The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

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1206213 Pte. Alfred Parkes British Army 2nd Btn. Suffolk Regiment from:Birmingham Alfred Parkes at 16 Alfred Parkes was a Boy Soldier. He was only just 16 years old when he was volunteering in August 1915. He was drafted three months later to the Western Front where he was engaged in several sectors and took part in the Battle of the Somme, the Battle at Arras, the Battle at Cambrai and finally the Battle of St Quentin. During these engagements he was wounded and afterwards returning home he was discharged in November 1918. He holds the 1914 - 1915 Star, British War and Victory Medals. alfred parkes wedding day Simon Long Add to this record.    Additional Information: I was quite excited by this post and the wedding photo...Can you tell me who is in it? My Grandpa was also a Parkes, also enlisted at 16. He was called Ernie, (E.E Parkes, a Gunner with the RFA.)He was born in Selly Oak Birmingham 1898 and had 7 siblings. He enlisted in 1914 and served from March 1915 in France and Belgium, also fighting at St Quentin, where he was blown off his horse whilst pulling a gun carriage and badly injured. He lost one eye. Ernie survived the battle though and eventually went home, married his sweetheart Lottie Beardshaw in 1921, and they lived happily in Kings Heath Birmingham, having an only child (Gordon) in 1927 who then had me!Ernie lived until I was 7, hence I have heard the stories many times (Lottie lived to 95, passed away 1992)The man on the far right looks just like him!! Could they be cousins? Jenny McFadyen Reply Related Content: 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment 5th Division 3rd Division Battle of The Somme 1916 Battle of Arras 1917 Battle of Cambrai Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? If so please let us know. Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?" We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages. The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers. This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved - We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.