The Mysteries of John Parr
An Illustrated Talk by Mick Crick
Thursday 29 January 2015 2.30 p.m.
Private John Parr, the first British soldier to be killed in action in the First World War, lived in Finchley. On Thursday, 29 January Mick Crick gave a talk on “The Mysteries of John Parr”.
Mick Crick was educated at Christ’s College Finchley before joining the Met Police where he remained in a number of different posts for 46 years, retiring after the Olympics in 2012. Over the years he has retained a connection with his old school and became interested in the war memorials at the school that listed 200 former pupils who lost their lives in the two World Wars. He has spent time touring European battlefields and war cemeteries over the last ten years, visiting the graves or memorials of over 120 of those named on the school memorials, and more recently he joined Barnet War Memorials Association, researching all the war memorials to be found in the Borough, which led to his interest in the story of John Parr. Mick and his wife Pat live in Friern Barnet.
The meeting took place at 2.30 pm on 29 January 2015, in the Drawing Room at Stephens House (formerly Avenue House).