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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Soldiers of the Great War; The Fredericton Soldier Biography History Initiative

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Parsons, John Herbert

Private 709412
104th Battalion
26th Battalion

Background

John H. Parsons was born February 28, 1894 in Fredericton, New Brunswick to John H. Parsons Sr. and Ella Lorena Wells. According to census records, John had seven siblings named William, Annie, Bessie, Edward, Dorothy, Aldon, and Robert. Even though little is known about their marriage and early life together, the Parsons family occupied a home at 559 Brunswick Street and John Sr. worked as a restaurant keeper in Fredericton. A large family, the Parsons children also grew up with their grandmother in the home, Littleworth Parsons, who, according to the 1901 census was living with them for a time. At a young age John Herbert eventually found work as a store clerk in the city and had close ties with the Wilmot Church community. Prior to the outbreak of the war, John had no experience in the military and he was unmarried. According to his attestation he had blue eyes, fair hair, and a fair complexion while standing approximately five feet nine inches tall. John enlisted October 5, 1915 in Sussex, New Brunswick with the 104th Battalion and, along with his brothers Edward, William, and eventually his father John Sr., he began training in preparation for going overseas. Private Parsons would be in Canada over the winter and spring of 1915-1916 and newspapers would reveal that in December of 1915 his father, John Sr., would volunteer at the local recruiting station. Just under the military age limit, John Sr., joined his sons as they left Canada the late spring of 1916.

Wartime Experience

On June 28, 1916, Private John H. Parsons embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the S.S. Olympic for Liverpool, England, arriving July 5. Upon arrival, John remained with the 104th Battalion and was appointed Corporal while beginning work in a military hospital in England. Over the next year and a half, the Daily Gleaner confirms him working in London with his father. He spent much of 1917 in England as a member of hospital staff, utilizing his skills as a clerk in the military until reverting back to the rank of private in order to john the 13th Reserve and then eventually the 26th Battalion. Just prior to leaving for France, he signed his will leaving everything to his mother. According to his active service record, John arrived November 18, 1917, in France just as the Battle of Passchendaele was coming to a close and likely motivated to be at the front where his brother, William, had been killed a few months earlier. John spent much of the 1917-1918 winter in the Arras sector of France with his unit until May 1918 when he would receive a series of gunshot and shrapnel wounds to his chest and back. According to his circumstances of death record, he was transported to the #1 London Field Ambulance May 5, 1918 where medical treatment could not address the wounds he had. John passed away almost two years after he had arrived. News of his death would reach home quickly as the Daily Gleaner reported many sympathies from the community for the family, having also lost another son a year earlier. Private John Herbert Parsons was 24 years of age.

Lest We Forget

Private John H. Parsons is buried at the Dainville British Cemetery located about one kilometer west from the city of Doulens, France. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Dainville British Cemetery has 131 burials to those killed in the surrounding nearby sectors of France. The cemetery was designed by W.H. Cowlshaw.

*This biography was researched and written by Christian Fraser 8A, Matthew Leduc 8C, and Erika Rawlines 8E, Grade 8 students at George Street Middle School located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

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