CAPT A. H. PARSONS
------------------
Born: Q2 1882 BridgnorthRD [GRO] Bapt St Mary, M, 3 May 1882, Parents Henry and Alice Grace.
Married: Possibly, Q3 1911, Bridgnorth RD Alfred H Parsons, Gladys M Maddison. [GRO]
[1891] Rectory, East Castle Street, Bridgnorth: Henry Parsons, M 53, Clerk in Holy Orders, Tamworth, Staffs.
						Alice G, wife, m, 47, Somerset, Taunton.
						Beatrice M, dau, 2, 21, Llandaff, Cardiff.
						Ethel G, dau, s, 19, Llandaff, Cardiff.
						Alfred H, son, 8, Salop, Bridgnorth.
						Annie M Bedford, Cousin, 40, Lancs, Padgate.
						plus 3 female servants.

[1901] visitor at Baschurch, Shropshire. Head is Thomas John Rider, C of E clergyman. Alfred Henry Parsons, single, 18, Undergraduate Oxford Univ. b. Bridgnorth. [so b. abt 1882]. 


Captain Alfred Henry Parsons. Ghurkas (killed in
action on March 8), was the only son of the Rev Henry
Parsons, formerly rector of St Mary Magdalene.
Bridgnorth. Shropshire, now hon. assistant priest at
Folkestone Parish Church. Educated at St. Michael's
College Shrewsbury School, and Keble College. Ox-
ford, he obtained a University commission in the Royal
Irish Rifles, subsequently transferring to the Rajputs,
and later to the Ghurkas, being gazetted captain in
June. 1912. [Newcastle Journal, Thursday 30 March 1916]

PARSONS, ALFRED HENRY
Rank: Captain
Date of Death: 08/03/1916
Age: 34
Regiment/Service: 9th Gurkha Rifles 2nd Bn.
Panel Reference Panel 51.
Memorial BASRA MEMORIAL
Additional Information: Son of the Rev. H. Parsons; husband of Gladys H. Parsons, of "Sheridan", Denmark Rd., Guildford.

[Possibly killed during Battle of Dujaila Redoubt, 7-9 Mar, 1916, - part of the effort to lift the Siege of Kut.]

Historical Information
The Basra Memorial commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known. The memorial was designed by Edward Warren and unveiled by Sir Gilbert Clayton on the 27th March 1929.
Until 1997 the Basra Memorial was located on the main quay of the naval dockyard at Maqil, on the west bank of the Shatt-al-Arab, about 8 kilometres north of Basra. 
Because of the sensitivity of the site, the Memorial was moved by presidential decree. The move, carried out by the authorities in Iraq, involved a considerable amount of manpower, transport costs and sheer engineering on their part, and the Memorial has been re-erected in its entirety.
The Basra Memorial is now located 32 kilometres along the road to Nasiriyah, in the middle of what was a major battleground during the first Gulf War.
The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with.

The battle honours of the 9th Gorkha rifles are :
World War I : La Bassee, Festubert, Armentieres, Givenchy, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Loos, France and Flanders, Tigris, Kut-al-Amara, Mesopotamia,

BJ: 25 Mar 1916: Killed in action in Mesopotamia. Alfred Henry Parsons, age 33, only son of Rev. H Parsons, former Rector of St. Mary's and Mrs Parsons. See article. 
BJ: 1 April 1916.