Daily Mirror

Buried a few yards apart, the first and last British soldiers to die in the First World War

ARMISTICE WEEK: A TALE OF TWO TOMMIES

- BY TOM PARRY Special Correspond­ent in Mons, Belgium

Between the death of Pte John Parr on August 21, 1914, and Pte George Ellison on November 11, 1918, more than eight million soldiers lost their lives.

Mostly young men from the British Empire, Germany, France and Russia, these premature deaths were all equally awful for bereaved families.

But today few stories resound as profoundly as those of John and George.

At just 17, John, a golf caddy from Finchley, North London, had lied about his age to enlist. George, 40, was an experience­d soldier from Leeds.

In life they had little in common. But in death they will be forever remembered as the first and last British casualties of the First World War.

Remarkably, their graves are only a few yards apart, separated by a thin stretch of perfectly manicured grass at the Saint-Symphorien war cemetery in Mons, Belgium.

Although their deaths came more than four years apart, both men were killed on the edge of the same city.

Glyn Prysor, of the Commonweal­th War Graves Commission, says: “The remarkable combinatio­n of ‘the first’ and ‘the last’ makes this cemetery particular­ly poignant. There are so many stories among the graves in this place.”

Former miner George can perhaps be considered the marginally more unlucky of the two men, even though he was much older than John.

Part of the original British Expedition­ary Force of 120,000 shipped to Europe in August 1914, he was involved in the initial battles around Mons, then Ypres, Armentière­s, Loos and Cambrai.

Wounded at least once, he had recovered in time to join the advance as the overstretc­hed Germans began falling back from Belgium in the summer and autumn of 1918.

Having survived so much, he lost his life back in Mons again, 90 minutes before the bugle sounded the Armistice.

He left behind a wife, Hannah, and a two-year-old son James.

When the actual ceasefire was signed in the forest of Compiegne five hours earlier, he would have been one of the few soldiers from the original BEF still alive.

Now, a century later, he is to be recognised with a plaque at Leeds City Station.

Exactly what happened to John has been shrouded in mystery ever since his mother went to the War

Office in October 1914 demanding news of her missing youngest son.

Alice Parr was desperate but the military officials had nothing to offer.

It is thought the young soldier, who enlisted as a 15-year-old in 1912, and another recruit were sent out on bicycles to scout for the enemy.

The 4th Middlesex Regiment had arrived in Mons that day after marching from the French port of Boulogne over the previous week. Until that point, they had not seen a single German.

Equally, German commanders were unaware the British Army was already in northern France, let alone Belgium.

The idea was that John and his companion, a man called Beart, would report back to their CO in the village of Obourg, north of Mons.

But on spotting the field grey uniforms of the Germans directly ahead, John’s comrade reportedly turned around to pedal back to their battalion.

The Germans opened fire and the younger soldier was never seen again. British troops retreated and John’s body was presumably left behind.

His death was not even officially reported until a year later.

As late as January 1915, the Infantry Records Office was writing to Alice to say her son was still with his battalion.

These doubts have prompted several historians to cast doubt on the date on John’s headstone. But due to the chaos

There are so many stories to be told among the graves in this place GLYN PRYSOR IN SAINT SYMPHORIEN CEMETERY

of those early war days, it is unlikely anyone will ever know for sure.

A paving stone in the young soldier’s memory was unveiled outside his home in Finchley four years ago. There is also a plaque at North Middlesex Golf Club, where he was a caddy.

In an extraordin­ary quirk of fate, Mons is also the place where Allied forces fired their first and last shots of the conflict. A plaque in the adjoining village of Casteau marks where the BEF made its first official contact with the enemy at 7am on August 22, 1914 – the day after Pte Parr’s death.

Cpl E. Thomas of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards is recorded as firing the first shot.

These first contacts establishe­d what would become the Western Front. Back in 1914, the generals believed the skirmishes would result in a quick war over in months.

None of the top brass anticipate­d that both armies would eventually dig vast networks of trenches that would prevent significan­t advances on either side for years.

One of the saddest aspects of that final phase of the war is that George was far from alone – there were almost 11,000 casualties that last day. These men died even though their leaders knew war was about to end.

George does not even have the dubious distinctio­n of being the last Allied soldier killed in the war.

That was a Canadian, Pte George Price, 25, shot by a sniper at 10.58am – two minutes before the ceasefire came into force.

He, too, is buried in Saint-Symphorien, “one of the most beautiful and unusual cemeteries on the Western Front,” according to Dr Prysor.

He says: “It looks completely different from other Commonweal­th cemeteries because it was actually created by the Germans while the war was still being fought.

“An old mining area was donated by a local landowner and planted with dark trees and shrubs to give the feeling of a woodland glade.

“Both British and German soldiers were buried there and they were treated with equal dignity and respect.”

And on this bleak autumn day, a century on from the Armistice, SaintSymph­orien remains a permanent reminder of the ultimate futility of “the war to end all wars”.

 ??  ?? 21 AUG 1914 Pte John Parr, 17 A reconnaiss­ance cyclist, sent out to spot the enemy soon after his regiment arrived in Mons, Belgium. He never returned and was presumed shot dead
21 AUG 1914 Pte John Parr, 17 A reconnaiss­ance cyclist, sent out to spot the enemy soon after his regiment arrived in Mons, Belgium. He never returned and was presumed shot dead
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 ??  ?? DAWN PATROL Allied scouts early in first Mons battle 11 NOV 1918 Pte George Ellison, 40 Part of the original British Expedition­ary Force, he survived several battles but died fighting retreating Germans in Mons just 90 minutes before the bugle sounded the Armistice
DAWN PATROL Allied scouts early in first Mons battle 11 NOV 1918 Pte George Ellison, 40 Part of the original British Expedition­ary Force, he survived several battles but died fighting retreating Germans in Mons just 90 minutes before the bugle sounded the Armistice
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