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Auction: 17002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 399

An early Second World War D.F.M. group of six awarded to Warrant Officer F. H. Parks, Royal Air Force, who completed a tour of duty in Whitleys of No. 58 Squadron in 1940-41

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (581158 Sgt. F. H. Parks, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Royal Air Force L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., with Bar (W./O. F. H. Parks (581158) R.A.F.), mounted as worn, very fine and better (6)

D.F.M. London Gazette 11 February 1941. The original recommendation states:

'Sergeant Parks has completed 16 operational flights including attacks on Berlin, Leuna, the Channel Ports and other targets in enemy country. In spite of being delayed in his training, through illness, Sergeant Parks quickly became a reliable and courageous navigator and Bomb Aimer. His coolness and gallantry in the face of opposition has been outstanding.'

Frank Harold Parks was born in Eastbourne on 21 April 1921 and joined the Royal Air Force as an Air Observer under training on the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. Duly qualified, he was posted to No. 58 Squadron, a Whitley unit operating out of Linton-on-Ouse, in February 1940. He is believed to have flown his first sortie in the same month but, up until the summer of 1940, relevant Operations Record Book (O.R.B.) details are sparse by way of aircrew identities.

Of his remaining operational activity in 1940, the O.R.B. reveals four sorties flown in September, three in October, one in November and three in December, the targets including Berlin, Mannheim and Regensburg. His final sortie was flown against Boulogne in February 1941, when he is noted as having been taken ill.

Remaining a regular after the war, Parks attained the rank of Warrant Officer and was awarded his L.S. & G.C. Medal in AMO 684 of 1957. He died in 1986; sold with copied research.



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Sold for
£1,900