William John Parish, known as ‘John’, was born on Thursday, 12th July 1894 in Brownhills, Staffordshire, and baptised a month later on Friday, 10th August. He was the only child of William and Rebecca Simmonds and his father, a native of Hemel Hempstead, was working as a Railway Porter for the Midland Railway when John was born. Sadly, John’s mother died when he was just over two years old and she was buried at Hednesford, St Peter, Staffordshire on 17th September 1896.

Following the death of his wife, William returned to Hemel Hempstead where John was looked after by his Grandmother Sarah who lived at 57 Chapel Street. John’s father meanwhile lived in Rickmansworth and still worked as a Railway Porter. However, by 1905 when he remarried, William had moved with John to 21 Osborne Road in Watford and had changed jobs to work as a Cocoa Maker.

John’s step-mother was Beatrice Gravestock who married his father at St Paul’s Church, Hemel Hempstead on the 4th June 1905. William and Beatrice later had two children together, one of whom died in infancy whilst the other boy, Charles Alfred George was twelve years younger than John.

In September 1905 John was at Alexandra School in Watford where he completed his education, leaving on 27th March 1908 following which, the family moved back to Hemel Hempstead.

By 1911, sixteen-year-old John was living with his family at 21 Church Street in Hemel Hempstead and working as a Book Binder at John Dickinson. His father had changed jobs once more and was working as a Bill Poster.

On the outbreak of war John was already a member of the 1st Hertfordshire Battalion which was still a single battalion Territorial Army unit and fielded no Regular Army units.

The annual Territorial Army summer camp of 1914 finished with emergency orders for all units to return to base and await further instructions. On the 5th August 1914 the entire Battalion was 'embodied' for war service with the East Midland Brigade, within the East Anglian Division. Once it had assembled at Romford in Essex, the expected move to France did not materialise. Instead, it moved north, to Bury St. Edmunds and trained in the area for around two months.

Surprise orders arrived on the 1st November that the Battalion would mobilise and move to the Western Front. Early on the 5th November, John left Bury St. Edmunds with the Battalion and sailed via Southampton to Havre, moving onto St. Omer once fully disembarked. He arrived on the front lines on the 11th November, and the Battalion lost its first casualties on the way through Ypres to take up positions near Hooge where it was moved into the 4th (Guards) Brigade of the 2nd Division.

In 1914 John, as part of ‘F’ Company, 1/1st Hertfordshires, was involved in The First Battle of Ypres and winter actions at Cuinchy followed finally, by the Battle of Festubert in May 1915. This offensive formed part of a series of attacks in the Second Battle of Artois and it was on the fourth day of the engagement, on the 19th May, that John was mortally wounded.

His wounding and subsequent death were reported in the Hemel Gazette in late May and early June 1915, following his father’s receipt of two letters.

The first, dated 21st May 1915, was sent by Corporal R. Evans, and gave an account of John’s wounding and how the Corporal had done all he could, but had to leave John with the stretcher bearers as the battalion had moved off. At the time of writing he did not know if John had survived his wounds.

William received a second letter dated 28th May 1915 from Captain Lovel F. Smeathman, Commanding Officer of ‘F’ Company, and it confirmed that John had died of his wounds and offered his and the Company’s sympathy for the family’s loss.

He also states that John “would have been buried on the spot I am afraid, as it would have been impossible to get him away.” This was normal practice and often the job of other regiments following at a later date. John was the fifth soldier from Hemel Hempstead to fall at the Battle of Festubert.

John is Remembered with Honour at Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais France on Stone No. 47 A.

He was only 20 years old when he died.

John was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.