He enlisted as a Private in the Artists Rifles and went out to France, but was immediately hospitalised for three months with a serious illness contracted from drinking contaminated water.
On the opening day of the Third Battle of Ypres, 1 August, the battalion's pre-dawn approach march was disrupted by heavy shelling and a guide who got lost.
[5] After returning from the war, he went back to Oxford to complete his degree in Theology, and did so, despite catching measles in the middle of his final exams.
He then went on to study for ordination in the Anglican Church, and spent the next 12 years on the continent as an activist in organizations that promoted international cooperation.
His life's work amounted not only to hundreds of articles and twenty-three books, among them The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue (1934), his magnum opus, but also to social activism.
[citation needed] After a period of ill-health, Parkes was eager to pass his library and Judaica collection on so it could be used by future generations.
[9] It has continued to grow, and is now one of the largest Jewish documentation centres in Europe, with over 30,000 books and journals, published from the 15th century to the present day.
[8] Parkes' papers were later donated to the University of Southampton Special Collections and can be viewed at the Hartley Library archive.
[8] The Institute is now an established academic research centre which teaches undergraduates, postgraduates, and doctoral candidates alongside a public outreach programme and a range of events and seminars.