ERNEST PARBERY 

Son of Albert and Mary Jane Parbery, of 94, Flag Lane, Crewe. Ernest was an only child, born in 1896. He entered the works offices as an apprentice in September 1910. He joined the Liverpool Pals in November 1915 and qualified as a bombing instructor at Ripon. He was promoted to Sergeant and later was recommended for a Commission. He was sent to the cadet school at Fermoy in Ireland for training as an officer. He was eventually gazetted Second Lieutenant and in July came home on a short leave. On the 16th of September he was drafted to the front. He was killed in action at Havrincourt Wood near Cambrai. A brother officer, 2nd Lt J. McCutcheon in a letter to his parents wrote “I sympathise with you very deeply and in your son I have lost a personal friend. I was with him in the cadet school in Fermoy. He joined the battalion the day before I did. We were sent into action together in the same company. Your son died very gallantly leading his platoon through a heavy barrage. The end came quickly, he suffered no pain, it was a swift passing from one world to another.“ The Crewe Chronicle of 26th October 1918 printed these words and other tributes made by colleagues from the works including the works manager, Captain Beames. Parbery’s father, Albert, was an engine fitter having joined the works in April 1885 and went on to become a licensed victualler. Albert died in Crewe in 1958, and his wife Mary in 1959. 

Research by Colin Haynes.




De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour Vol 5. Page 135.