John Parr and George Ellison- a tragic symbol of a futile war
The final resting places of the first and last British soldiers to die in the First World War show the tragic futility of the conflict
Sitting across from each other in a peaceful corner of Belgium, to the southeast of Mons, are the graves of two British soldiers killed in the First World War. Over 700,000 British soldiers died during the war, but these two graves have an added sense of poignancy.
The First World War was a conflict fuelled by nationalism and keenness from European powers to use deadly new weapons. The deaths of all soldiers killed in this war was a life cut short for no true reason, but the deaths of two British soldiers in particular sums up just how pointless it all was.
John Parr and George Ellison were both part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) that first fought against the Germans in Belgium. The town of Mons would become familiar with them both, and it would also become where they would fall during the war however they would be over four years apart.
Private John Parr was born in Leeds, and at the outbreak of war he was part of the Middlesex Regiment he joined in 1912. Once on the Western Front, John and his regiment were stationed in the French village of Bettignies. Parr was a reconnaissance cyclist and this involved cycling ahead to gather intelligence on enemy movement. It is thought Parr was killed by a German infantry unit.
He died on August 21 1914, just over two weeks after Great Britain declared war on Germany. Two days later, on August 23, the Battle of Mons would see British and German soldiers clash in the first significant battle of a war that would drag on for years, killing millions as a result.
In November 1918, Germany was on the retreat and, boosted by American soldiers, the Allies made their way towards Berlin. Four years of trench warfare was over, and now soldiers were advancing across open fields just as they did in the early throws of the war.
The Armistice was signed at 5am on November 11, bringing years of bloodshed to an end in the most diplomatic way imaginable. At 11am the guns were to stop for good, but soldiers still died before then.
Private George Ellison was born in Leeds and was a coal miner before rejoining an army regiment shortly before the start of the war. Serving with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, Ellison had fought since the start of the war and saw action in the Battles of Ypres and the Somme.
Ellison was close to surviving the entire war, that was until he was killed outside of Mons at 9.30am. He died 90 minutes before the end of the war, at a time when most soldiers were readying themselves with thoughts of home. He died in the same area where he had seen action for the first time in August 1914, and left a wife and four-year-old son at home.
The deaths of Private John Parr and Private George Ellison highlighted how despite all of the years of fighting and killing, little actual territorial gain was made. Private Ellison fought across the Western Front for four years, and died yards away from where soldiers who died in the early weeks of the war.
The scene in the St Symphorien military cemetery sums up the futility of this war. One soldier killed in August 1914 and one killed 90 minutes before the end of the war on November 11 1918 are divided by just seven yards. Between them, hundreds and thousands of their countrymen died, and for what? For the war to be signed off in a surrender treaty, with the blood of millions on the hands of those who sent them to the frontline.
