Remembering World War II

Maynard Annand Parker Flying Officer J/43631 58 RAF Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force April 27, 1925 Mount Uniacke, Hants. Co., NS November 23, 1942 Halifax, NS 17 5 fett, 7½ inches Dark Hazel Brown Single Electrician’s Helper United Maynard Roy Parker (Father) Mount Uniacke, Hants. Co., NS April 24, 1945 19 Odder Churchyard, Denmark Grave 29 Commemorated on Page 552 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on November 19 Flying Officer Maynard Annand Parker was the son of Maynard Roy Parker (1893–1984) and Eva Madge (Cochrane) Parker ((1892–1984) of Mount Uniacke, Hants Co., Nova Scotia. He was the brother of Richard Mackenzie King Parker(1921–2009) who served overseas with the Canadian Army during WWII. Maynard Parker completed his grade XII in 1942 at the Windsor Academy and was a member of 106th Cadet Corps Windsor in 1941-1942. Just prior to his enlistment, he was employed as an Electrician’s Helper with the Canadian Comstock Company at HMCS Cornwallis. Following training in Canada with the RCAF, Maynard Parker left Canada on November 24, 1944 and disembarked in the United Kingdom on December 5, 1944. On March 19, 1945 he was taken on strength with 58 RAF Squadron. In December 1942, 58 Squadron moved to RAF Holmsley South in Hampshire and converted to the Handley Page Halifax in January 1943. When Flying Officer Parker joined the Squadron the squadron was carrying out attacks on German shipping off the coast of Norway. On the night of April 23/24, 1945, Flying Officer Parker was the Navigator on Halifax aircraft JP336 that took off on anti-shipping strike in the Skagerrak and Kattegat and failed to return from the patrol. When the aircraft was about to make an attack off the coast of Denmark, a hit by flak set the bomb-bay petrol tank alight. This soon set the aircraft ablaze and the pilot decided to ditch into the sea. Only the pilot, the second pilot, and two wireless operators managed to get away from the burning aircraft. the second pilot died in the dingy and the three others were picked up by the Germans the following day. Five members of the crew were not seen again and believed either hit by the flak or succumbed to the flames of the burning aircraft. Seven months after the crash, three bodies were recovered from the sea when they washed ashore. One body was identified and the three were buried in the Odder Churchyard, in Denmark, two as “unknown” on November 16, 9145. Reverend L.L. Meldgaard officiated at the graveside ceremony that was attended by numerous citizens as well as a detachment of English soldiers that fired a salute of honour at the end of the ceremony. In 1948 further investigation identified the body of Flying Officer Maynard Annand Parker in one, and that of Flying Officer Edgar Ivan Ford (J/45711) aged 20 and from Saskatchewan in the second. Two members of the crew are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

Maynard Annand Parker

Source: findagrave.com Canadian Virtual War Memorial