Luton's People 1914-1918
This page contains a list of soldiers/civilians from Luton and surroundings 1914-1918, and the ancestors of people who live in Luton today. It has been compiled from the 1918 Luton Absent Voters List, Rolls of Honour; and information researched and uploaded by project volunteers and members of the public.
If you find your ancestor here, and there is only basic information available, then feel free to use the comment box to add further information you may already know. The WWI Project Team, can then add this further information to the basic data we already hold.
The sources of this information can be found via the links below. Please feel free to download and use this information, but please please search for and upload your ancestor to the site if/when you find them:-
Absent Voters List
Luton Roll of honour
Before adding anybody to the site, it is always advisable to search for your ancestor first.
Pioneer Harry Manning, 206755, 'L' Special Company Royal Engineers, died in the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station in France on June 3rd, 1917, after being gassed on he battlefield. He was aged 20.
Pte Bertram Norman Birchmore, 47452, 23rd Northumberland Fusiliers, died as a prisoner of war of the Germans on May 4th, 1917. He had been captured with a back wound and in a delirious state on April 29th. He was aged 29.
Sapper Reuben Edward Parris, 524535, 105th Field Company Royal Engineers, was killed in action at Messines Ridge on June 6th, 1917.
Rifleman Arthur Robinson, 42129, 8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, was killed in action in Flanders on June 7th, 1917. He and his family had moved to Hammersmith, London, just before the war after living at 238 Ridgway Road, Luton.
Sgt John McPheat, 35986, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Messines on June 7th, 1917. He was aged 36.
Gunner Frederick George Charge, 102343, 212th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, was one of six men killed by a single German shell in Flanders on June 8th, 1917.
Pte Walter George Smith, 40356, 6th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 8th, 1917. He was aged 21.
Pte Claude Ernest Pratt, 14855, 13th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, died in a casualty clearing station on June 9th, 1917, from abdomen wounds sustained earlier in the day in the Messines fighting.
William Alfred Carter was born in Luton in 1878, 1 of 11 children born to Alfred & Harriet.
In 1911 he is living with his 61 year old parents at 52 Dumfries Street he is 33 years old & William & his father are both working as general labourers.
Archibald George Whitelock was born in Canning Town, London in 1886, 1 of 9 children born to William & Elizabeth.
Sgt Albert William (Bert) Mead, 22714, 142nd Company Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), died in Flanders on June 16th, 1917, from wounds sustained in action the previous day. The holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal and Military Medal, he had been mentioned in despatches on several occasions.
Gunner Herbert Butterfield, 101907, 217th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed in action in France on June 5th, 1917. He was aged 34.
For two-and-a-half anxious years, the family of Pte Reuben Joseph Wilmot, 10491, 2nd Battalion Border Regiment, knew nothing of his fate.
Pte Arthur Carter, 203264, 1/4th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, was reported missing following a raid on June 11th, 1917, according to a letter writer at the Front. Officially his death is recorded as having happened on June 12th.
L-Cpl Sidney Thomas Andrews, 33003, 8th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, was listed killed in action in France on May 3rd, 1917, after at first being reported missing.
Pte William Francis Daniel Everett, 202664, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, had been in France only nine weeks when he died on June 14th, 1917, from wounds sustained in action. He was aged 25.
Sidney Francis Waring was born in Luton in October 1884.
In July 1911 he married May Camp in Luton.
Sidney enlisted into the 5th Bedfordshire Regiment & was posted to Gallipoli.
Pte Henry (Harry) Kightley, 50167, 12th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 16th, 1917. He was aged 37. Press mention of his death appears to have been confined to a brief family announcement.
Pte Joseph Summerfield, 15366, 7th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 17th, 1917. He had enlisted at the outbreak of war and spent two years in France without leave.
Pte Frederick (Fred) Davis, 27629, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Arras in France on June 17th, 1917. He was aged 21.
Pte Frederick Goodman, 14840, 13th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, died on June 20th, 1917, shortly after admission to a casualty clearing station with battlefield wounds. He was aged 22.
Rifleman Leonard Roland Donne, 37031, King's Royal Rifles, died at Dormstadt in Germany as a prisoner of war on June 23rd, 1917. He was captured after being wounded in action on April 23rd.
Councillor and former Mayor of Luton Albert Arthur Oakley died on June 24th, 1917, following an accident in which he was thrown from his pony and trap in Ash Road, Luton, three days previously.
Pte Reginald Walter Pakes, 60184, 32nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action in Belgium on June 7th, 1917. He was aged 22.
Percy Edward Hurst was born in Luton in April 1895.
Christopher Shepheard was born on 22nd April 1892 in Luton, 1 of 10 children born to Sydney & Ellen.
Pte Horace Fensome, 203933, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 28th, 1917.
George Edwin Wade was born in Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire in 1894, 1 of 9 children born to Enoch & Ellen.
Pte John Anderson, 37585, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was killed in action in France on June 28th, 1917. It was nearly a further two months before widow Annie learned from a chaplain that her husband's body had been found on the battlefield by a member of another regiment.
Alfred James Stonnell was born in Hulme, Manchester in 1896, 1 of 12 children born to Daniel & Sarah.
Pte George Charles Sharp, 87044, 17th Company Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), was killed in action on June 15th, 1917.
John Oliver Ernest Trott was born in Stoke Newington, London in March 1899. He was 1 of 5 children born to Ernest & Grace.
Pte Joseph Bransome, 22530, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died in hospital on July 8th, 1917, from wounds sustained on the battlefield on July 1st. He was aged 33.
Petty Office Stoker Francis Harold Armitage, RN (K16328), was a Luton man lost when HMS Vanguard sank following an internal explosion while at anchor at Scapa Flow on July 9th, 1917. His body was never recovered for burial.
Able Seaman Charles Johnson, RN (J/9150), was a man with family living in Luton who was lost when HMS Vanguard sank following an internal explosion while at anchor at Scapa Flow on July 9th, 1917. His body was never recovered for burial.
Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class Herbert Stanley Pestell, RN (M7142), was one of three Luton men lost when HMS Vanguard sank following an internal explosion while at anchor at Scapa Flow on July 9th, 1917.
Pte Arthur Fitzjohn, 025045, 96th Company Army Ordnance Corps, died in the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, on July 11th, 1917, after several months of ill health. He was aged 31.
Veteran soldier Pte Augustus George Baker, 4176, 1/5th Bedfordshire Regiment, died at his home at 23 Collingdon Street, Luton, on July 12th, 1917, suffering from bronchitis, asthma and heart trouble. He was aged 44.
Pte Archibald (Archie) Smith, 33872, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, is recorded as having died of wounds in France on July 12th, 1917, at the age of 26.
Pte Ernest James Elsdon, 18971, 8th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, was reported missing, later killed in action, at Hulluck, near Loos, on July 12th, 1917. He was aged 20 and single.