George Parker MM.
A Brighton boy, he joined the army at Brighton on a half day off from the Co-Op & after service with training units served with The Sherwood Foresters (he is wearing the cap badge of the Bedfordshire Regiment in this photograph).
A corporal in charge of a Lewis Gun Section and holder of the Military Medal, he was wounded by a grenade thrown by a surrendering German. Later as a sergeant, still on Lewis Guns he was shot in the knee & hip. He tried to rejoin the army during the 1920's but was rejected because of his wounds.
"........the year was 1914, the First World War had begun and my mates and fellow workers were leaving one by one to join the Forces. I felt alone and somehow asshamed because I was too young to join...I suddenly made up my mind and went into a Recruiting Office that had been opened in Church Road. I do not think I can say that it was all patriotism, but my mates had gone and I had the feeling that I was regarded as a kid, too young to do what others were doing. Mind you, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Inside the office there was a recruiting seregeant and an officer, as well as a medical officer. I was really scared but the sergeant asked me what I wanted, I looked so young. Then I said that I wanted to join up and he looked at me as if I should still be in my cradle. I suppose he was not far wrong! He asked my age and I boldly said "18 yearts" He looked at me with a smile and said "Does your mother know that you are 18?" Then he said "Alright son, 18 it is" He took my name and passed me over the the MO who had me strip naked, and he examined and passed me. The officer then made me take the Oath of Allegiance and there I was - a soldier at 15 3/4."
George Parker "The Tale of a Boy Soldier A Great War Memoir" (QueenSpark Books, 2008)