麻豆社

Private John Parr was a teenager thought to have been the first British soldier killed in action in Europe in World War One.

As a boy, Parr had been a caddy at North Middlesex Golf Club, in north London.

In 1912, when he was 14, Parr lied about his age in order to join the army.

He became a member of the Middlesex Regiment and served as a reconnaissance cyclist whose role was to retrieve information for commanding officers.

Seventeen year old Parr was last seen on the eve of the Battle of Mons, yet his death remains something of a mystery.

It is thought that on 21 August 1914 he came across German cavalry and was killed. But, according to military records he was still with his regiment nearly a year later and there is no record of any contact with the British in German official diaries for that day.

A memorial to John Parr was unveiled at the North Middlesex Golf Club in the summer of 2014.

Location: North Middlesex Golf Club, Manor House, Friern Barnet Ln, Whetstone, London N20 0NL
Image: London Cyclists poster, courtesy of IWM

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