Pte William Souster, 25633, 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment (ex-3455 Middlesex Regiment), died on May 2nd, 1917, from wounds sustained near Arras earlier the same day. He was aged 33.

William married Emily Hatton, from Dorking, Surrey, at St Cuthbert's Church, Kensington, on August 6th, 1908. The couple lived at 446 Hitchin Road, Luton, and they had five children.

Before enlistment, William was employed as a straw hat factory foreman by Gilbert Brown & Co, 28 Victoria Street, Luton.

Sapper Harry Jeakings, 524257, 484th Field Company Royal Engineers, died on May 1st, 1917, from shrapnel wounds sustained in action in Egypt. He had enlisted in the E.A.R.E. in September 1915 and, after training at Maidenhead, he proceeded to Egypt at Easter 1916.

The son of fruiterers George and Louisa Jeakings, of 94 High Town Road, he was employed at the Davis, Clements & Co hat factory in Frederic Street.

Pte Frederick George Manning, 22956, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was posted missing, presumed killed, on or after April 29th, 1917, during the Battle of Arras. The news reached his widow, Rosetta, at her home at 105 Boyle Street, Luton, a month later.

Frederick Manning enlisted on November 1st, 1915, and, after training at Ampthill, was drafted to France in the following July. He was aged 25 and prior to enlisting was employed by coal and coke merchant C. Franklin, of Manchester Street, Luton.

Pte Frederick William Pestell, 30915, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on April 28th, 1917. He was aged 39.

He was called up in July 1916 and, after a spell of training at Landguard on the East Coast, returned home before being drafted out to France in October. His widow, Elizabeth, received official notification of his death two weeks later at her home at 98 Cobden Street, Luton.

Pte Fred Perry, 33070, Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras on April 13th, 1917. He left a widow, Alice Maud and six children, two of them adopted as their mother had died and their father was serving in France.

Fred Perry had been discharged from the Army on account of varicose veins after joining up at the outbreak of war. However, in November 1915 he rejoined and spent time training in Luton, Bedford, Halton Camp, Yorkshire and Folkestone. He went to France in December 1916.

Pte Frederick George Gurney, 32223, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Arras on April 28th, 1917. He was aged 22.

His father, Tom Gurney, of 48 Hartley Road, Luton, was given the sad news in a letter from Second Lieut G. Peel, of the Beds Regiment. He said Pte Gurney, the No 1 of his Lewis Gun Team, had suffered no pain as he was killed instantaneously by a shell.

L-Cpl George Kidman, 12387, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on April 23rd, 1917, during the Battle of Arras. He was aged 22.

In a letter to widowed mother Mrs Amelia Kidman, living at 16 Ashton Road, Luton, company commanding officer Lieut D. M. Saunders said L-Cpl Kidman and two friends were killed by a shell while sitting in a trench on April 23rd. He died instantly and suffered no pain.

Pte William Burkitt, 90012, 136th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed on April 28th, 1917, by a shell which made a direct hit on the cellar in which he and four comrades were sheltering during the Battle of Arras. Three of the friends were killed outright.

Second Lieut Leslie Wyndham Mansell, Derbyshire Yeomanry attached to the Durham Light Infantry, was killed in action in France on April 22nd, 1917.

Although his family lived in Bromley, Kent, Leslie had lived in Luton for some time and his father, Mr Harry Milton Mansell, was involved in the cardboard box firm of C. A. Coutts, of the Victor Works, 106 Old Bedford Road, Luton. Leslie was about to enter the firm at London when war broke out.

Pte Walter George Catlin, 76700, 104th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, died of wounds in action on April 28th, 1917, during the Battle of Arras. He was a stretcher-bearer aged 19.

A Forces Chaplain wrote to bereaved parents Walter Henry and Maria Catlin, of 65 Clarendon Road, Luton, to tell them that their son was stretcher-bearing when a shell struck in the early morning, killing Walter and wounding four comrades. His body was taken to Haute-Avesnes and buried the same evening during a service attended by his commanding officer and other officers and men.

Sgt William Day, 200287, 1/5th Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Gaza in Egypt on April 27th, 1917. He was aged about 31 and left a widow, Clara, and two children living at 196 High Town Road, Luton.

William, an old Territorial, was called up at the outbreak of war and took part in the Gallipoli campaign, including the landing at Suvla Bay. Since seeing service in Egypt he had suffered from dysentery and septic poisoning.

Pte Harold Alfred Lake, 31484, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action during the Battle of Arras on or soon after April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 27 and had been married a little over a year.

Lieut G. C. Sharpe, of Pte Lake's company, wrote to Mrs Lake at 100 Ash Road, Luton, to inform her that her husband had gone missing in action on April 23rd but could gather no further information. It was possible he had been taken as a prisoner of war.

Pte Albert Harris, 13240, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the Battle of Arras on April 25th, 1917. He was aged 32.

The news was broken to his twice-married mother Esther Rolt at her home in Summer Street, Slip End by Second Lieut G. Peel, of the Beds Regiment. Albert joined the Bedfords at the outbreak of war and had one period of home leave after spending about a year in the trenches.

Pte Albert Jesse William Day, 32114, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action on or soon after April 23rd, 1917, at the Battle of Arras. Two months later his widowed mother Emily at 25 Brache Street, Luton, was still awaiting definite news of the fate of her son, who had been reported missing since April 23rd.

Pte George Alfred Folks, 32117, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the Battle of Arras on April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 22.

A letter to parents George Edward Oliver Folks and Josephine Folks, of 20 Salisbury Road, Luton, from Sgt S. C. Lawrence, George's platoon sergeant, said their only son had been killed in action on April 23rd and he was sorry to lose such a good soldier.

Pte Folks had joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in November 1915 and went to France a year later.