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Just a few feet apart in a cemetery like so many others, two simple war graves book-end Britain’s tragic First World War military toll.

They mark the final resting place of John Parr and George Ellison – the first and last British soldiers to die in combat in the devastating conflict that began 100 years ago this August.

Prime Minister Theresa May will lay a wreath at the graves of John Parr, the first UK soldier to be killed in 1914, and the last, George Ellison, who was killed at 9:30am before the armistice became effective at 11am.

Private Parr is thought to have been just 16 when he was shot dead by advancing German troops on the Belgium-France border on August 21, 1914.

Nearly a million more British and Commonwealth troops were to die by the time Private Ellison was killed just over an hour before the Armistice ceasefire at 11am on November 11, 1918.

Their burial together in Belgium’s Saint Symphorien cemetery is an ­extraordinary coincidence – but their stories illustrate the monumental horror faced by the ordinary citizens who became heroes in the “war to end all wars”.

John Parr’s age is listed as 20 in the official cemetery register – but like many enthusiastic young recruits he is thought to have lied about his age when he joined up in 1913.

The young golf caddy left his home in Finchley, North London, to join the Middlesex Regiment and was soon deployed to the Western Front.

He is thought to have been sent with another recruit on cycles to the village of Obourg, just north east of Mons, on a mission to locate the enemy.

It is believed the pair met a German cavalry patrol, and that Parr remained to hold off the enemy while his companion went to report back. He was killed in the ensuing rifle fire.

However, because British troops retreated to a new position Pte Parr’s body was left behind and his death was not officially reported until a year later.

His family were so devastated by grief at losing him that his name was rarely mentioned thereafter.

(Image: Alamy) (Image: AFP/Getty Images) (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

David Fensome, 72, from Harpenden, Herts, is one of his few surviving relatives. He said: “He was my great-uncle, but I don’t remember anything about him.

“We used to visit my grandmother, who was John’s sister, fairly often when I was a boy in the late 40s and 50s, but John was never mentioned.”

Ken Greenwood, 85, another great-nephew, said: “His name was never mentioned and there are no photographs or written records in the family of which I am aware, and I had never heard of him until recently.”

No picture of Pte Parr has ever been found. But campaigners at the Barnet War Memorials Initiative in North London are now appealing for

information to help build a clearer profile of this courageous young man.

Councillor Stephen Sowerby, from Barnet, is among those taking part in the appeal. He said: “It appears that John Parr was never mentioned in front of other family members. I guess that was their way of dealing with the grief.

“We know very little about how he died. We know his father collected his medals and memorial plaque, but my enquiries have drawn another blank in relation to these mementos.

“It’s almost like he has disappeared from history, which is why we are so keen to keep his memory alive, particularly here in Finchley where he was born and lived all his short life. He was a boy solider who was officially under age for combat duties when he was killed.

“His service record shows his regiment did not receive official notification of his death until the following year and he was awarded after his death the three standard First World War campaign medals.”

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

The Barnet initiative is raising funds for a memorial stone outside the hero’s former home. The North Middlesex Golf Club, where he was a caddy, plans to launch a John Parr Cup in his memory.

Like Pte Parr, George Ellison from Leeds was a regular soldier and part of the original British Expeditionary Force of 120,000 men shipped to mainland Europe in August 1914.

A former miner, married with a young son, Private Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers was tragically killed in the closing minutes of the war.

He was 36 years old and had probably been a regular soldier for more than a decade when he was posted to France.

He was among the first British troops to fight in trenches in late 1914 and may have witnessed the first use of poisoned gas by the Germans near Ypres, Belgium in April 1915.

He may also have fought in the ­devastating battle of the Somme from July to November 1916.

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

He is believed to have been wounded at least once but recovered in time to take part in the Allied advance to the Belgian border in the summer and autumn of 1918.

He was one of very few of the original foot-soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force who were still alive and fit to fight by the time the Armistice was signed.

Pte Ellison was far from alone – there were almost 11,000 casualties on the last day of the war.

He left a widow, Hannah, and their four-year-old son James.

James’s daughters Catherine and Marie, George’s granddaughters, went to Belgium in 2008 and laid white lilies on his grave after they heard how close he had come to surviving the war.

Catherine said: “It must have been terrible for my grandma. I suppose she must have been looking forward to him coming home.”

Marie said: “My grandma would mention him to me, usually on ­Remembrance Sunday when she used to get upset. She said he was a gentleman. We are very proud of him.”

The two heroes now rest in peace under the trees in the cemetery at Mons. While the details of their lives may have been lost in history, these brave men – and the sacrifice they made for their country – are not forgotten.