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

History Channel 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 a close-by town called Obourg with a mission to discover the foe, 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 foe and was thusly slaughtered, along these lines turning into the primary 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 precise date of birth is indeterminate, yet 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 marginally vague on the first archive, it gives off an impression of being recorded as 13. What this archive likewise uncovers is that John was one of 7 kids. Tragically, this archive likewise uncovers that his folks had additionally lost 5 youngsters by 1911.

In the wake of spending a large portion 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 confirmation printed material, instead of his likely 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 general 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 insightful" and "enthused about his work". In any case, he was bound to encampment for three days, having been discovered 'leaving a locker in a messy condition' on the first January, and tailed this up by "making a disgraceful answer to a NCO" on the 29th April, an offense for which he got 7 days control in the military quarters. 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 rebellious". Private Parr's last disciplinary offense happened on sixth July 1914, when he was gotten by a NCO, Sergeant Jackson, betting in a sleeping enclosure room. Under 2 months after his four day 'restricted to dormitory'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 preparation was the fifth August 1915 when they were set on 24 hours 'notification to move'. Throughout the following few days, the contingent was strengthened with tranches of reservists, 36 transport steeds and a therapeutic officer. Throughout the following week or somewhere in the vicinity, there was a ton of action in the contingent, with preparing, course walks, parades and penetrate all being done. At 1815hrs on the tenth August, a request "to discover 1 NCO (non-Commissioned Officer) and 10 men as a component of a Brigade cyclist detachment" was given. The next morning, a Church administration was trailed by a photo demonstrating the contingent at 'war quality'. After two days, the unit set out to Devonport via train where they set out 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 unit journals don't record any noteworthy activity nearby the 21st August. The section for that date basically states:

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

At 1pm, the unit touched base at Bettignies and went into billets. Two detachments from D Company shaped stations, and trenches were burrowed by C Company. As a consequent 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 framed the Brigade cyclist unit.

The primary 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 losses, activity, or battle on the 21st August 1914 in the regiment'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 conveyed on dynamic administration. In a resulting letter to his Regiment, she frantically approaches them for some data as she had obviously gotten notification from one of Parr's companions (who was at this point a wartime captive in Berlin) that "my child was shot down at Mons". Parr's sister, additionally 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 documents 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 lost since that date. She hence 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 indicated by their records, John Parr was all the while presenting with the Battalion in January 1915 and that "no setback 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 document 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 subtle elements 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 in any case, there are two crossed out sections - one is the number '26', the following is the number '5'.

A few of the fourth Battalion 'Old Boys' (who presented with Private Parr) who were going to his grave in the mid 1980s affirmed that he was slaughtered on a scouting mission on his bike - on the 21st of August. One of them even saw him cycling off, never to return. Before this point, the date on his grave was the 23rd August 1914. The scientist, Rosie Coombes MBE (creator of the manual for World War 1 war zones 'Before Endeavors Fade') effectively appealed to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to change the date on Private Parr's grave utilizing the veterans' affirmations, affirming Parr's place in history as the main British loss of World War 1.