The photograph will be on display for the remainder of the week at the Gallery Space, Luton Campus Centre

The photograph was donated to the University by the soldier’s son, Dr Frank Beavington of Ryarsh, Kent, who studied at the Luton Commercial School in the 1940s, a predecessor of the University of Bedfordshire.

The picture shows 20-year-old Edward Norman Beavington, known as Jack, who fought in the First World War in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry Regiment of the British Army.

Jack and his brother Dick spun a coin to decide which one should enlist in August 1914, when the last load of wheat sheaves was brought to the family farm.

After disembarkation in France in June 1915, Jack saw action on the Somme and at Cambrai and was awarded the three standard Great War medals – the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Returning to the country once the war had finished in 1918, Jack continued the family tradition of farming – going on to run two farms in Thurleigh, North Bedfordshire, before his premature death in 1937.

Dr Beavington, who also runs his own farm, said: “I wasn’t born when my father served in the First World War, but I’m well aware of the joy and relief shared by my brothers and sisters on his safe return home.

“I have fond memories of my time in Luton and have followed the School’s progress right through to its current form as the University of Bedfordshire, so donating the photograph to the institution seemed like the natural choice.”

Dr Beavington’s partnership with Bedfordshire has also seen him fund the E J Cule Annual Prize for Excellence, in memory of his time as a pupil of Edward James Cule.

Presented by Dr Beavington and his wife at the University’s graduation ceremonies last month, Nicole Pidgeon was the inaugural winner of the award, having completed a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management, while at the same time being a mother to four children aged between one and six.