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.