A Walk in Ploegsteert (Plugstreet) Wood (1914-18)

 It was perhaps inevitable that Lieutenant George Rowarth Parr would join the army. His father was, after all, Major-General Sir Henry Hallam Parr, a soldier with a long and distinguished career which included service during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 during during which he had suffered the shocking experience of being the first officer on the scene after the catastrophic British defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana. Henry's mother was Julia Elizabeth Elton of Clevedon and it is because of this local connection that the death of young George is commemorated on the All Saints Calvary in the town. During a trip to Ypres, I set out, with two companions, to understand more about how and why George Parr, having met his death shortly after the start of the Great War, now lies buried in the heart of Ploegsteert Wood in Belgian Wallonia.

The Ploegsteert Memorial

We parked our car near the impressive Ploegsteert Memorial which commemorates over 11,000 the missing from the Great War battlefields of Hazebrouck, Merville, Bailleul, Armentieres, the Forest of Nieppe and Ploegsteert Wood. It being the depths of winter we ate a hearty lunch of tartelette at L'Auberge de Ploegsteert before heading off on our search for George Parr. Our walk would take us past five battlefield cemeteries and into the centre of an area which was heavily fought over from 1914 to 1918.

Crossing the road from the lion gate, our first stop was the Hyde Park Corner Royal (Berks) Cemetery which lies on the western side of Ploegsteert Wood. Most of the men interred there served with the Royal Berkshire Regiment and many are from the town of Reading. One grave that pricked my interest was that of Lieutenant Ronald Poulton Palmer, son of George Palmer - one of the founders of the biscuit manufacturers Huntley and Palmer. A good many of the lads who served with the Royal Berks, worked for Huntley & Palmer hence sometimes being referred to as the 'Biscuit Boys'. My slender connection is that my Great Aunt was married to another eminent Reading businessman - Noel Sutton. Noel was the only one of five brothers to survive the Great War (I told their story here). 

Biscuit Boys at Hyde Park Corner CWGC

To explore the wood, the best route is a path leading from the Rue de Messines about three hundred yards to the north of the memorial. Taking this path, after perhaps half a mile, one reaches the point at which the trail hits the wood itself. Before taking the bridlepath into the undergrowth, we walked a little further along the track to visit Mud Corner CWGC. The 85 men buried there are almost all ANZAC casualties from te 1917 Battle of Messines onwards. It's a tranquil and picturesque spot which offers our first touch of the George Parr story in that a second cemetery on the hillside beyond Mud Corner is named after one of his fellow 1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (SLI) officers. Prowse Point CWGC was the site of a stand by the SLI in October 1914. The cemetery was named after Major Charles Prowse, an officer who, later, having been promoted to Brigadier-General was the most senior British commander to be killed on the 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Mud Corner CWGC with Prowse Point CWGC beyond

As we retraced our steps a little way and moved into the wood it began to rain, so we were quite pleased to be under the tree canopy. The wood was held by British and Commonwealth troops for most of the 1914-1918, only falling to the enemy briefly during the German 1918 Spring (Kaiser's) Offensive. It's boggy ground so the defensive lines were protected by pill boxes and ground level embankments and parapets - some of the former can be seen amongst the trees. Most of the wood is fenced off to visitors but a wide central path running north to south leads down to Rifle House CWGC picking up Toronto Avenue CWGC and Ploegsteert Wood CWGC on the way. It is the latter that we were concerned with, as this is where Lieutenant George Parr and other SLI men who were killed on the 19th December 1914 are buried.

Company C SLI Deployment, Oct 1914 

Lieutenant George Parr - Killed in Action, 13 Dec 1914

The movements and actions of the 1st Battalion SLI in the Ploegsteert Wood area during the last three months of 1914 are recorded in the Battalion War Diary (WO-95-1499-1, National Archive). Lieutenant Parr was a Platoon Commander in Company C and the sketch map above shows their position in October 1914. It was a time when the enemy were pushing hard to take Ploegsteert and, indeed, over the ensuing couple of months the British line had been pushed back into what was left of the trees and scrub in the eastern third of the wood. 

As mentioned earlier George Parr was the son of Major-General Hallam Parr, who amongst other positions was Colonel of the Prince Albert's Somerset Light Infantry. At the time of his death, George, aged 23 - was the only surviving son. His elder brother, who was a Second Lieutenant in the same regiment, having died, aged 20, at Malta in 1910. George was educated at Wellington College, Berks and was a fluent German speaker. Prior to the outbreak of war he represented the Royal Military College Sandhurst in fencing at Olympia in 1911. He served as an interpreter (being fluent in French and German) and as a Reconnaissance Officer during the retirement from the Marne. However, as will be described, he died leading his Platoon from the front during a set-piece attack - Brigadier Hunter-Weston described him as having met a hero's death in a letter to Lady Parr, George's mother.

The SLI plot at Ploegsteert CWGC

The 1st Battalion SLI, as part of the 4th Division, were based in or near Ploegsteert Wood for over six months, during which they fought two major actions - the first in late October 1914 in the area shown on the map above and the second on the 19th December of that year. It was in the latter action that Lieutenant Parr was killed. Indeed, SLI losses on that day were very heavy - including three officers killed and three severly wounded. At the time of this later attack, the front lines had ebbed and flowed on the eastern edge of the wood - eventually settling on a line that sat a few hundred metres to the west of the Le Gheer to Mesen Road. A German strongpoint known as 'The Birdcage' was directly opposite the SLI's front line trench.

There is a vivid description of the attack in the Battalion War Diary. The attack was to be made by B Company, with C (of which Parr was a Platoon leader) in support. H Company were in reserve. The attack was due to go in at 14:30 but the preparation did not go well with British artillery inadvertently pitching their shells to short resulting in 'frequent bursting over the SLI breastworks'. At the appointed time a mountain battery and the Division's machine guns opened up from positions within the wood and the assaulting company dashed forward. The War Diary records that the men carried straw mattresses with strips of wire netting which they intended to be thrown over the enemy wire as makeshift bridges. Every other man carried wire cutters. 

The Le Gheer to St Yves Road as it is now

After just 50 yards the attack was stalled by enemy fire and A Company supported by two supporting Platoons of B Company could get no further. C Company attacked at 15:15 and made a little more progress. However Lieutenant Parr was killed whilst leading his Platoon. Captain Bradshaw went forward to take over, but he too was hit and mortally wounded. Eventually the attackers managed to secure a trench that ran along the Le Gheer to St Yves Road but the position was not sustainable as it was enfiladed from houses on the right and in any case the trench was three feet in water. The SLI along with men of the Rifle Brigade on the right withdrew and consolidated behind a line of newly built breastworks on the edge of the wood.

The two battlefield cemeteries, Ploegsteert Wood and Rifle House,  just behind the 19th December 1914 jumping off point bear testament to the brave men who fought on that day. At the rear of the former the men of the SLI lie in a dedicated plot. Lieutenant George Parr lies between Captain Bradshaw and Second Lieutenant Henson, both of whom were killed in the same attack. 

Mines at Le Gheer

As an aside, there is a reason why the village of Le Gheer has not been fully rebuilt, and that is the presence of unexploded mines. In preparation for the Messines Offensive twenty four mines were tunnelled underneath the German trenches between Hill 60 and Le Pelerin to the east of Ploegsteert Wood. When the Messines assault started on the 7th June 1917, only 19 of the mines were triggered. The others were deemed to be to close to the Allied lines, including four under The Birdcage (see map above). in 1955 one of these four exploded after being triggered by a lightening strike. The other three remain intact below the ground - unfired and very, very dangerous. 

Clevedon's Pathfinder (1943)

Some time ago, I was privileged to spend time with 103 year old RAF Bomber Command veteran Arthur Spencer, who lives just a few hundred metres from my home. Brought up in Southampton, where his father - a veteran of the Great War - supplemented his disability pension by working as a postman, Arthur joined the RAF as soon as he left school in 1940 aged 19 years. I asked him why he had joined up, and his answer couldn't have been clearer.

There was a madman marching his armies all over Europe and something needed to be done to stop him.

Apparently so many young men had applied to join the Royal Air Force in the aftermath of the Battle of Britain, that there was a delay in the start of Arthur's training. The gap was filled through service as an Air Raid Precautions Warden (ARP) in his home town. At that point Southampton hadn't experienced what Arthur describes as 'the big raids' but it had been hit quite hard.

A flyer for Arthur Spencer's autobiography

In November 1940 Arthur put on a blue RAF uniform for the first time, and started on an accelerated training schedule that was to take him to various locations around the UK and to North America. Along with fellow cadets he spent time manning air defences at RAF Watton in Norfolk in between 8 week training courses which had been collapsed down to 5 weeks in order to feed the demand for fully trained flyers more quickly. After a difficult journey to Halifax in Canada via Iceland Arthur trained on Stearman PT-13s down at Lakeland in Florida before progressing to monoplanes. After being 'washed out' in Florida, Arthur trained as a Navigator back in Canada and subsequently returned to the UK where he completed advanced training, was allocated to Bomber Command and underwent 'conversion' to Lancasters at RAF Swinderby. In December 1942 Arthur was allocated to 97 Squadron based at RAF Woodhall Spa (coincidentally the town where I grew up, indeed my first job was as a waiter at the Petwood Hotel which served as the Officer's Mess during the war years).

One of the buildings which still stands at RAF Woodhall Spa

After teaming up with his new crew, which included pilot Jimmy Mullen, Arthur begun his operational career at the start of the new year (Sadly, Jimmy was killed on active service during his third Tour of Operations and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial). On Arthur's second operation over Dusseldorf in January 1943, the reality of war was writ large.

By the time we got to the target, the navigator's job was done. We would sit behind the pilot in a space blacked out with dividers and curtains so the route could be plotted in decent light. After my job was done, I pushed the curtain back and climbed through to the pilot. I was amazed to see the sky illuminated with searchlights and flak. I thought to myself 'can we really fly through that!'. I was scared at the time, but we all got used to it.

 After about 20 Operations from Woodhall Spa, 97 Squadron was chosen to join the Pathfinder Force. 3 crews were allocated to 617 Squadron (The Dambusters), several were stood down, and the rest of the men were posted with 97 Squadron to RAF Bourn where they undertook new training on the use of more sophisticated radar and bomb aiming. Their job would be to light up and mark targets. The former by using Target Indicators which were flares that ignited at 3,000 feet.

Avro Lancaster at RIAT in 2014

Arthur Spencer's life in medals and badges

In all Arthur would complete two Tours, one of 30 Operations and One of 15. just under half of these were with the Pathfinders. Many of the Operations that Arthur was involved with, are recounted in his book. Having visited Peenemunde in Germany a few years ago, I was particularly interested in hearing about Operation Hydra (17/18 August 1943). Peenemunde, near Rugen Island on the Baltic Coast was a special weapons establishment where V1 and V2 rockets were being developed under a cloak of secrecy.

At the briefing we were told that a new type of radar was being developed at Peenemunde. We were to hit the target in the following sequence: The living quarters of the scientists, the development works and the factory. We were also warned about a nearby Polish PoW Camp. It was the first raid to be conducted with a Master of Ceremonies (A Master Bomber who would oversee the target marking in real time). We were told that if we weren't successful, then we would need to go every night until it was!

 Eight mosquitoes were sent over Berlin to mark targets as a decoy, so as to keep the German night fighters busy. It worked, we got back safely. However, once the Luftwaffe knew was happening the night fighters tracked north and 40 Lancs were lost in subsequent waves. We did see one shot down 20 miles or so away over Flensburg, They must have gone off course and we watched as the aircraft was 'coned' by searchlight beams.

Peenemunde - now a 'dark' tourist attraction

Arthur Spencer's log-book showing Operation Hydra

Another memorable Operation was the bombing of Frederikshaven which was so far into Axis territory that the Lancasters flew on and landed in North Africa. On the way back to their home base at Bourn the Lancs dropped bombs on the Italian naval base at La Spezia. Arthur recalls the Lancaster pilots competing to get back to their bacon and egg breakfast at Bourn, with some encouragement from the CO.

I didn't want to outstay my welcome, so I will wait for the book to hear more, but to complete the wartime story, Arthur unsurprisingly turned down the opportunity to fly a third Tour and moved down to Foggia in Southern Italy as an instructor. Following the war he settled down to civilian life with his wife of 79 years Eva, and two daughters. Arthur worked for BOAC for a while before undertaking a successful career in education. 

The image below shows Arthur Spencer with members of the Bristol 'Independent Company' and various young relatives. Arthur delivered a fascinating Q&A style talk in June 2025.

Copyright: Phil Curme

Sadly, since writing this article, Arthur Spencer passed away. Yesterday (12 Feb, 2026), on what would have been Arthur's 105th birthday I, along with many other people who had known this remarkable man, joined the extended Spencer family for a memorial event at Somerset County Cricket Club. It was a tremendously moving occasion - a celebration of a life, well lived.

Arthur Spencer Memorial, Somerset County Cricket Ground

Details of Flight Lieutenant Arthur Spencer's book can be found here: A Pathfinder in the Peenemunde Raid

An account of my visit to Peenemunde is here: A Visit to Peenemunde

My portfolio of photos taken at the old RAF Woodhall Spa airfield in 2007 here: RAF Woodhall Spa