Looking for BMBR. H. L. PARNELL Royal Field Artillery Relatives

Found him !

First tablet on the left under Bombardiers


Cheers Owen and everyone else for your help

 

The 'MARQUETTE' Angels



23rd October 1915 - Aegean Sea

The thirty-one New Zealanders who died on Saturday 23 October 1915 when the Marquette went down are commentated on the Mikra Memorial. The Mikra Memorial, at the south end of Mikra British Cemetery, commemorates almost 500 nurses, officers and men of the Commonwealth forces who died when troop transports and hospital ships were lost in the Mediterranean, and who have no grave but the sea. They are commemorated here because others who went down in the same vessels were washed ashore and identified, and are now buried at Thessalonika. The two photographs directly below were kindly taken in 2005 by Nontas Meletiou of the Municipality of Kalamaria, Greece, for Victor Walter, Wellington, New Zealand, nephew of John Bruno Walter, a casualty of the Marquette tragedy.

The Mikra Memorial

To the glory of God and in reverent memory of the dead are inscribed her the names of one hundred and thirty five nurses officers and men of the United Kingdom and New Zealand drowned in the 'Marquette' transport torpedoed on the 23rd October 1915. Of eighty officers and men of the forces of the United Kingdom and India drowned in the 'Ivernia' transport torpedoed on the 1st January 1917. Of the eight officers and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps drowned in the hospital ship 'Britannic" sunk by a mine on the 21st November 1916. Of two men of the forces of the United Kingdom drowned from the hospital ship 'Braemar Castle' on the 23rd November, 1916 and of one sailor of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who perished in the Aegean Sea on the 22nd January 1918.
All these have no other grave than the sea.
"He discovereth deep things out of darkness
And Bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P>
There is a error on the Mikra Memorial Wall. Private McGee not Magee.Surname: McGEEGiven Name: James MichaelCategory Nominal Roll: Vol. 1Regimental Number: 3/605Rank: PrivateBody or Draft: No 1 NZ Sta HospitalUnit or Regiment: Medical CorpsMarital Status: SLast NZ Address: C/- Mrs Melbourne NelsonNext of Kin Title: BNext of Kin Surname: McGEENext of Kin Relationship: FatherNext of Kin Address: C/- Mr F Cook, Runanga, Greymouth</PRE>
</O:P>
Nine New Zealand Registered Staff Nurses Missing, Believed to be Drowned are commemorated on the Mikra Memorial.
22/ New Zealand Nursing Service
22/104 BROWN, Marion Sinclair. – Mrs J S Brown, Waimatuku, Southland (mother)
22/108 CLARK, Isabel – Miss Clark, Oamaru (sister)
22/118 FOX, Catherine – Miss M Fox, Auckland (sister)
22/73 GORMAN, Mary – J Gorman, Waimate (father)
22/125 HILDYARD, Nona M – Mrs B Hildyard, Lyttelton (mother)
22/130 ISDELL, Helena Kathleen, matron of Kumara Hospital – Miss Isdell, Greymouth (sister)
22/133 JAMESON, Mabel Elizabeth – Thomas Jameson, Kumara (father)
22/161 RAE, Mary Helen – Rubina Rae, CHCH (sister) age 36. b. at Rae's Junction, Otago
22/160 RATTRAY, Lorna A – Miss A F Rattray, Dunedin

One other, Staff Nurse Margaret ROGERS, 22/175, her body was found in a lifeboat by a Royal Navy minesweeper, was identified by her wrist-watch, was buried in the Mikra British Cemetery, grave 1833, in Salonika, eight kilometres south of Thessaloniki, in the municipality of Kalamaria, Greece where she had a naval funeral. Many girls, nurses, often had their name etched on the back of their fob watches. Staff Nurse Rogers trained at Christchurch in 1911 -1915.
ROGERS, Nurse Margaret was a prominent member of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Christchurch. She was a student volunteer for Foreign Missions and had offered her services as a trained nurse for work at the New Hebrides to assist Dr Bowie, when the eruption there brought the work to a close and changed her plans. She then took up district work under Nurse Maude. Thomas Rogers, Wainui, Banks Peninsula (father). In a recent letter Nurse ROGERS said “There is no romance about war; it spells suffering, hunger, filth. How thankful I am every day that I came to do what I could to help and relieve our brave boys.” [AWN 11.11.1915]
With a few exceptions the nurses were from the South Island. Upon the arrival of the various contingents of nurses in Egypt, the Auckland nurses were appointed to hospitals in Cairo and Alexandria and it was the nurses from Christchurch and Dunedin were given duty in Port Said, on the staff of the No.1 NZ Stationary Hospital. Five nurses who died had close ties with Waimate, South Canterbury, New Zealand. A contingent of 100 nurses left Wellington, NZ by the hospital ship Maheno and nine of those missing belonged to that first contingent. Only 644 New Zealand nurses served overseas during WW1.

<O:P>AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS 11 November 1915
Page 18</O:P>
<O:P>TWENTY-TWO MEN MISSING<O:P> </O:P>
BELIEVED TO BE DROWNED<O:P> </O:P>
The following list gives the service numbers, names, with next of kin, of the men who are missing and believed to be drowned on the transport Marquette, which was sunk by a torpedo on 23 October:<O:P> </O:P>
NZ MEDICAL CORPS<O:P> </O:P>


Sgt Major 3/6 BAKER Geoffrey Hugh ( – Mrs Blanche E Andrews, 273 Armagh St, Christchurch (sister)Private 3/564 BIRD James Samuel – James Bird, Waimate (father)Private 3/638 HERDMAN Robert Bruce – A D Herdman, builder, Timaru (father) [s/o Mr & Mrs PD Herdman]Private 3/894 FRICKER Basil Saxe – Misses M S & G Fricker, 316 Montreal St, ChristchurchPrivate 3595 KIRK Thomas Hugh – Mrs H Kirk, Lowestoft, EnglandPrivate 3/605 MAGEE James Michael – Bernard Magee, Taihape (father) [CWGC has his surname as McGee]Private 3/59 POLE Roland Alfred – J S Pole, Otaki (father)Private 3/916 PERRIN Clarence – A Perrin, Rangitikei Line, Palmerston North (father)Private 3/554 PICKERING William Campbell – Mrs Emily Francis (sic) Pickering, 11 Taft St, Wellington (wife)Cpl 3/614 PRATT Alfred Mason (Corporal) – J Pratt, Russell St, Invercargill (brother). S/o the late James Richard Pratt, of Herbert St., Invercargill. b. Wyndham. Age 29 .Private 8<O:P>/</O:P> 1320 REID Herbert John – Mrs C C Marsh, (formerly Reid),11 Duke St, DunedinSerjeant3/621 REMMETT Alfred Howard (Sergeant) – Mrs A H Remmett, 48 Cheltenham Rd, Devonport (wife)Private 3/623 RICHARDS Peter Gilbert – T F Richards, Queenstown (father). Son of Mrs. M. Richards, of Ness St., InvercargillPrivate 3/622 RHODES Charles Victor - s/o Mr. A. Rhodes, late of Devonport, AucklandPrivate 3/624 ROBINSON William Balmer - s/o James and Eleanor Robinson, (St Mary’s Road, Ponsonby) of Epsom, Auckland. Age 29Private 3/626 ROSS John Turnbull – John Ross, 43 Walter St, Carisbrook, Dunedin (father)Private 3/927 SMART William – Mrs Smart, 26 Arthur St, Dunedin (mother)Private 3/38 THOMPSON Clarence Dornford – H P Thompson, Upper Moutere, Nelson (father)Private 3/39 WALTER John Bruno – Mrs P E Walter, 42 Taft St, Brooklyn (mother)</PRE>AUCKLAND BATTALION
WESTAWAY, Private Walter Richard 12/154, age 29. – Son of Mrs. Elizabeth Westaway, of 34 Peter St., Ashton Gate. Bristol, England.</O:P>
WELLINGTON BATTALION
KIRK, Private Charles Ernest 10/1550 – Robert Butler, 32a Ormond Rd, Gisborne (cousin)<O:P> </O:P>
CANTERBURY BATTALION
DAVIS, Ernest – John Davis, Clyde, Central Otago (father)<O:P> </O:P>
WOUNDED
NICHOLSON, Claude Harold, NZ Medical Corps, fractured leg & arm - Mrs John F Thorn, Princes St, Invercargill (sister)<O:P> </O:P><O:P>Private Claude Harold NICHOLSON 3/913 N.Z. Medical Corps died on Friday 29 October 1915, Salonika was buried at sea. Brother of Angus Nicholson, of Gisborne, New Zealand. Commemorated on the Mikra Memorial, Greece.</O:P>
<O:P>Dr. Fergus Hay YOUNG, Lieutenant, attached to the 29th Div. Ammunition Col. Royal Army Medical Corps died on Saturday 23 October 1915 . Age 29. Son of John and Mary Young of "Fernbank", Kirkintilloch, Glasgow. After qualifying, he was in practice for some time in England, and afterwards proceeded to New Zealand. Kirechkoi- Hortakoi Military Cemetery, Greece.
Robert RAE, b. February 3, 1889, Fettercairn, KCD, Scotland. Second Engineer, "Marquette" (West Hartlepool), Mercantile Marine died on Saturday 23 October 1915. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Rae. Remembered with honour Tower Hill Memorial. The Tower Hill Memorial commemorates men of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both world wars and who have no known grave. The memorial stands on the south side of the garden of Trinity Square, London, close to the Tower of London.
Being single Robert gave his life to go below and open the sea cocks because the ship was going down at the bow. This meant the stern was out of the water and with the engines still going the propellers were turning and drawing lifeboats and survivors into the churning blades. By opening the sea cocks the stern would drop sink down again assisting the launch of lifeboats and the propellers would no longer be a problem. It is thought his parents received a citation from the King. Information courtesy of Ian Parrish. Posted July 13 2003.
HT 'Marquette'
The H.M.Transport S.S. Marquette, under command of Captain John Bell Findlay, left Alexandria Harbour, Egypt in the late afternoon on October 19 1915 for Salonica, Greece. Her departure was not run of the mill. A rousing send off with cheers and songs by British and French sailors manning warships in port was interrupted by a fault in the steering gear which caused the Marquette to suddenly swing round. A fire in a case on the deck caused a further diversion until it was thrown overboard. At dusk the transport was joined by its escort and the portholes were blacked out. The passengers and crew carried out lifeboat drills, as there were rumours there was German U-boats in the area.</O:P>
On the evening of the fourth day the escort, the French destroyer "Tirailleur", left the convey. At 0915 the next morning, October 23th Capt. Dave N. Isaacs NZMC (the Quatermaster) was out strolling on deck with several nurses and drew their attention to a "straight thin green line about 50 yards away streaking through the water towards the ship", a periscope was seen cutting the water, and a terrific explosion on the forward starboard side signalled the ship had been struck by a torpedo. At once the steamer Marquette began to list to port, but righted herself and then began to sink by the bow. Someone talked! Both in Cairo and Salonica the news that the Marquette had been struck was released some hours before the happening took place. She sank in thirteen minutes with a heavy loss of life - 128 troops including (17 NZMC staff), 10 nurses and 29 crewmen. Total loss 167. She had onboard 14 lifeboats and 35 rafts - combine carrying capacity 1196. Rafts and lifebouys were thrown overboard. No aeroplanes went to search, even though the Greeks who were not fighting had knowledge that the ship had been torpedoed down the Gulf of Salonica just in the entrance to the inner bay of Saloniki near the river of Axios. Why did the escort leave her? Maybe because she was practically in the harbour. She was due into port by midday on the 23rd.
She was a legitimate target carrying 22 officers and 588 other ranks of the 29th Division Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery with its vehicles and animals, and staff (8 officers, 9 NCO's, 77 other ranks of the NZMC), equipment and stores of the No. 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital including the thirty-six nurses of the NZANS as well as theHT Marquette crew (95). A total of 741. She was also loaded with ammunition and 541 animals including many horses and mules. She was torpedoed off Platanona Point, 30 to 36 miles (57.5 kilometres), south from the anti-submarine net at Salonica Bay, which would have meant safety, by the U.35 under Lt-Cdr Waldemar Kophamel. [Wartime Disasters at Sea by David Williams]
The NZANS lifeboat stations were forward with eighteen allotted each side. Some lifeboats were not lowered efficiently and overturned as they were launched. One of the lifeboats on the port side fell on another already in the water, and the nurses from that boat spilled out in the confusion, Catherine Fox was flung into the sea. Matron Cameron was severely injured and never fully recovered from her injuries. Eyewitnesses said Mary Gorman, a strong swimmer, saw this happen and knowing that her friend, Catherine, could not swim she jumped into the water to save her. They were not seen again. On the starboard side a boat filled with nurses was lowered at one end but not the other leaving it hanging vertically sending the occupants into the sea. This boat had to be abandoned as it had huge hole on one side. Other lifeboats were not seaworthy, as they had been damaged by the mules on board. Many of the deaths and injures to the nurses were due to inexperienced men (soldiers helping out as some crew members had not turned up at their stations for various reasons) lowering the lifeboats and the angle of the sinking ship.
"When we were precipitated so suddenly into the sea we must have been drowned had we been without lifebelts. A large hole was driven into our boat. When we dragged ourselves into the lifeboat it soon filled and swamped. All were tipped into the water again. The sea was full of soldiers struggling for rafts and bits of wreckage. We were swamped again and again until exhausted. It was pitiful to see the nurses and soldiers tiring in their frantic struggles and finally releasing their grasp on the gunwale, floating for a few seconds and then slowly sinking without a murmur."
Only one lifeboat filled with nurses managed to get away and that was half filled with water. The survivors floated for hours in intense cold clinging to rafts, debris, etc, before being picked up utterly exhausted by rescue ships.
"We clung to our boat seemingly for an endless period, suffering intensely from the increasing exhaustion and only holding on by sheer strength of will. Then a hospital ship steamed up and picked up the survivors."
By the time the ship was almost on her side the second officer shouted "Every man over the side." Some of the survivors were in the water until 1700 hours. "It was a long day," said one medical officer who was picked up by a French vessel. "Some died just as the ships were approaching." Major Acland who later became a prominent surgeon in Christchurch was picked up after seven hours. Survivors were given dry clothes, hot drinks and brandy. It is said that one nurse was saved because her veil - the regulation head-dress - was seen floating on the surface of the water. The New Zealand Nurses serving in World War One wore pantaloons, two petticoats, a starched grey dress with a long full skirt, long sleeves and a stiff collar and cuffs, a full length starched white apron, a red cape and a white veil and their NZRN medal and their NZANZS badge. On 29 October the surviving New Zealand nurses left Salonika for Alexandria.
The International Press circulated a story that the nurses had requested the rescuers to "take the fighting men first." It had great public appeal but it turned out that some of the nurses were taking turns keeping Alf a NZMC nursing orderly afloat as he was at the end of his tether! The wave from the rescue vessel "Tirailleur" [290] swept him away and the nurses were too exhausted to go after him so a nurse ask the sailors to "pick up that man first". They did and worked on him for three hours before he came round. The destroyer H.M.S. Lynn [170] and the French destroyer "Mortier" [90] also picked up survivors.
Survivors gave evidence at the enquiry held at Salonika. What increased the chances of being torpedoed ?
a. The ship was outside territory waters
b. She was travelling only at 9 knots [max speed 14 knots]. U-boats travel at 9 knots submerged.
c. She was not zigzagging.
d. The escort left her three hours earlier.
e. Sailing instructions were not clear. Route A was changed to route B just before sailing from Alexandria
f. Was Lt. Colonel McGavin advised that the hospital was going to be travelling on an ammunition/troop ship through dangerous waters?
"Private T. Hartigan somehow got a butter box on a plank and sat on the box blowing his bugle for all he was worth! It was a marvellous comfort, I can tell you." wrote L.D. Haggett.
The Marquette, official number 106972, was a 7,057 gross ton ship, length 486.5ft x beam 52.3ft, x31.3ft, one funnel, four masts, single screw, triple-expansion engines, 770 NHp and a speed of 14 knots. There was accommodation for 120-1st class passengers. Built in 1897 by A. Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow as the Bodicea for Wilson's and Furness-Leyland Line, she was launched on 25th Nov.1897. She was then sold to the Atlantic Transport Line in 1898. On 15th Sep.1898 she was renamed. Chartered to the Red Star Line with accommodation for 120-2nd class passengers. She was then employed as a British war transport and painted grey. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.3, p.1090]

Alexandria (Egypt) to Salonika (Greece) is a distance of 704 miles.
Salonika is 8km s. of Thessaloniki
The tragedy of the incident was that it need not have happened. The British Hospital Ship "Grantilly Castle", commissioned 1st May 1915 at Malta as a hospital ship with 552 beds, left Alexandria the same day for Salonika and travelled EMPTY! Many of the survivors were treated on board the "Grantilly Castle" at Salonika. After this calamity all medical units were transported by hospital ship and this practice continued during the Second World War.

 

Lothar von Arnauld Ace of U-Boats

WWI Submarine Captain Sank More Ships than any man in History




<LINK href="http://images.suite101.com/407953_com_kptlt.lotharvonarnaulddelaperire.jpg" rel=image_src>
The Submariner's Ace of Aces has to be Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, the gentleman skipper of U-35 that sank almost 200 ships in World War One.


Born during 1886 in Posen (now part of Poland) in what was then Prussia, Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere was from a long line of warriors. His great grandfather was a Frenchman who had served that legend of Teutonic military history, Fredrick the Great and was rewarded with the rank of General. Von Arnauld joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1903 after attending the Naval Academy. There he served on a series of warships including the cruiser Emden and then as an aide to the General Staff just before the outbreak of war. When the Great War erupted in 1914, he requested assignment to the U-boat arm after being turned down by the Zeppelin service. He went through U-boat school in the calm waters of the Baltic and then headed to his first command, U-35 and her 35 man crew in November 1915.
Von Arnauld’s boat was large and new. Her 65m (213feet) long hull could be propelled as fast as 16knots, faster than most merchant ships of the day. Her reliable diesel engines made her capable of a 9000-mile combat patrol. She carried six torpedoes and a 105mm deck gun with 300 rounds. After a series of mishaps including almost being sunk by a British decoy ship, he began to rack up a string of one sided victories. His former gunnery service on cruisers showed in the fact that he preferred using his deck gun while surfaced instead of his ships torpedoes- the submarines traditional weapon. In all, Von Arnauld only fired four torpedoes across his wartime career and more than 3000 round from his deck gun. He made a further 14 war patrols in U-35 from November 1915- May 1918.. These patrols were mainly in the Mediterranean Sea although he did pass through the Straits of Gibraltar once and sink a number of ships in the eastern Atlantic. On these patrols he engaged and sank 189 merchant vessels along with the British sloop HMS Primula, and the French gunboat Rigel totaling more than 446,708 tons in combined weight. This included no less than 54 ships in one four week period in 1916.
He was praised in the German press and given the adoration of a Kaiser looking for heroes. He was awarded first the Iron Cross 2nd class, then 1st class, then the rare Pour Ie Merite (Blue Max) and finally made a noble knight of the House Order of Hohenzollern. The Kaiser even sent him an autographed picture of himself along with a handwritten royal letter of commendation. Von Arnauld said of his war record- "My cruise was quite tame and humdrum...We stopped ships. The crews took to the boats. We examined the ships' papers, gave sailing instructions to the nearest land, and then sank the captured prizes.”
In May 1918 he was recalled to Germany given command of the larger U-139 in which he sank a further five allied ships in the North Atlantic before surrendering that boat to the British at the end of the War. He was then and remains to this day the Ace of Aces among submarine commanders. The next closest man to his record was another German, Otto Kretschmer, who accounted for 56 ships and 313,616 tons in World War Two. After Kretschmer, only USN Captain Richard O'Kane who was credited with sinking 31 Japanese ships to total 227,800 tons in World War Two even comes close.

 

Contacted Mathew Anderson on Genesreunited who has several matches for the names on the 1901 census


Peter

How do you delete a post ?

 

Contacted Mathew Anderson on Genesreunited who has several matches for the names on the 1901 census


Peter
<HR style="COLOR: #ffffff; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1>Last edited by peterhastie; Today at 07:59 AM.

 

The article goes in Tuesdays paper. I'm going to see if anything happens from that if not I'll try and track forward in time from his two sisters and brother.

Peter can you PM me any info.

Cheers
Andy

 

Here's the internet version from the newspaper.
SOUTH LONDON PRESS TODAY | NEWS | WW1 medal found in Catford allotment

My sister told me they have done a half page spread so I'll photograph it and post it on here when I get a copy.

Cheers

 

Good result Andy. Let's hope it leads to some contact with a family member.

 

Any news Drew ? I was wondering, do you have a metal detector because there's a good chance that 'Squeak' and 'Wilfred' are out there too and maybe the Death Plaque ?

It's a sad fact that when houses were cleared in the sixties and seventies, anything that wasn't an 'antique' was thrown on the bonfire and that usually included an old cigar box with some medals and buttons in.

I have a WW1 pair issued to 24200 Edward Holloway, Northamptonshire Regiment. I know the house that they came from when he died in the 1970s and that they were offered to the family at the time but they weren't interested.

 

Not heard a dickie bird Rich.

I no longer live in Catford (250 miles away and parents around 80 miles) so no chance of going over the allotement again. I wondered if it was grandchildren playing soldiers with them and lost it on the waste ground before it became an allotement. The area was also bombed during the blitz so that may be another reason.

I think this may have to be a census thing which I was hoping to avoid.

 

Two 'undred an' fifty mile frum Sarf Lunnen an' still talkin' rhymin' slang ? Blindin' mate !

Strangely I read a post on the Historic Military Vehicle forum where the poster referred to losing his father's WW2 campaign stars on the bomb sites of the East End playing 'Cowboys and Indians' - He used them as Sherrif's stars !

I rather thought that your star looked as if it had seen a bit of heat. My Grandfather used to do house clearances and most of my collection of burned buttons came to me searching through the remains of bonfires. His favoured technique was to dig a big pit and burn everything in it - leather bound books that the dealers didn't want, furniture with woodworm, the lot.

 

Owen, Only If I can go on my Bike

The annoying thing is I was in Thessaloniki in 2002

You may well be correct Rich...It does have a mark/scar on the rear

 

Of course you can go on your bike mate ! It's far too far to walk.

How about looking out for a Triumph Model H or a nice 'fore and aft' Douglas and riding there for the 100th anniversary of his loss ? You'd better leave soon !

 

I've only had one email from a well wisher which I thought was nice

 

Has anyone got membership on Genes Reunited that could send a message to a member for me?

They want me to pay £10 to email a possible living relative which I rather not pay thank you

The message is:

Subject: Herbert Parnell (1897)
Hi Matthew,

Can you confirm if you had relatives living in Sangley Road Catford around the time of WW1 1914-1918?

I'm trying to trace a living relative of H.L. Parnell who was killed during WW1.

Please let me know either way so I can cross this line of inquiry off my list. You can contact me on drew5233@hotmail.com

Many thanks
Andy

Cheers if anyone can help. I searched Herbet Parnell born in Camberwell on 1897.

 

Hello Drew,
ref your query on Herbert Parnell, nobody has that name on their tree, on Genes Reunited, tracked his bother Horace, he died in 1981, his daughter Sheila Verona Parnell died in May 2004, she married I think someone with the surname Rowley, but cannot confirm that marriage.
Ken.

 

Cheers Ken,

Herbert died in 1915 so may be missing or unknown at this time.

Peter has sent me a PM to say he has mailed a chap called Matthew who appears to have set up the family tree.

Fingers crossed and all that

Cheers all

 

Wooooooowhooooooo !

Just got this email


Andy

I have just read your Genes contact, not been paying much attention to my family research having just moved house.
Until i call my wife's Nan to confirm the address of Catford i won't know - it's a little late at 9:45ish to call her now (shame as i am very excited!).
I have however read the WW2talk forum article and seen the 1901 census of which i am already awae of - don't understand where Verrieres has got Ivy from though?!
If this is the same - which is likely - then Herbert Parnell is my wife's Great Uncle through the lineage of his sister May Henrietta Parnell.
Found this on the CWGC website

Casualty Details

Name:PARNELL, HERBERT LESLIE
Initials:H L
Nationality:United Kingdom
Rank:Bombardier
Regiment/Service:Royal Field Artillery
Unit Text:4th Lowland Bde.
Age:19
Date of Death:23/10/1915
Service No:656
Additional information:Son of Horace David Parnell, of 165, Sangley Rd., Catford, London.
Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
Memorial:MIKRA MEMORIAL

Found this on Ancestry.co.uk

UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
about Herbert Leslie Parnell


Name:Herbert Leslie Parnell
Birth Place:Camberwell, S.E. Residence:Lewisham, S.E.
Death Date:23 Oct 1915
Rank:BDR.
Regiment:Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery
Battalion:Territorial Force.
Number:656
Type of Casualty: Died.
Theater of War:Copenhagen

so chances are he is one and the same - if so, his sisters husband fought in WW1 and losta leg - not much known on that as apparently he never talked about the war as did so many.

Will keep you informed.

Matt