Harold Samuel's Story.
Birkenhead News 11 November 1916Young Hoylake Hero
Killed by a Bursting Shell.
Last Friday news was received by Mrs. Parr, 30, Walker Street, Hoylake, that her second son Harold had been killed on the 30th of last month. He had been in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers since enlisting last December, and had only been in the trenches a few weeks. Prior to joining the forces the deceased, who was only 19 years of age, had been employed by two well-known tradesmen.
The Regimental chaplain, the Rev. T. Bowen Williams, has written to the bereaved mother:- “I regret to inform you that your son, Private H. S. Parr, was killed by a shell bursting near him. I buried him today at Essex Farm Cemetery with Christian rites and there is a cross to mark the spot. By what I gather Pte. Parr died very soon after he was struck, and cannot have suffered pain. You will feel this news very deeply, but I hope you will console yourself by realising that your son died for his country, and for the cause of right and freedom. He gave his all that others might live - truly a noble sacrifice. He is mourned today by all his comrades, who will feel his loss keenly. Please accept my very deep sympathy.”
Although the newspaper article reports his death as 30th October 1916 his actual date of death is the 29th October as per military records.
Harold Parr’s photograph and newspaper article by Chris Booth.