Charles Douglas Parsons

Story:
Charles Douglas Parsons was born at Enmore Green, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 16th June 1896, and baptised there on 11 Oct 1896 the son of John Parsons and Elizabeth Harriet Parsons (née Pike).  He lived all his life, apart from Military Service, in the Shaftesbury area.   He enlisted and joined the Hampshire Regiment as a Private (Service No. 0386).  He later transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 17303).  It is not known in which theatre he served but on his discharge he was awarded the Victory and British War medals.   The 1921 Census shows him living with his parents at The Firs, Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, working as a Roadman for the Dorset County Council. (The Census also shows the parents were fostering two children from the C of E Waifs and Strays Society.) His marriage to Lilian Edith Brickell was registered in Shaftesbury, Dorset, during 1922. By the 1939 Register he was living at 3 Mustons Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset, and was working as a Road Foreman as well as being a Volunteer attached to the Shaftesbury Fire Brigade as 2nd Officer.   He was living at 20 Bimport, Shaftesbury, at the time of his death on 19th November 1976 following which he was buried at the United Reform Church, Mustons Lane, Shaftesbury.  His brothers, Harry Stanley Parsons and William John Parsons, also served.