Sapper Thomas Victor Brown, 524289, 222nd Field Company, Royal Artillery, was killed in action on April 14th, 1918. He was the second son of William Henry Brown, of 9 Brook Street, Luton, to lose his life on the battlefield - Pte William Henry Brown MM (Seaforth Highlanders) was killed in action in July 1917.

Sapper Brown was in trenches that were being badly shelled, and shortly before his own death he had helped a corporal who was badly wounded to get away from the area.

L-Cpl Harold James Hill, 86028, 29th Machine Gun Corps, died on April 10th, 1918, in the 33rd Casualty Clearing Station in France from wounds sustained on the battlefield. He had served in France for around nine months and last wrote home from hospital on the day before his death.

Pte George William Bone MM, 90015, 137th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on April 9th, 1918, along with fellow stretcher-bearer and Lutonian Pte Thomas Ralph Corney. They were carrying a wounded officer from the trenches when all three were killed by a shell. Pte Bone had earned the Military Medal in September 1917 after being wounded while carrying an injured man a distance of 350 yards under shell fire.

Pte Thomas Ralph Corney, 71953, 137th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, was killed in action in France on April 9th, 1918. He was on stretcher-bearer duty with fellow Lutonian Pte George William Bone MM when a shell claimed them both and the wounded officer they were carrying.

Cpl Frederick Chance, 22447, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds at the 48th Field Ambulance station in France on April 8th, 1918. He left a widow and two children in Luton.

He had been in France for two years, the last seven months after a spell of home leave.

Born in Luton in March 1890, he had married Alice Elizabeth Roberts in 1910. The couple lived at 36 New Street, Luton, and had two sons - Ronald and Arthur.

Before enlistment Frederick was employed as a carter by coal merchant Richard Dudley, of Ashton Road, Luton.

Pte Frank West, 49094, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in the trenches in France by a shell on April 6th, 1918. He was aged 19, single and the son of George and Annie West, of 111 Guildford Street, Luton.

It was comrade Pte J. W. Harrison (Beds Regiment) who broke the news to the parents in an emotional letter from the Front. He wrote: "He was a lad who was esteemed by us all, and his jovial manner and personality made him popular with all who came into contact with him, from the NCOs to his comrades in the line.

L-Cpl John Robert ('Jack') Eames, 32217, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 7th, 1918. He was the second son of William and Harriet Eames, of 107 Cambridge Street, Luton, to die on the battlefield - Gus Eames was killed in February 1916.

As was often the case, the parents were informed that their son, aged 33, had died instantly and painlessly. Widow Gertrude (nee Warren), whom Jack had married at St Paul's Church, Luton, on January 9th, 1909, was informed separately of his death. The couple had two children.

Pte William Thomas Clark, 20882, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action near Gentelles on the Somme in France on April 5th, 1918.

He had joined the Army on June 7th, 1915, and went out to France for the first time in the following February. He was wounded in April 1917 but recovered in England and returned to the Front. Prior to enlistment he was employed as a plait dyer by E. W. Hart & Co, Windmill Road.

L-Cpl Ernest David Rattle, 40902, 1st Herts Regiment, was killed in action in France on March 23rd, 1918. His widow, in ill health and with five small children under the age of seven to care for in Luton, had heard nothing from him since March 18th.

Ernest had been promised home leave, and widow Alice at 12 Naseby Road, Luton, was daily expecting a telegram to say he was on his way. But it was not until August 1919 that the War Office concluded that he had been killed in action or died of wounds on March 23rd, 1918.

Pte William James Hinds, 23459, 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 3rd, 1918.

William was a son of George and Elizabeth Sarah Hinds, of Rose View, Cumberland Road [now Compton Avenue], Leagrave. He had been wounded in May 1917.

In the 1911 Census William was described as a 19-year-old nurseryman's assistant.

Pte Joseph Walter Shackleton, 307487, 2/6th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), was reported missing, later presumed killed, in one of the first engagement of the German spring offensive begun on March 21st, 1918.

The only son of Joseph Walter and Cecilia Shackleton, of 189 High Town Road, Luton, he had joined the Army a little over two years earlier and had served in France for 13 months. At the time of enlistment he was engaged on building a breakwater at Dover. His death came at the time he was expecting leave to return home.

Pte George William Draper, 82855, 3rd Battalion Machine Gun Corps, was killed in action in France on March 28th, 1918. He was aged 35 and married with one child.

He had joined the Bedfordshire Regiment (8373) on October 27th, 1916, and was trained at Halton. He first got to France on March 1st, 1917, and after a period of service there was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, undergoing further training at Mansfield.

Before joining up, George was employed as a straw plait buncher at the bleaching and dyeing works of Rogers & Ashby in Dunstable Road.

Pte Percy Young, 33150, 9th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was reported missing, presumed killed, on May 3rd, 1917. It was nearly a year later that parents William and Louisa Young, of Breachwood Green, received confirmation of his death on that date.

Percy was the youngest of the couple's four serving sons. He initially joined the Bedfordshire Regiment (5513) in October 1915 and was trained at Halton Park. He went to France and was transferred to the 8th Leicesters in January 1917.

Pte Thomas Carruthers, 30635, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died of wounds in France on March 29th, 1918. It was not until the following December that news reached his widowed mother Julia that her son had died of wounds two days after being captured as a prisoner of war.

His Red Cross report said his death followed the shattering of his left upper arm. He was buried in the cemetery at Damery in France.

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.