L-Cpl Tom Brown, 27938, 7th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 13th, 1916. He left a widow and a young son, who received official notification of his death two months later after he had initially been reported missing.
Tom Brown had attested under the Derby scheme and joined the Royal Fusiliers in April 1916. After three months training he went to France, where he was given his first stripe for good conduct and merit.
Pte Thomas Fleckney, 31848, 6th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, died on December 6th, 1916, from wounds sustained on the Somme. He was aged 32 and the father of five children.
A letter from Sister Knight, of the Casualty Clearing Station where he was being treated, said Pte Fleckney had been admitted into hospital early in the morning with severe wounds to both legs and the necessity to amputate the right leg. He died at midday on December 6th.
Pte John William Martin, G/14844, machine gun section, 13th Battalion Royal Sussex regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 21st, 1916. He was aged 18.
As a member of the Beds Territorial Force he was mobilised at the outbreak of war and subsequently transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment. He had been at the Front since August 1916. Before the war he was worked for painter and house decorator Frederick Price, of Albion Road, Luton.
Parents Francis Joseph and Alice Susannah Martin lived at 25 Queen Street, Luton, at the time of their son's death.
Cpl Herbert Henry Strange, 18463, 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on October 18th, 1916. He was aged 31.
Born in Calne, Wiltshire, in 1885, he married Elizabeth Jarvis, from Markyate who was then living in Russell Street, Luton, in Luton in 1909. Living at 7 Dunstable Place, they had three children - Phyliss, born 1909, Herbert in 1911 and Arthur, born in 1914, just two months before his father enlisted in January 1915.
Pte Robert Charles Morsley, 3804, C Company, 1st Battalion Honourable Artillery Company, was killed in action on the Ancre, Somme, on November 14th[1], 1916. He was just short of his 18th birthday.
Robert was the second son of iron foundry foreman Charles and Martha Morsley, of 21 Park Street West [now Strathmore Avenue], Luton. He was educated at Luton Modern School, where he was a school games captain.
Sapper Clarence Sidney Ellerd How, 146239, 82nd Field Company Royal Engineers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 18th, 1916. He was aged 24 and his home was at 37 Stockwood Crescent, Luton.
The youngest son of the late Mr William Albert How, he went to France in August 1915 and was slightly wounded on October 26th but continued to fight in the trenches.
Pte George Morgan, 13181, 8th Lincolnshire Regiment, died on November 25th, 1916, from wounds sustained on the Somme.
There seems to have been no report or picture in the Luton press at the time, but the following Roll of Honour death notice appeared in the Luton News of November 30th, 1916: "MORGAN - November 25, died of wounds, 2nd General Hospital, Le Havre, Pte George Morgan, aged 26, of 2 Liverpool Road, Luton."
Pte Sidney John Vass, 23489, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in the No. 13 Stationary Hospital in France on November 24th, 1916, 11 days after he was wounded in action on the Somme.
Pte John Radford, his lifelong pal from Luton with whom he enlisted and went to France, had also died in hospital from November 13th wounds sustained on the Somme. He passed away on November 14th, 1916.
Pte Vass, son of Alfred John and Alice Vass, of 121 Castle Street, Luton, was employed as a painter by Mr A. Perry, of Victoria Street, Luton.
Pte Joseph Ward, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died on November 21st, 1916, from wounds sustained in action on the Somme four days earlier. He was aged 24.
Being an orphan, he had lived with his married sister, Mrs Alice Gore, for upwards of ten years prior to joining the Ampthill Training Camp a year earlier.
Official notification reached Mrs Gore at her home at 86 Park Road West, Luton, that her brother had sustained gunshot wounds in the right thigh and a fracture of the femur, and was seriously ill in Dannes-Camiers General Hospital in France.
Sapper Bert Tomlinson, 1749, East Anglian Royal Engineers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 14th, 1916. He was aged 32 and had enlisted in January 1915.
Sapper Tomlinson, a painter and house decorator employed by Mr Smith, of West Hill Road, was secretary of the Luton branch of the House and Shop Decorators' Union.
Pte John Radford, 23496, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in the No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station in France on November 14th, 1916, the day after he was wounded in action on the Somme.
Pte Sidney John Vass, his lifelong pal from Luton with whom he enlisted and went to France, was also to died in hospital from November 13th wounds sustained on the Somme. He passed away on November 24th, 1916.
Second Lieut Charles Frederick Burley, 4th Battalion (attached 10th) Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was killed in action on the Somme on November 18th, 1916. The younger son of leading Luton hat manufacturer Richard Burley, he would not have been 19 years old until December 1st - and still under military age for service abroad.
Pte Sidney Charles Anthony, 60778, 24th Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on the Somme on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 33.
Two comrades wrote to his widow, Marion, at 83 Bury Park Road, Luton, to say they had seen Sidney go into action in the first wave of a charge but had not seen him since.
One comrade, L-Cpl C. Lennon, said the battalion had gone into action on the morning of the 13th and had a great victory,but lost quite a number of brave lads.
Sub-Lieut Eric William Squires, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, was killed in action in the battle of Ancre on the Somme on November 13th, 1916. He was aged 24.
The son of hat manufacturer James Squires and his wife Emily, of The Mount, Hart Hill, Luton, Eric joined the public schools battalion of the Naval Reserve on November 11th, 1914. The unit was the only one allowed to use both naval and military uniform. He was in training at the Crystal Palace and obtained his commission in July 1915.
Pte Sidney Charles Worboys, 6063, 1/8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, was killed in action on October 28th, 1916. He was aged 27.
The son of Albert and Emma Worboys, of 176 High Road Road, Luton, he had served at the Front since July 1916. Second Lieut Burns said in a letter to his parents that Sidney was killed instantly by a trench mortar and was buried with military honours in a little cemetery behind the lines.