Roll of Honour 2023

P AGE 236

W ORLD W AR II

S T . E DWARD ’ S S CHOOL , O XFORD R OLL OF H ONOUR

Name GORDON ERNEST MALBON PARKER (Flt Off)

Lef SES 1940

Roll Number 3063 Died 27:09:1943

Set / House D

Arrive SES 1935

Where OVER HANOVER Serving with 10 SQN, BOMBER CMD, R.A.F.V.R.

Age 22

Buried Hanover War Memorial Cemetery Remembered St. Thomas’s Hospital, London War Memorial and The St. Edward’s School WW2 Memorial Born London 1921. ‘He was a keen and enthusiastic boy with a happy gift for friendship. He displayed a cheerful interest in all School affairs and was efficient in both work and games - he made his mark in School athletics’ (Chronicle). He was a House Prefect, In the Athletics Team , The Boxing Team, 2nd VIII Shooting Squad, a Sergeant in the OTC and in the Lower Science VIth Form. After leaving St.Edward’s he studied medicine at St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in London, until 1942 when he joined the RAFVR as a Navigator. Attached to 10 Squadron, Bomber Command, he was killed in action over Hanover, Germany when his aircraft (a Halifax Bomber) was hit by a night fighter at Neustadt, 12 miles north west of the target; only one member of the crew survived - with a broken leg, and was captured. Although a qualified Flight Officer, he was the `wireless operator’ on this flight.