Pte Leonard Anderson, 33586, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in the Battle of Arras in France on April 23rd, 1917. He was aged 28.

He was the eldest son of Frederick and Annie Anderson, of Ferndale, 57 Russell Rise, Luton. Lieut T. H. Warren, of a Canadian Infantry Battalion, wrote to Mrs Anderson to say the body of her son was buried reverently on the field of battle by a party from his battalion.

Pte Henry Steer, 31483, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 23rd, 1917. He left a widow, Clara May, and two children, Henry William and Marjorie Louise, living at 144 Baker Street, Luton.

Although no official news had initially been received, one of his officers wrote to Clara to say her husband had been killed in action on April 23rd. He did not suffer any pain as his death was instantaneous.

Acting Cpl David Dilley, 33620, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 23rd, 1917. He had celebrated his 23rd birthday just four days previously.

A pal wounded by the same shell that killed David wrote to parents William and Mary Ann Dilley at 8 Milton Road, Luton: "Your son was killed in the same shell hole I was in. I was wounded and managed to crawl from the hole. He did not suffer at all, but died quickly." The letter was written from a base hospital.

Cpl Ralph Marshall, 31508, 6th Brigade Machine Gun Corps, died in the 16th General Hospital in France on April 22nd, 1917, from wounds received in action two weeks earlier. He was aged 22.

His fiancee, Lily Wildman, had been granted a permit to travel from Luton to France to be with him in his final hours. The couple had planned to marry when Ralph was next on leave, but that never happened. Lily was living with Ralph's parents, John and Elizabeth, at 44 Cambridge Street, Luton.

Pte Horace Philip Hill Worboys, 60884, 24th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, died in the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in France on April 20th, 1917, from wounds received on the battlefield. The report of his death in The Luton News referred to him as Jack Worboys.

Pte Herbert Corney, 33791, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died at the 33rd Casualty Clearing Station in France on April 20th, 1917, from extensive shrapnel wounds sustained in action. He was aged 36 and left a widow, Alice, and three children - Thomas, Dorothy and Hilda.

He enlisted in May 1916, having been a member of the Volunteer Corps since its formation, and underwent his training at Halton Camp. He was drafted out to France on New Year's Day, 1917, and had since been regularly in and out of trenches.

Gunner William George Cheshire, 131349, 70th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action in France on April 19th, 1917. He was aged 24 and had been a shoe repairer in Dallow Road, Luton, before joining up in April 1916.

In a letter to parents Walter and Lizzie Cheshire at 162 Dallow Road, Major S. Graham wrote: "Your son, Gnr Cheshire, was killed in action yesterday afternoon. He and a comrade were killed instantaneously by a shell and are buried together near the spot where they fell."

Pte Arthur Dillingham, 18421, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Arras in France on April 19th, 1917. His death was reported to be instantaneous.

He was 30 years of age and had enlisted in the Bedfords at the outbreak of war. He had served in France for two years and three months, during which period he was gassed, mined and spent a spell in hospital suffering from shell shock.

Pte William Stanford, 33856, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action around Arras in France on April 18th, 1917. Born in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, he was appointed a postman there in December 1908 before later transferring to Luton around 1912.

He had married Mary Ann Scrivener, from Marsh Road, Leagrave, at Biscot Church on Monday, May 31st, 1909, before the couple initially set up home in Kings Lynn.

William Stanford had enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment in June 1916 and, after training at Tring, went to France on New Year's Day 1917.

Pte Stanley Glenister, 90031, Royal Army Medical Corps, was lost at sea when the troopship SS Arcadian was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea on April 15th, 1917. A total of 279 lives were lost, including another Lutonian, Pte Cyril Charles Scoats, R.A.M.C., as the converted cruise liner with 1,335 soldiers and crew on board sank within six minutes on a journey from Thessaloniki to Alexandria in Egypt.

Pte Cyril Charles Scoats, 90044, Royal Army Medical Corps, was lost at sea when the troopship SS Arcadian was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea on April 15th, 1917. A total of 279 lives were lost, including another Lutonian, Pte Stanley Glenister R.A.M.C., as the converted cruise liner with 1,335 soldiers and crew on board sank within six minutes on a journey from Thessaloniki to Alexandria in Egypt.

Pte Arthur Joseph Wright, 33833, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Loos in France on April 15th, 1917. He left a widow, Florence Caroline, and a three-year-old son, Sidney, residing at 6 Clarendon Road, Luton.

Pte Wright was killed instantly by a shell which burst through the parapet of his trench two days after his 31st birthday. His last letter home was written on his birthday, but Florence had received no early news as her husband's chums were killed with him.

Pte George Hull, 15287, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France some time between April 9th and 12th, 1917. He was 28 and single from Upper Sundon, and had worked at the Sundon Cement and Lime Works before enlisting.

He was first reported to be missing on April 9th but it was not until early June that his mother Anne had confirmation that George had been killed in action.

Pte Charles William Soper, 32160, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment was killed in action in France on April 11th, 1917. He was aged 23.

In a letter to parents Charles and Jane Soper at 81 Boyle Street, Luton, Second Lieut Dudley W. Wright wrote that their son was killed during the last great advance on April 11th. Charles was shot through the head and his death must have been instantaneous.

Pte Albert Edward Nicholson, 233543 (8090), 1/2nd Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action in Flanders on April 12th, 1917. He was aged 28.

A Roll of Honour advert in The Luton News appears to the only local mention of Pte Nicholson's death. That was placed by his widow, Florence (nee Phillips), whom Albert had married in Luton in June 1915, and who was living at the time at 68 Tavistock Street, Luton. Florence later returned to live with her widowed mother, Hannah, at 50 Ivy Road, Luton, and never remarried.