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NZ412420 Flight Sergeant Barton Thomas Eric PARKER (surname underlined)
Parents Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Parker of Lower Hutt.

Eric Parker was born at Wellington on the 11th August 1913. He received his secondary education at the Nelson Boys' College, taking the commercial course. He served for five years in the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Regiment, reaching the rank of Sergeant. At the time of applying for enlistment in aircrew, on 12th January, 1940, he was employed by Smiths' Cash Grocery at Lower Hutt.

Flight Sergeant Parker was enlisted at Rongotai on the 23rd April 1941 and served there on ground duties until remustered to aircrew and posted to the Initial Trianing Wing, Levin, on the 5th October, afterwards embarking on the 28th December, for Canada to train under the Empire Air Training Scheme.

He arrived at No. 5 "M" Depot, Edmonton, Alberta, on the 22nd January, 1942, and proceeded to No. 2 Wireless School, Calgary, Alberta on the 1st February for his Wireless Operator Training. Here, this was terminated late in June, and on the 2nd August he was posted to No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School, McDonald, Manitoba, where on the 11th September he was awarded the Air Gunner badge and promoted to the rank of Sergeant. While in the United Kingdom on the 1st June 1943, he was further promoted to Flight Sergeant. Meantime, on the 22nd September 1942 he had proceeded to No. 1 "Y" Depot, Halifax, Nova Scotia for embarkation to the United Kingdom.

Flight Sergeant Parker arrived at No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre, Bournemouth on the 9th October and was posted to No. 30 Operational Training Unit, Hixon, Staffordshire late the same month, where he crewed up and completed his training on Wellington bomber aircraft. From this base he took part in a raid on a target at Paris. On the 23rd March 1943 he joined No. 199 Squadron at Ingham, Lincolnshire, and with this Squadron as Air Gunnr of Wellington aircraft took part in a further eleven operational flights the targets including Stuttgart, Mannheim, Duisberg, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, and Wuppertal in Germany, sea mining off the Dutch Coast, at La Rochelle, St. Nazaire, and Lorient in France and an air sea rescue search from