LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Peter PARKINSON
Service No: 429992
Born: Port Augusta SA, 24 April 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942
Unit: No. 80 Squadron, Noemfoor Island
Died: Air Operations (No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-688), Waroe Bay, Netherlands East Indies, 13 October 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry James Everingham and Olive Emily Victoria Parkinson, of Adelaide, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
When pulling back from a bombing run during a shipping sweep in Waroe Bay on 13 October 1944, Kittyhawk A29-688 was seen to turn on its back and crash into the ground, exploding on impact. The aircraft or the pilot, Flying Officer Parkinson, is considered to have been hit by anti-aircraft fire.
The No. 80 Squadron members of the section conducting the sweep were:
Flight Sergeant (later Flying Officer) Gordon Cornelius Dengate (424388) Discharged from the RAAF: 30 July 1946.
Flying Officer (later Flight Lieutenant) Douglas MacDonald Craig (416832) Discharged from the RAAF: 17 July 1949.
Flying Officer Peter Parkinson (416992)
Warrant Officer Peter Waters (410186) Died as a Prisoner of War: 31 March 1945.
Warrant Officer William Emerson Gilmore (8685) (No. 80 Squadron) was lost the following day during the search for Flying Officer Parkinson.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 166
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Spitfire, Mustang and Kittyhawk in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1988