Graham Leslie Parish
Encyclopedia
Sergeant Graham Leslie Parish of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
was posthumously awarded the George Cross
for "gallantry of the highest order". He was the navigator on a plane which crashed after attempting to return to base after an abortive take off in Sudan
on the 16th of September 1942. Most of the crew managed to get clear as the bomber burst into flames but one man had suffered two broken legs and was trapped. The bomber was engulfed and neither Parish or the passenger survived but when their charred bodies were recovered it was clear that Parish had carried him eight yards from the blocked emergency door to the rear turret in the hope of rescuing him, rather than save himself by climbing out through the astrohatch. He had been born on the 29th of August 1912. Notice of his award appeared in the London Gazette
of the 2nd of April 1943.. Prior to joining the RAF Graham Parish, originally from Sheffield, had been employed as the Borough Librarian for Lytham St Annes at the St Annes-on-the-Sea Carnegie Library
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Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve consists of a number of groupings of individual military reservists for the management and operation of the Royal Air Force's Air Training Corps and CCF Air Cadet formations, Volunteer Gliding Squadrons , Air Experience Flights, and also to form the...
was posthumously awarded the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
for "gallantry of the highest order". He was the navigator on a plane which crashed after attempting to return to base after an abortive take off in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
on the 16th of September 1942. Most of the crew managed to get clear as the bomber burst into flames but one man had suffered two broken legs and was trapped. The bomber was engulfed and neither Parish or the passenger survived but when their charred bodies were recovered it was clear that Parish had carried him eight yards from the blocked emergency door to the rear turret in the hope of rescuing him, rather than save himself by climbing out through the astrohatch. He had been born on the 29th of August 1912. Notice of his award appeared in the London Gazette
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
of the 2nd of April 1943.. Prior to joining the RAF Graham Parish, originally from Sheffield, had been employed as the Borough Librarian for Lytham St Annes at the St Annes-on-the-Sea Carnegie Library
St Annes-on-the-Sea Carnegie Library
The Carnegie Library is in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England.The foundation stone of St. Annes Library was laid in August 1904 and the building was officially opened on 10 January 1906. The land was given by the St. Annes-on-the-Sea Land and Building Company and Andrew Carnegie, paid for the...
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