Thomas Collier was born in Houghton Regis in 1890 and was one of eight children born to Edwin and Elizabeth Collier.  In 1914 he married Margaret Annie Reed in Luton and they had one son, Ralph.

He joined the army in December 1916 as a private in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and, after training, was drafted to Salonika, serving at both Vardar and Monastir principally attending wounded and sick horses.

Ernest Arthur Cadwell was born in Luton in October 1868, the son of Mary Ann & Thomas, a blacksmith from Ireland.

In the 1881 census Ernest is 13 years old & is living with his family at 36 Brunswick Street, Luton. He is working as a blacksmith's boy alongside his father & brothers Sidney, aged 22 & Albert aged 14. His sister Agnes 19, is a dressmaker.