Toward the begin of August 1914, with the German armed force

WW2 Documentary Toward the begin of August 1914, with the German armed force walking into Belgium, the fourth Battalion Middlesex Regiment (part of the British Expeditionary Force) were prepared to Bettignes, a residential community on the edges of Mons in Belgium. On the 21st August 1914, a two man cycle watch was sent to an adjacent town called Obourg with a mission to discover the adversary, and report on their positions. It is trusted that the watch experienced a German rangers watch, and that while one of them got away from, a 16 year old previous golf caddy, Private John Parr, stayed behind to hold off the adversary and was thusly murdered, along these lines turning into the principal British loss of the First World War.

Early Life

John Parr was conceived in North Finchley, London in 1898, to Edward and Alice Parr. His definite date of birth is unverifiable, however a birth posting for a 'Henry John Parr' is appeared in London's introduction to the world register for the months April, May and June 1898, and he was dedicated 'John Henry Parr' on September fourth 1898. The Census in 1911 has John Parr recorded keeping in mind his age is somewhat misty on the first archive, it seems, by all accounts, to be recorded as 13. What this archive likewise uncovers is that John was one of 7 kids. Tragically, this archive additionally uncovers that his folks had likewise lost 5 kids by 1911.

Subsequent to spending the greater part of his initial years in Crouch End, John Parr turned into a golf caddy at the North Middlesex Golf Course in Friern Barnet, London. The compensation was not especially great - around 9d for 18 holes, with no tipping and no work on Sundays.

Military Career

Parr joined the consistent armed force on the seventh August 1912 (giving his age as 18 years and 1 month on his authentication printed material, rather than his plausible genuine age around then of 14). On twentieth September 1912, John Parr, now Private Parr, was posted from the fifth Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment (a unique store regiment he served in before enrolling in the consistent armed force) to the fourth Middlesex Battalion. When he went along with, he was 5 foot 3 inches tall and just weighed 130lbs (59kgs).

Parr seems to have sunk into the British Army genuinely well with a report on his character dated 25th October 2013 expressing that he was "spotless, calm and clever" and "enthusiastic about his work". Be that as it may, he was limited to garisson huts for three days, having been discovered 'leaving a locker in a grimy condition' on the first January, and tailed this up by "making a dishonorable answer to a NCO" on the 29th April, an offense for which he got 7 days control in the sleeping shelter. On June 30th 1914, as indicated by Captain Kenneth Roy, Private Parr "had not enhanced as much as I had trusted" and was "slanted to be resistant". Private Parr's last disciplinary offense happened on sixth July 1914, when he was gotten by a NCO, Sergeant Jackson, betting in a sleeping quarters room. Under 2 months after his four day 'limited to sleeping shelter's discipline for this offense, Private Parr was dead.

The First Casualty?

The contingent journals of Parr's regiment demonstrate that the principal day of their assembly was the fifth August 1915 when they were put on 24 hours 'notification to move'. Throughout the following few days, the legion was fortified with tranches of reservists, 36 transport steeds and a restorative officer. Throughout the following week or somewhere in the vicinity, there was a great deal of action in the force, with preparing, course walks, parades and penetrate all being completed. At 1815hrs on the tenth August, a request "to discover 1 NCO (non-Commissioned Officer) and 10 men as a feature of a Brigade cyclist company" was given. The next morning, a Church administration was trailed by a photo demonstrating the regiment at 'war quality'. After two days, the regiment ventured out to Devonport via train where they left on the SS Montbasa for Boulogne. On entry in France, they rested at a camp five kilometers North West of Boulogne, before at last achieving their definitive destination of Monceau, on the edges of Mons in Belgium, on the twentieth August 1914.

The brigade journals don't record any huge activity close by the 21st August. The passage for that date essentially states:

"Reveille 4am. Legion collected 5.30am and walked to Bettignies, around 15 miles. 5 setbacks 4 admitted to healing center."

At 1pm, the legion touched base at Bettignies and went into billets. Two units from D Company framed stations, and trenches were burrowed by C Company. As a resulting letter to Parr's mom was from the Officer Commanding D Company, it appears to be likely that Parr was an individual from D Company and may well have been one of the 10 men who shaped the Brigade cyclist detachment.

The principal record that the fourth Middlesex have of their troops being in battle is on the 23rd August, when "Fight initiated at 1015am". There is no record of any setbacks, activity, or battle on the 21st August 1914 in the force's war journals.

On October 26th 1914, John Parr's mom, Alice, went to the War Office having heard nothing from her child since he sent on dynamic administration. In an ensuing letter to his Regiment, she frantically approaches them for some data as she had evidently gotten notification from one of Parr's companions (who was at this point a POW in Berlin) that "my child was shot down at Mons". Parr's sister, likewise called Alice, tailed this up with a letter to the Record Office dated eleventh November 1914, asking for any accessible data. There is no answer in the records to this letter.

On January 21st 1915, Mrs Parr got a letter from a Captain Hanley, the Officer Commanding D Company of the Middlesex Regiment. In this letter, Captain Hanley obviously told Mrs Parr that he had not seen her child John since August 23rd 1914, and that John had been absent since that date. She therefore kept in touch with the Officer in Charge of Infantry Records at Hounslow with this data. In January 1915, the Infantry Head Office found that, as per their records, John Parr was all the while presenting with the Battalion in January 1915 and that "no loss whatever has been accounted for concerning him". The Infantry Head Office kept in touch with the War Office, requesting their help, yet there is no answer in Parr's administration record to this letter.

Parr was noted as lost in a Casualty Form dated March 1915. The date of a resulting section on the same structure is vague yet it seems to allude to Parr being 'Dead for Certain' on 23rd August 1914. An (undated) Military History Sheet which gives points of interest of his decoration privilege gives his dates of abroad administration as twelfth August 1914 to 21st Aug 1914 - only 9 days - taking after 2 years and 6 days of administration at home.

The date of his demise is additionally noted in his military records on an unsigned and undated scrap of paper, expressing that he was 'Slaughtered in real life, Mons' on 21st Aug 1914. Just before the date of the 21st be that as it may, there are two crossed out passages - one is the number '26', the following is the number '5'.