Family at War: Part 3: Ernest Parsons

"And what about Grandad Parsons? He fought in WW1 as well", came the cry from certain members of my family when I started my Family at War series. Yes, I know, I know and I've been working on his piece for a while. Finished now and here it is.

 

Of the family members who served in WW1, I know more about my grandfather, Ernest Parsons (EGP), than anyone else. Not because his exploits were talked about a lot, not because he took me on his knee and thrilled me with tales of his adventures (in fact, he died in 1945, two years before I was born) but because he left a diary describing much of what he got up to. Here is a pictorial, but brief, summary of his army career. 

EGP enlisted in the 1/1st Sussex Yeomanry on 23rd October 1915. He was 32 at the time and probably joined at a Recruiting Office in Brighton. The Sussex Yeomanry was a mixed horse/cycle regiment and EGP, possibly because of his age, seems to have ended up as a sanitary orderly - but more of that later.

I think this photograph was taken soon after EGP had enlisted and shows my great grandmother, Emma Parsons, nee Kirkham. Emma, incidentally, came from Shropshire and her features are echoed in several of the women in my family.

 

And here he is in tropical gear (I love the pith helmet) in front of a mock backdrop. I've always assumed that this was taken when he was awarded his Lance Corporal's stripe, when he was on active duty in the Middle East. Perhaps the sandy floor suggests it was taken in a photographer's studio set up in a tent in the desert somewhere? There's sand on EGP's boots as well.

EGP undertook some of his training at Birchington in Kent and from there travelled by train to St Budeaux in Plymouth to be shipped out to Alexandria in Egypt to enter the Mesopotamian theatre of war. We know the details of what he did and where he was  from a letter he wrote, headed 'My Voyage to Egypt', and a couple of diaries he kept describing most of his time in the army. His handwriting is best described as 'neat but illegible': however I have managed to transcribe all of his script and now have an intimate knowledge of latrine management, grease pit construction and the fumigation and delousing of troops. Having said that, I do like the style of his writing and what he finds interesting. I've always had the feeling that we would have got on well if we'd ever had the chance.

 

The 1/1st Yeomanry formed part of the Suez Canal Defences and then joined the Western Frontier Force fighting the Senussie Arabs in the Libyan Plateau.The brigade units were reorganized in January and February 1917. As a result, the 1/1st Sussex Yeomanry was converted to infantry at Mersa Matruh on 3rd January 1917 and redesignated the 16th (Sussex Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. As such the battalion took part in the invasion of Palestine in 1917 and 1918. It fought in the Second and Third Battles of Gaza (including the capture of Beersheba and the Sheria Position). At the end of 1917, it took part in the capture and defence of Jerusalem and in March 1918 in the Battle of Tell 'Asur.  EGP's diaries are very graphic in their description of life and times in the desert. I've often wondered what he'd think of what's happened since he played his part in 'liberating' the region from Johnny Turk (his terminology, not mine).

One surprising thing I found out about EGP is that he was a dab hand at embroidery. The above is a tapestry he completed whilst he was overseas. My uncle has it hanging over his mantelpiece and it's about 3' square.

 

On 3rd April 1918, EGP wrote that the Division had just been told that it would be moving to France and by 30th April he was on board a troop ship at Alexandria, heading to Marseilles. A trip that was not without its interest as the convoy was protected by some Japanese warships. No, I didn't know they were there either. Notwithstanding that fascinating fact, EGP and the rest of Yeomanry served in France and Flanders for the rest of the war. By 18th May, the division had concentrated around Rue in the Abbeville area and here the dismounted Yeomanry underwent training for service on the Western Front, particularly gas defence. On 14th July the Yeomanry Division went into the front line for the first time, near Merville. From September 1918, it took part in the Hundred Days Offensive including the Second Battle of the Somme (Second Battle of Bapaume) and the Battles of the Hindenburg Line (Battle of Épehy). In October and November 1918 it took part in the Final Advance into Artois and Flanders. By the Armistice they were near Tournai, Belgium and I have a faded photograph of EGP sporting what he describes as the Grammont Grin, taken in the Belgian town of that name. It's obviously the grin of those who survived until the end.

Here's a nice bit of militaria for those who are keen on this sort of thing (I am!). As the above certificate shows EGP was disembodied on 7th August 1919. A dictionary defines disembodiment as "To free (the soul or spirit) from the body". Gosh, mysticism on the parade ground, I thought. But, no. It refers to the battalion being removed from the army's active list. EGP was formally discharged on 31st March 1920.

EGP's service entitled him to the British War and Victory medals, which are hanging above my desk as I write this. I pin them inside my suit when I attend Remembrance Day services in the village each November.

When I first learnt of my grandfather's role as a sanitary corporal, I was highly amused and used to joke with my father about having a 'bog cleaner' as a war hero. My father was not impressed by my jollity. But, as I discovered more about the realities of trench warfare and the terrible toll that disease took on the troops, I realised that what he did might have been unglamorous but it was essential. Apart from his medals, the only recognition EGP got for his work was in the above inscription written in the front of the regimental history of the Sussex Yeomanry by its author, Colonel Powell-Edwards, commander of the Yeomanry throughout its spell in Egypt and Palestine. A fitting epitaph: 'Good work, well done'.