Soldier Record

Joseph Parker kept a brief diary of his movements during the war. He was an apprentice electro- and stereo-typer, and volunteered for the Naval reserve early in 1914. At the start of the war he was put in Drake Battalion of the Royal Naval Battalion. He took part in the unsuccessful defence of Antwerp in October 1914. He trained in Kent, Scotland and Egypt. At Gallipoli he was in the Northern Feint movement on the landing day in April 1915, and landed the next day. After periods of illness, he was sent to recuperate on Cyprus in October. From March 1916 until May 1918 he was back in the regular Navy, serving on HMS Hannibal, which was stationed at Alexandria. He travelled back to England, met his future wife Lucy Fox in June, and then trained to be the Navy gunner on 'defensively armed merchant ships'. At the end of the war he was on a voyage to North Africa on HMT Tremayne. He was discharged in Middlesbrough in January 1919. Joseph went back into the print after the war, and had 3 children and many grandchildren. His children say he hardly spoke of his war experiences.