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

History Channel Documentary WW2 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 assembled to Bettignes, a residential area 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 adversary, and report on their positions. It is trusted that the watch experienced a German mounted force 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 in this way executed, accordingly turning into the main 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 careful date of birth is indeterminate, 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 initiated '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 report, it gives off an impression of being recorded as 13. What this archive additionally uncovers is that John was one of 7 youngsters. Unfortunately, this archive likewise uncovers that his folks had additionally lost 5 youngsters by 1911.

In the wake of spending the majority 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 normal armed force on the seventh August 1912 (giving his age as 18 years and 1 month on his validation printed material, rather than 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 (an exceptional store regiment he served in before enrolling in the customary 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 canny" and "enthused about his work". Be that as it may, he was limited to garisson huts for three days, having been found 'leaving a locker in a grimy condition' on the first January, and tailed this up by "making an uncalled for answer to a NCO" on the 29th April, an offense for which he got 7 days restriction in the sleeping enclosure. On June 30th 1914, as per 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 dormitory room. Under 2 months after his four day 'bound to garisson huts' discipline for this offense, Private Parr was dead.

The First Casualty?

The unit journals of Parr's regiment demonstrate that the principal day of their activation was the fifth August 1915 when they were put on 24 hours 'notification to move'. Throughout the following few days, the force was fortified with tranches of reservists, 36 transport stallions and a therapeutic officer. Throughout the following week or somewhere in the vicinity, there was a great deal of movement in the unit, with preparing, course walks, parades and bore all being completed. 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 company" was given. The next morning, a Church administration was trailed by a photo demonstrating the contingent at 'war quality'. After two days, the legion ventured out to Devonport via train where they set out on the SS Montbasa for Boulogne. On landing in France, they rested at a camp five kilometers North West of Boulogne, before at long 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 close by the 21st August. The passage for that date just states:

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

At 1pm, the brigade touched base at Bettignies and went into billets. Two companies 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 framed the Brigade cyclist unit.

The main 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 unit'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 an ensuing letter to his Regiment, she frantically approaches them for some data as she had clearly 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 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 along these lines 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 loss whatever has been accounted for concerning him". The Infantry Head Office kept in touch with the War Office, requesting their help, however there is no answer in Parr's administration document to this letter.

Parr was noted as absent in a Casualty Form dated March 1915. The date of a consequent section on the same structure is indistinct however 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 likewise noted in his military records on an unsigned and undated scrap of paper, expressing that he was 'Executed 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'.