Pte 16198 Herbert Percy Parry

• Age: 22
• From: Toxteth Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

16198 Private Herbert Percy PARRY, 18^th Battalion, KLR.

Herbert Percy was born in Toxteth on the 29^th April 1894 and was the youngest of five children born to William Parry, a bookkeeper with Lever Brothers, and his wife Jane (nee Bayley). His parents, both born in Liverpool, married on the 04^th January 1880 at St Mary's Church, Edge Hill, William was a 23 year old book keeper of 56 Cawdor Street, father Reuben, whilst Jane was aged 25 of 52 Rolfe Street, father Benjamin. They had five children, his siblings were William born in 1881, Arthur Edward Neijber 1884, Amy Mildred 1886, and Alfred Francis, born in 1891. 

There is confusion surrounding this soldier's birthdate. He was born on 29th April; his birth registration, school record, and age on censuses confirm he was born in 1894. However, based on his given age on enlistment, he was born in 1895, and a memorial plaque erected by his parents states his birth year as 1893. CWGC gives his age (provided by his parents) as 23, but a family newspaper notice states he was in his 23rd year (i.e., 22).

At the time of the 1901 census the family is living at 43 Barrington Road, off Smithdown Road, Toxteth Park, Liverpool.  His father is aged 44, is a soap merchant's bookkeeper, mother Jane is aged 44. They have five children at home;  William is a 20 year old solicitor's junior clerk, Arthur is an accountant's apprentice, and Amy an apprentice for a draper. Alfred, 10, and Herbert, 6, are at school.

At some point the family moved to Port Sunlight, Cheshire.

Port Sunlight is a model village between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula, built by Lever Brothers to accommodate their soap factory workers.  Between 1899 and 1914, 800 houses were built to house a population of 3,500.  The garden village had allotments and public buildings including a cottage hospital, schools, a concert hall, open air swimming pool, church, and a temperance hotel. 

Herbert attended Port Sunlight school and Park Road Senior School before enrolling on 11th September 1907 in Liverpool Collegiate School, and leaving on 22nd December 1909.  (His name does not appear on the Collegiate School memorial.) 

In 1911 Herbert is living at home with his parents and two of his siblings at 9 Riverside, Port Sunlight. His father, William, is aged 54, and is a mercantile bookkeeper born in Edge Hill, his mother Jane is also aged 54 born in Low Hill, Liverpool. They advise that they have been married for 31 years and have had 5 children.  His father and sister Amy, 24, work for Lever Brothers, Alfred, 20, is a clerk with a general produce broker, and Herbert, 16, is a junior clerk for steamship owners.

Herbert enlisted at St George's Hall in Liverpool on 02^nd September 1914, joining the 18th Battalion as Private 16198. He gave his age as 19 years 126 days, his occupation as clerk with Lever Brothers and his next of kin as his father, William, of 9 Riverside. He was described as being 5' 6" tall, weighing 113 lbs, 35" chest with a sallow complexion, grey eyes, and light brown hair.  His religion is stated as Church of England. 

From the 23^rd September 1914 he was billeted at Hooton Park Race Course and remained there until 03^rd December 1914 when they moved into the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 18th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. 

Herbert sailed to France with his Battalion on board the SS Invicta on 07th November 1915.

He was killed in action during the attack at Montauban with 1 Company, 18^th Battalion on 1^st July 1916. 

18^th Battalion Diary

At 6.30am the artillery commenced an intensive bombardment of the enemy’s trenches. Zero Hour – 7.30 am – the battalion commenced to leave their trenches and the attack commenced. The attack was pressed with great spirit and determination in spite of heavy shelling and machine gun enfilade fire which caused casualties amounting to 2/3rds of the strength of the Battalion in action. The whole system of German trenches including the Glatz Redoubt was captured without any deviation from the scheduled programme. Consolidated positions and made strong points for defence against possible counter attacks.

Graham Maddocks provides more detail concerning the events of the day:

As the first three waves began to move forward towards the German reserve line, known as Alt Trench and then on to the Glatz Redoubt itself, they suddenly came under enfilading fire from the left. This was from a machine gun which the Germans had sited at a strong point in Alt Trench. The gun itself was protected by a party of snipers and bombers, who, hidden in a rough hedge, were dug into a position in Alt Trench, at its junction with a communication trench known as Alt Alley. These bombers and snipers were themselves protected by rifle fire from another communication trench, Train Alley which snaked back up the high ground and into Montauban itself. The machine gun fire was devastating and it is certain that nearly of the Battalion’s casualties that day were caused by that one gun.  

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter wrote in the conclusion of his account of the day’s action:

I cannot speak to highly of the gallantry of the Officers and men. The men amply repaid the care and kindness of their Company Officers, who have always tried to lead and not to drive. As laid down in my first lecture to the Battalion when formed, in the words of Prince Kraft:

“Men follow their Officers not from fear, but from love of the Regiment where everything had always and at all times gone well with them”.   

Joe Devereux in his book A Singular Day on the Somme gives the Casualty Breakdown for the 18^th Battalion as Killed in Action 7 Officers and 165 men and of those who died in consequence of the wounds 3 Officers and 19 men a total of 194 out of a total loss for the four Liverpool Pals Battalions of 257. 

Herbert's body was not recovered or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. 

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

His service record and CWGC show that he served in the 18th Battalion. Inexplicably, the medal roll shows 17th Battalion 

Herbert was declared Missing on 1st July 1916 and his name published in the list of K.L.R. Missing in the Liverpool Daily Post on 23rd August 1916.  A casualty form report received from O/C Bn. in September 1916 reported him killed in action, and his name appeared as Reported Killed in the local paper on 26th September. 

His parents placed a notice on 18th September 1916:

"July 1, killed in action, previously reported missing, in his 23rd year, Private Herbert Percy Parry, King's (Liverpool Regiment), the beloved and youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. William Parry, of 9, Riverside, Port Sunlight." 

There was also a notice in the Lever Brothers employee journal:

Private Herbert Percy Parry, age 23, of our Cash Office, and son of an esteemed Long Service employee and Co-Partner in our Accountant's Department, was with the King's Liverpool Regiment in the "great push." His parents were in great suspense as to his fate as from the 1st of July until the 4th of August, and this suspense was continued by an official announcement that he was missing. Since his inclusion in this group of "Missing" for Progress, this suspense has ended in the sorrowful official admission that he was among the killed of July 1st.  

Soldiers Effects to father William, Pension to mother Jane.  

They placed In Memoriam notices on the anniversary of his death in 1917 and 1918. 

Herbert earned his three medals.     

One year after his death, on 2nd July 1917, his father was notified there were no personal effects.  However, in February 1918, over eighteen months after he was killed, his father received 1 Packet of letters and cards, 1 Disc, and 3 Photos.  He received Herbert's Memorial Plaque and Scroll as well as his Army effects and a War Gratuity of £8. His mother was awarded a pension of 6/- a week from June 1917. 

In October 1918 his parents were given permission to erect a brass tablet in the parish church of Bebington (St. Andrews) as a memorial to their son, which reads,    

A letter in his record dated 21st July 1920 from the Imperial War Graves Commission, apparently in response to an enquiry from his family, expresses regret at being unable to provide information on the location of Herbert's grave.

Herbert is also commemorated on the family gravestone in Christ Church Churchyard, Port Sunlight.  

In October 1918 his parents were given permission to erect a brass tablet in the parish church of Bebington (St. Andrews) as a memorial to their son, which reads, 

          "In Loving Memory of

           Herbert Percy Parry,

           the beloved youngest son of

           William & Jane Parry,

           of this parish,

           born on the 29th April 1893,

           who was killed in action 1st July 1916,

           fighting in France 

           for his King and Country."

He is also remembered on the following memorials:

Lever Brothers War Memorial, The Causeway, Port Sunlight

Lower Bebington Methodist Church, Bromborough Road

Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 53.

Lower Bebington Methodists Roll of Honour (H. Percy)   

In 1919 his parents gave details on his living relatives:  His sister Mrs. Amy Hughes, 33, was living in Birkenhead;  William, 39, was living in Edmonton, Canada;  Arthur, 36, in Sefton Park, Liverpool; and Alfred, 29, in Runcorn, Cheshire.

All four brothers served during the war.  His brother William had emigrated to Canada and served in the Canadian Engineers, and Alfred served in the R.F.A. 

His brother Arthur Edward Parry served as Private 2222 and later 395491 in the 8^th Battalion. He enlisted on 8^th August 1914 and was in France by 3^rd May 1915 and earned several promotions before returning to the UK on 21^st January 1916 where he reached the rank of CQMS.  He ended his service in April 1919 when he was awarded a small pension having developed chronic arthritis. He continued to live at 49 Kenyon Road and by 1918 he and his wife had six children. 

His father died, aged 70, in 1926. , and his mother, aged 85, in 1937.

Further tragedy was to blight the family in the Second World War as William Clifford Parry, age 30, of Wallasey, Cheshire (name, age, and residence match his nephew, the son of Arthur), of the 13th K.L.R., died serving with the Chindits in Burma on 05th April 1943. 

William Clifford Parry is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial.

We currently have no further information on Herbert Percy Parry, if you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.