 1917, and survived only for a month, killed "in the performance of his duty," as Capt James McIntyre wrote to widow Emily at 27 Chase Street, Luton.

Pte Albert Edward Swann, 34011, 1/7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was killed in action near Ypres on October 4th, 1917. He was aged 28 and had been in the Army just over eight months.

In a letter to his widow, Capt E. J. Nicholls said Pte Swann went over in an attack north-east of Ypres. He was reported missing after the engagement, and his body was subsequently found and buried.

L-Cpl Henry Morgan, 41476, 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, was killed in action on August 16th, 1917, although for a long period afterwards he was reported only as missing.

He had enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment (No. 3929) in September 1914 and was drafted to Gallipoli in the Dardanelles campaign the following year. He was invalided home with dysentery and septic poisoning, before being transferred to the Irish Rifles in January 1917 and sent to France.

Capt William Henry Coate, Munster Fusiliers*, was killed in action at Kakaraska on October 25th, 1917. He was the eldest son of the Rev Harry Coate, Vicar of St Matthew's Church, Luton, since 1894.

An architect by profession, he was born in London in 1889. In his younger days he had played a prominent role in the Church Lads' Brigade at his father's church and became a skilful bugler. as a cadet he had been chosen to play the calls at a review of troops.

Gunner Thomas Williamson, 39307, 180th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed in action on September 21st, 1917. He had first arrived in France on August 20th, 1914.

Capt S. W. Harvey, in a letter to parents Lewin and Ellen Williamson, of 9 Alfred Street, Luton, said: "Our position was so far forward that we could shoot into Boche batteries that no one else could reach. Knowing this, the Boche shelled us heavily. It was while we were moving into another position that you son was killed."