CHAPTER ONE 
DOWN IN THE FOREST.

It was in the spring of 1911 that the boat pulled away from the quay leaving England behind. The ship was about to start on it's seven week voyage across the world to New Zealand. 
Amongst the passengers on board was a Captain in the Grenadier Guards, John Bertram Parks, my father. Father was on his way to serve on loan to the New Zealand Army as a Military Instructor. Also on board was twenty four year old Elsie Maud Everett Spears Batchelor Hawkins Hasloch. Elsie was returning to her home in Wellington after visiting relatives in Scotland. 
On board ship, the pair were to meet up and soon fell in love. 
After a short engagement, on August 5th 1912 they were married at St. Augustine's Church at Petone near Wellington. It was in June of the following year, 1913, that the first of their four children, Bertram Hasloch, was born. The family settled down at their new home in Rotarua. 
This peaceful and rustic existence was not however to last for very long. There were rumbles of unrest in Europe and soon the First World War exploded, Britain and Germany were in a state of hostility. The time was fast approaching for John Bertram to do his duty as a soldier of the King. 
It was about a year after the outbreak of the war that John took his battalion to fight in Turkey. 
In the ensuing battles John was wounded at Gallipoli. In all he was wounded three times, in the shoulder, ankle and thigh. During the action in these battles he gained the Military Cross and was mentioned in dispatches on three occasions. 
In order to convalesce after his injuries, father was posted to Egypt. There he acted as liaison officer between the authorities and visiting archaeologists. This fascinating job meant that he was present at the opening of a number of newly found tombs. 
By 1916, having recovered from his injuries and with promotions behind him, he now held the rank of Lt. Colonel. The fighting continued in France to where he was now posted, there to fight in the trenches at Messines Ridge and in the Ypres Salient.
Being a regular soldier, at the end of the war John remained in the army. He was duly posted to Ireland to help settle the troubles with the newly emerging 'Sin Fein'. By now there was another son, Charles. The whole family accompanied John to his new posting at Dublin. Over the next year, the situation in Ireland deteriorated.