IN THIS YEAR OF THE COMMEMORATION OF WORLD WAR I, MARK GORTON TELLS THE STORY OF THE FIRST BRITISH SOLDIER TO BE KILLED IN BATTLE.
forget Lest we
THE DATE IS AUGUST 21 1914. A teenage boy rides his bicycle towards a Belgian village called Obourg. He is 16 years old and probably feels he has just embarked on the greatest adventure of his life. With another member of the 4th
Battalion Middlesex Regiment’s cyclist platoon the boy has been sent forward on patrol to locate enemy troops and report their positions. His name is John Parr, a former caddy at North Middlesex Golf Club who, like many others, had joined the army in order to better himself, see the world and receive three square meals a day. To do so he had given up his job – it
had no prospects and the pay was poor: ninepence for 18 holes, no tipping, and
The Club house at North Middlesex GC today
The Club house at North Middlesex GC today
advancing German Army. Private John Parr enlisted in 1912. To
Above: North Middlesex GC almost a century ago
no work on Sundays. Following Britain’s declaration of war
on August 4 the British Expeditionary force of some 80,000 men had crossed the channel and advanced to confront the enemy and its far superior numbers. For the British World War I would begin in earnest on August 23 when the two armies collided in and around the town of Mons - where the British intended to hold the Mons-Condé Canal against the
He has just embarked on the greatest adventure of his life
do so he was obliged to lie about his age. By doing so he also joined the ranks of 250,000 underage Tommies who would fight in the war to end all wars, declaring that he was 18 years and 1 month as opposed to 14. His career began well, paperwork describing him as “clean, sober and intelligent”, but by the time war broke out he had also been revealed to be “inclined to be subordinate”. His alleged offences included gambling and “leaving a locker in a dirty condition”. Nevertheless, he had successfully trained to become a reconnaissance cyclist, a vital component of an army that did not anticipate the stalemate of
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ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB MAGAZINE 2 014
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