PARR, George Joseph
| Service Number: | 726 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hay, New South Wales, Australia, 11 October 1887 |
| Home Town: | Randwick, Randwick, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Tram Conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 5 November 1916, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Sergeant, 726, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Sergeant, 726, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Sydney | |
| 5 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 726, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 726 awm_unit: 1 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-11-05 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
George Joseph Jubilee PARR (Service Number 726) was born in Hay on 11th October 1887. He joined the Tramways in Sydney as a casual conductor in April 1909 and was made permanent in August 1910.
He enlisted in the AIF at Randwick in August 1914.
He was allotted to the 1st Battalion. He embarked from Sydney in October 1914 for Egypt, and in April 1915 embarked at Alexandria for Gallipoli.
He was wounded in action there on 20th May (bullet wound finger and arm) and evacuated to a hospital ship and then to hospital in Egypt. Still suffering the after-effects of dysentery, he was discharged to a convalescent depot in October, then to light duties in November. In July 1916 he was attached to the Base Medical Stores in Heliopolis.
In August 1916 he was sent to England and from there to France the following month. He joined his Battalion ‘in the field’ on 1st October. On 5th November 1916 he was reported ‘missing in action’. subsequently it was confirmed that he was ‘killed in action’.
One witness told the Red Cross:
‘I know that George Parr was reported as missing after the engagement at Flers, on November 5. I went all through the attack that night, we had to come back as we were repulsed. In February after we had taken the ground, on the evacuation of the enemy a party of about 30 of us went out to bury our dead. George Parr was one of those who was found. He was buried out in the open, where he fell. There was a cross put up with his name on. I saw his disc.’
Another said:
‘I helped to bury the remains of George Parr in a shell hole at Flers, in the first week of February 1917 and put up a cross over his grave. I knew him formerly very well and am certain as to his identity, from the colour of the hair, general appearance of the body and particularly from Machine Gun Badge, which he had shifted from left arm to right, some time before, owing to some joke we had as to the left arm being unlucky. He and I had been together for two months at Perham Downs and on the Somme…’
After the war his grave could not be located, but he is remembered with honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.