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Parker, David Shirley, son of John Anthony Parker, solicitor, of Bromley, Kent, and Ethelwyn, d. of Samuel Arthur Stanger of Bromley; b. 18 Dec. 1916; adm. Sept. 1930 (R); left Dec. 1933; arti­cled to a solicitor; RAFVR 1941-3 (Flt Lieut.), 51st Bomber Sqdn; m. 20 Aug. 1941 Moira McNeill of Kildonan, I. of Arran; killed on active service 24 Sept. 1943.

David Shirley Parker was born at Bromley, Kent on the 18th of December 1916 the only son of John Anthony Parker, a solicitor, and Ethelwyn (nee Stanger) Parker of “Packwood”, 10, Homefield Road, Bromley. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1930 to December 1933. He was a member of the 4th Rowing VIII in 1933. On leaving school he became an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors. He was a member of Bromley Cricket Club and was an Assistant Scout Master with the St John’s Troop, 14th Bromley Scouts. He was also a member of the local amateur dramatic group, the Quavers, appearing in several of their productions.
He attended No. 5 Air Crew Selection Board on the 3rd of July 1940 where he was selected for pilot training. He enlisted as Aircraftman 2nd Class 1255393 in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at No. 1 Reception Centre, Uxbridge on the 6th of July 1940. Six days later he reported to Blackpool for his basic training. On the 6th of September 1940 he was posted to No. 3 Initial Training Wing at Torquay and completed his initial training on the 6th of November 1940 when he was promoted to Leading Aircraftman. He was posted to No. 3 Service Flying Training School at South Cerney where he trained on both single and twin engined aircraft. He was awarded his Wings and was promoted to Sergeant on the 14th of June 1941. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 15th of June 1941. He was then posted to No. 2 School of Air Navigation at RAF Squires Gate before being posted to No. 12 Operational Training Unit at RAF Benson on the 23rd of August 1941, but soon transferred to No. 19 Operational Training Unit at RAF Kinloss where he converted to Whitleys.
He was married on the 20th of August 1941 to Flight Officer Moira (nee McNeill) of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
He was posted to 51 Squadron on the 19th of November 1941 where he flew on his first operation against enemy shipping in the harbour at Brest on the 17th of December.
He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 15th of June 1942.
David Parker and his crew took off from RAF Chivenor 5.24am on the 20th of June 1942 in Whitley Mk V BD191 for an anti submarine sortie and was carrying a load of depth charges and bombs. At 8.05am they received a message diverting them to search for the crew of a Wellington aircraft which had come down in the sea. The aircraft was flying at 1,000 feet towards the Scilly Isles when the port engine developed a glycol leak. The aircraft descended to 500 feet where the bomb load was jettisoned and the port engine feathered. At 100 feet the aircraft stalled and hit the water with the crew managing to board the life raft before the aircraft sank four minutes later. They were rescued two hours later and were landed at St Mary’s on the Scilly Isle at 4.30pm.
On the 24th of September 1942, David Parker and his crew were having a rest day, having been stood down from operations for the day. That morning the operations room called to request a crew to take off and to search for a dinghy which had been reported as having been seen in the Bristol Channel, between Lundy Island and Cardiff. As Parker and two of his crew were nearby when the call came in to the flight office they quickly boarded Whitley Mk V Z9425 and called for two members of the ground crew to join them. They took off from RAF Chivenor and once airborne they began searching the Channel and working their way eastwards. Having been airborne for two hours the rear gunner reported that there was a glycol leak in the port engine and that white smoke was trailing past his turret. David Parker shut down the port engine to avoid it overheating. With the aircraft flying at 1,500 feet he decided to return to base and crossed the coast between Lynton and Porlock but before they had gone much further the starboard engine began to backfire and to overheat. He told the crew that he was going to make a forced landing and seeing a field ahead he warned them to brace themselves. The aircraft crash landed at North Horridge Farm near the village of Chelfham, and one mile to the east of Chelfham viaduct with the front half of the aircraft being reduced to a tangled mass of wreckage when it crashed through a hedge and into a sunken road, killing David Parker and the two ground crewmen who had been with him in the cockpit.
The rear gunner was in the bomb bay area when the aircraft crashed and was injured but was rescued and was assisted away from the aircraft by the son of the farmer who had seen the aircraft crash. Having placed the rear gunner a safe distance from the aircraft, he returned to it to find the wireless operator crawling out of it injured, but alive. The two injured men were taken to North Devon Infirmary.
The crew was: -
Flight Lieutenant David Shirley Parker (Pilot)
Corporal Robert Victor Doak (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Corporal Harry Todd (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Sergeant Eric Ford Goodwin (Rear Gunner) (Injured/Survived)
Sergeant Hugh Alan Roberts (Wireless Operator) (Injured/Survived) (Killed in action 13th May 1943)
He is commemorated on the Boy Scouts Roll of Honour.
He is commemorated at Plymouth City Crematorium Panel 5.

Parker, Edmund, fifth son of Thomas Parker, of Balderton Hall, Myddle, Salop, by Margaret Ann, daughter of Thomas R. Parry, of Wrexham, co. Denbigh; b. Feb. 17, 1893; adm. Sept. 26, 1907 (R); left July 1910; L/Cpl. 5th Batt. the London Rifle Brigade; went out to the western front Nov. 1914; killed in action near Ypres, Flanders, May 13, 1915; unm.

Parkyn, Roderick William, son of Percy Arthur William Parkyn of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, and Antoinette Emma Wilhelmina, d. of Dr Ludvig Lieblein of Teplitz-Schoncali, Czechoslovakia; b. 1 May 1911; adm. Apr. 1925 (R); left July 1929; Trin. Coll. Camb., matric. 1929, BA 1932, MA 1936; MIMechE; chairman Daniel Adamson & Co., engineers, Dukinfield, Cheshire; JP 1958; m. 16 Aug. 1952 Patricia Anne, d. of Lieut.-Col. Charles Mytton Thorneycroft CBE DSO, of Breinton, Herefordshire; d. 29 Jan. 1977.

Parsons, John Cairns, son of J.R. Parsons, of Bayswater; b. Dec. 7, 1891; adm. Sept. 27, 1906 (R); left July 1908; served in Great War I; Capt. 3rd Batt. Suffolk Regt. Sept. 3, 1916, attached M.G. Coy. Sept. 29, 1916; m. Gwenyth Misselbrooke.

Parsons, William Longsdon, son of Ernest Parsons, of London, by Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick Longsdon, of Beighton, co. Derby; b. Sept. 15, 1900; adm. SPpt. 25, 1913 (R); left March 1918; Caius Coll. Camb., matric. Easter 1918; farmed in South Rhodesia; 2nd Lieut. R.A.S.C. July 27, 1942; d. 1984.

Pashley, Robert, only son of Robert Pashley, of Rotherham, Yorks, solicitor; b. Oct. 12, 1880; adm. May 3, 1894 (R); left Dec. 1899; enlisted in the Beds Regt.; served in Great War I with M.G.C., a member of the Herefordshire County Council from 1919 and Alderman from 1936; J.P. Herefordshire 1938; a member of the Wye Conservancy Board from 1914 and chairman 1940-9; a fisherman of amazing skill, who in 1936 landed 678 salmon of a total weight of nearly five tons, and a well-known breeder of Old English game-cocks; of Kerne Lodge, Walford, Herefordshire; m. July 10, 1902, Mary, youngest daughter of Thomas Marrian, of Thurcroft Hall, Yorks; d. July 1, 1956.

Paton, John Llewellyn, son of David Llewellyn Paton FRICS, of Hampstead, and Madeleine, d. of William Rupert Scott of Chelsea; b. 26 Apr. 1912; adm. Jan. 1926 (R); left Dec. 1929; Army Gen. List, attd Special Forces 1941-5 (Capt.), Staff Capt. War Office 1945-6; a land agent; m. 15 Mar. 1946 Mary Howman Hartley, d. of A. D. Marshall of Bournemouth; d. 1992.

Paulson, Godfrey Martin Ellis, son of Lieut.-Col. Peter Paulson OBE, Manchester Regt and Roy. Signals, and Mary Gertrude, d. of Henry Ellis MD, of Shipley Hall, Bradford; b. 6 July 1908; adm. May 1922 (R); left July 1927; Peterhouse Camb., matric. 1927, BA 1930, MA 1940; HM Colonial Service, asst DC Gold Coast Colony 1930-2; adm. a solicitor Feb. 1936, practised in London; Lieut. Manchester Regt June 1939; GSO2 N. Africa and NW Europe, and Military Mission to Free French; Lieut.-Col. 1945; OBE 1945; Control Commn Germany 1945, Austria 1946; HM Foreign Service 1946, Vice-Consul Venice 1948-9, 2nd and 3rd Sec. Stockholm 1949-53, 1st Sec. Singapore and SE Asia 1953-7, Beirut 1957-60, Rome 1961; Asst Under Sec. FO 1962-6, CB 1966; Consul-Gen. Nice 1966-70, retd 1970; Order of St Charles, Monaco, 1981; m. 25 Aug. 1936 Patricia, d. of Sir Hugh Murray CIE CBE, Forestry Commissioner, of Bramshaw, Hants; d. 31 July 1990.

Payne, Cecil James, son of Walter Cecil Payne, accountant, of Perak, Malay States, and Mary Car­oline Sarah, d. of Charles Hall of Cape Town; b. 5 July 1905; adm. Sept. 1919 (R); left Aug. 1922; King's Coll. Lond., BSc 1925; an expert in gemstones and pearls; RA in WW2, served 8th Army in N. Africa; m. 1933 Enid May Slattery of Newport, Mon.; d. 20 Apr. 1980.

Peattie, David Maxwell, son of John Davidson Peattie CBE MIEE, Chief Engineer, Central Electricity Authority, and Doris May, d. of Sir William Walker MIEE MIMechE LLD, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancs; b. 8 Feb. 1925; adm. Sept. 1938 (R); left July 1943; Trin. Coll. Camb., matric. 1943; RNVR 1944-7 (Lieut. ); chartered accountant, ACA 1961, FCA; m. Mirza Alma Riva, d. of Franz Anton Heimann MD LRCP, med. practitioner, of Bournemouth, Dorset; d. 1 Oct. 1993.