{{short description|Australian RAF officer}} {{Use British English|date=August 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox military person |name= Vincent Parker |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= "Bushy" and "Bush" |birth_date= {{Birth date|1918|02|11|df=yes}} |birth_place= Chester-le-Street, England |death_date= {{Death date and age|1946|01|29|1918|02|11|df=yes}} |death_place= Felkington Farm, Duddo, England |burial_place= Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} |allegiance= Australia |branch= Royal Air Force |service_years= 1939–1946 |rank= Flight Lieutenant |service_number= 42356{{sfnp|Air Ministry|1946}} |unit= No. 234 Fighter Squadron<br/>No. 56 Operational Training Unit |commands= |battles= {{tree list}} * Second World War ** Battle of Britain ** Channel Front{{POW}} {{tree list/end}} |awards= Mentioned in dispatches |relations= |other_work= }}
'''Vincent 'Bushy' Parker'''{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}}(11 February 1918 – 29 January 1946) was an Australian Royal Air Force flying ace, a prisoner of war and a serial escaper.{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} He participated in the Second World War.
Parker emigrated to Australia as a child with his adoptive parents. After school, he worked for Kodak and trained as a magician and an escapologist, working with famed magician Leslie George Cole (The Great Lavante).
After travelling to Britain in 1938, he trained as a fighter pilot at an RAF flying school, and subsequently participated in the Battle of Britain. In August 1940, he was taken prisoner after landing in the English Channel.
As a prisoner of war, Parker dedicated himself to escape attempts, including escapes from Stalag Luft I and Stalag Luft III, as a result of which he was imprisoned in Colditz Castle.
Post liberation, in January 1946, Parker was killed in an aviation accident. Townsville City Council named Vincent Bushy Parker park in Rollingstone, Queensland Australia after him.
==Early years== Parker was born in Co-operative Street, Chester-le-Street, on 11 February 1918,{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} to Vincent and Lydia Wheatley.{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} He was one of three sons.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2450}} Parker's mother died aged 26{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} and his father was unable to cope with his work alongside the responsibility of a young child.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2450}} In 1920, his aunt Edith and her husband John Parker adopted Vincent Wheatley.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} Following the adoption, the Parkers changed Vincent's surname{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} and in 1928 the Parkers emigrated to Australia.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} John found work on the railways{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} and later, Edith found work as the station mistress at a train station in Purono, North Queensland.{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}}
Parker attended Bohlevale State School,{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} where reports suggest Parker had an ability for acrobatics and athletics.{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} On leaving school he moved to Townsville,{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} and worked at Kodak on Flinders Street.
At Kodak, a friend recalled Parker somersaulting out of a window. His goal was to catch an invoice caught in the wind. The window had an eight-foot drop and his friend described the action as extraordinary.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2467}} This stunt impressed a department store manager nearby, who offered Parker a job as a showman.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2467}} His act at the store was confident, bordering on cocky.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2467}} and later, a travelling magician caught his act and offered him a role as a travelling magician.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2467}}
Months of performing over Australia took its toll. Tired, Parker moved to Sydney{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2467}} and in 1938, he obtained a billet as a steward on the cruise liner Ontranto.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2478}} Parker also met the magician Leslie George Cole (The Great Lavante).{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}} Performing and socialising with Cole, he learned to master various methods of escapology.{{sfnp|Chester-le-Street Heritage Group|2022}}
[[File:09_-_Milsons_Point_Station_(6433345329).jpg|thumb|right|Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1935. Parker moved to Sydney in 1938 and from here, he decided to travel to Britain. In Britain he socialised with his two brothers and joined the RAF.]]
In 1938, he developed a desire to follow his brothers into the RAF,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2478}} and cabled his parents in Australia to asked for their permission.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2478}} On acceptance, he borrowed money from his parents to pay for flying school training.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2478}}{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}
===RAF=== He first trained at a civilian flying school.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} His training started in May 1939{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} and was due to take three months.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} His progression was rapid and he qualified in six weeks.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} On 22 July 1939, the RAF granted Parker a six-year service commission as a pilot officer on probation.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} He began his No. 11 Fighter Training School at RAF Shawbury in August 1939 and gained his pilot's badge on 25 October 1939.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}}
On 10 April 1940, the RAF posted Parker to 234 Squadron, RAF Leconfield from 11 FTS.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}
==Second World War== thumb|Parker and two comrades flew Spitfires on a practice run.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} The weather disrupted them.
The RAF regarded the Spitfire as expensive and an important resource.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} In 1940, the RAF adopted a policy that they would accept no casual reason if a pilot damaged a plane, at the penalty of the pilot being transferred.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}}
Two weeks after joining the squadron Parker damaged his plane.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} Foggy weather disrupted his given flight path on a practice run.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} Disoriented, he ran out of fuel. Parker landed in a farmer's field. On landing, he noted a flock of animals lined up. He adjusted his angles of approach and manoeuvered in an appropriate fashion. He decelerated and taxied on the field; his wheels hit a bump, which flipped his plane.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}} Parker left the plane unscathed and the damage to the plane was slight.
Parker explained to his commanders that he took action to save the farmer's sheep. The RAF accepted his reasoning.{{sfnp|Hall|2013}}
On 14 August 1940, the RAF stationed Parker and his squadron at Middle Wallop field. In this period, the RAF promoted him to pilot officer.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}}
===The Few=== [[File:Battle_of_Britain_Memorial_Weymouth.jpg|thumb|Near to Portland, the Weymouth Battle of Britain Memorial. Parker, Hardy, Hight and Zygmunt were part of The Few.]]
Parker fought in the Battle of Britain.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} Part of The Few, listed as a participant, he was a flying ace. Parker repelled at least five bombers in the battle.{{sfnp|Townsville City Council|2014}} On 15 August,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 52}} a dogfight over Portland, occupied Parker and his squadron.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} The radar marked the air invasion as significant.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} The raid contained 70 Luftwaffe bombers, escorted by 150 fighters.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}}
Parker shot down two Bf 110 bombers.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} At 16:15{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} the Luftwaffe incapacitated his Spitfire.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} Injuring his shoulder, gliding at 900 feet,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} he baled out near the Isle of Wight.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} After four hours at sea a German launch captured him,{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} and transported him to Cherbourg. The Luftwaffe soon flew him to Dulag Luft, the temporary holding center for allied airmen.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}}
Parker was one of four casualties his squadron suffered on this raid.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} ANZAC comrade, Pilot Officer Cecil Hight lost his life.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} Pilot Officer Richard Hardy ended up captured in France and joined Parker in Dulag Luft.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} Sergeant Klein 'Ziggy' Zygmunt, a Pole, survived, having crash landed in Twyford.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}}
===Character===
====Exculpable==== thumb|Box camera. The guards found the camera on a spare bunk.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1984}}
Objects thrown out of windows were common in 1943 in Colditz.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 61}} Corran Purdon described jeering, cheering, a burning palliasse, water bombs, morale unlike any other camp, and the riot squads, when he entered the Colditz courtyard for the first time.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 61}}
On 22 June 1943 Eichstätt tunneller Jack Champ arrived at Oflag IV-C (Colditz).{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1900}} Reinhold Eggers and his security staff processed Champ the following day. A protocol required a photograph of Champ with his prison number. In the Schloss, a guard had to chaperone a civilian worker, at all times. Inmates goon baited the protocol. Three water bombs from the third and fourth floors hit the cobbled floor. Splashes soaked Champ, his comrades and the civilian cameraman.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1979}} This angered the guard and cameraman, who rushed up the staircase, seeking to arrest those responsible on the third and fourth floors.
Following a 1942 order, water bombs and objects dropped out of the window carried the penalty of execution.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Location 4365}} Parker and Tunstall were exculpated and found innocent of throwing the water. After the water bombs were thrown, they met with ANZAC inmates, and took the brownie camera.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1984}}
Eggers suspected theft, and ordered a systematic search for the camera,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1984}} which was found safe, on a spare palliasse.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1984}}
After this event, Champ introduced himself to Parker.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 1984}} Champ later described Parker as "the most enigmatic of the Australians to set foot in Colditz."{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2440}}
Pat Reid highlighted Parker as a major figure in the POW camp, stating: "Colditz would not have been quite what it was if Bush had not been there, and his activities throw a revealing sidelight upon the life of the prison".{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1411}}
====Mechanical innovation==== [[File:Museum_of_World_War_II_Natick_Massachusetts_2015._Allied_POW_escape_equipment_Colditz_Castle_metal_objects_hidden_by_prisoners_for_future_use.jpg|thumb|right|Artifacts at The International Museum of World War II, Massachusetts. A briefcase, a blank key, and tools. Parker filed keys as a POW. Also shown is a wheel stud and a wheel nut.]]
Parker was ingenious, brave and mechanically skilled.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2440}} Notably, he was among four outstanding lockbreakers in Colditz,{{Sfnp|Reid|2015|loc=Kindle location 3229}} alongside the Frenchman Frédérick Guigues, the Pole Miki Surmanowicz, and the Dutchman van Doorninck.{{Sfnp|Reid|2015|loc=Kindle location 3229}} Parker cut keys from discarded fragments of metal,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2440}} including coal shovels, bed iron and coat hooks.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2555}} Sapper Jim Rogers stated, "Our lockpick man for this work was 'Bush Parker'... ...In my view, Bush was one of the great men of Colditz".{{sfnp|Rogers|1986|p=169}} Pete Tunstall, recorded that "he knew for a fact he had illegal tools'.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4538}}
====Gestapo searches==== The Dresden Gestapo turned up at unexpected times to conduct searches and compare photographs to confirm prisoners' identities.{{sfnp|Green|1971|p=127}}
In one instance, Parker stole papers, a weapon and a sandwich from the bag of a visiting Gestapo officer.{{sfnp|Green|1971|p=127}}
Prisoners thought the Dresden Gestapo were incompetent at searches as they were sadistic.{{sfnp|Green|1971|p=127}} The Wehrmacht had experience and competence though.{{sfnp|Green|1971|p=127}} Over time the Wehrmacht guards drilled the searches down to a science.{{sfnp|Green|1971|p=127}}
=====Composure===== Donaldson recalled Parker's composure. His thinking under pressure was high level.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2584}} A raid tested this understanding. They knew that day if the ferrets found the tools; they would face it.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2584}} Parker, picked up the tools, wrapped in a towel.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2584}} Holding onto the tools, Parker carried the can.
The guards stood them all against the wall. They placed them five feet apart. Parker assessed the environment, contorting enough to screen. Donaldson noted Parker's sleight of hand, saved the tools.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2584}}
====Anzac Day==== thumb|right|A nice gift from Parker. They had discipline. They were responsible.They drank in moderation that night.
Pat Hughes and Cecil Hight, were ANZACs. Two mates from his squadron. Both gone in 1940.
He paid his respect. In 1944, the mess lads celebrated the Anzacs.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3051}} They made calculations in March; they went without a meal for two nights per week. This ensured a basic menu for the invited dignitaries for that day.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3051}} Parker was the central player that night. Rex Harrison was an old mate.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3060}} Explaining, Parker's batch of grog "tasted of cats piss..., it could burn a hole in steel plates... There would be fewer casualties if water broke it down."{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3060}}
Parker, doing well for himself on the black economy donated his grog for the event.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3093}}
====Card sharp==== He was a card sharp.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2440}} Few could beat Parker at cards,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} especially when he shuffled the pack.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} He had dexterity, and a detailed memory.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}}
=====Royal flush, Bag and Rex===== Parker, Dickinson, Harrison, Barton and O'Hara, had a weekly poker night.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} One night, Dick Howe joined in.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Here, Howe, eyeballed the card sharping.... Howe explained that after fifteen minutes of play the game warmed up. At this epoch, Parker nudged Howe.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Parker had decided to prank Bag and Rex... Dickinson received a good poker hand. A hand that statistically occurs one in four-thousand times... Hence, Parker dealt the fours to Dickinson.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Rex Harrison was dealt a hand with a good chance, a hand worth bluffing with. He had a full house. Dick Howe asked for two more cards. In turn, he received a knave, then a ten of hearts.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} O'Hara and Barton dropped out. The whole mess watched on. The stakes and bluffs grew out of proportion. The pot soon reached two thousand Lagermarken.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}}
The tension grew. Dickinson stressed to Harrison 'he should pack it in... ...and stop the bluffing... as his hand is a power house...'.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} He ignored Dick Howe. Dick Howe sat by, with a poker face, not making a scene. Howe let Dickinson and Harrison inflate the prize.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Under pressure, Harrison dropped out.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} This prompted Dickinson. With immediate effect, Dickinson settled with Howe to show their hands. Dickinson assumed he had won the jackpot. Dickinson motioned to pick up his winnings.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} To Dickinson's disbelief though, Howe's hand was a one in six-hundred-thousand chance — a royal flush.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} The rare Royal Flush caused excitement in the mess quarters. Howe and Parker had internalised laughter.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Dickinson and Harrison were devastated — and skint... Howe and Parker were solemn for the two lads. They commiserated them.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}} Later, Howe and Parker handed back the winnings.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}}
This card sharping impressed Howe. He could not figure out this type of shuffling.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1420}}
=====Bridge game and Bader===== His comrade Douglas Bader tried to compete.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} Champ recalled Bader and Guy German taking on Parker and Mike Wittet at a game of bridge. Bader hated struggling. He was tense, he developed an irritation. Perceptive; Champ noted a suspicious wink and a smirk at Wittet from Parker...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} After that Parker dealt Bader a good Bridge hand. Bader eased and smiled. Champ suspected Parker regulated Bader's emotion.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} Champ could not fathom out if Parker was taking the piss, or being sympathetic. Both actions had an edge when dealing with the Wing Commander Bader. Bader was not the type to accept light hearted mickey taking. Bader also did not appreciate a sympathetic favour.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}} He suspected if Bader had seen the wink he'd have ignored Parker for life.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2588}}
===Messmates and business=== [[File:Mess best bader harvey bruce.jpg|thumb|right|RAF mess at Colditz. F/Lt Albert van Rood (fifth from left, standing), F/Lt Dan Hallifax (six from left, standing), Don 'Weasel' Donaldson (seventh from left, standing), F/Lt John Patrick 'Bag' Dickinson, (first left sitting), F/Lt Vincent 'Bushy' Parker (sitting 3rd from left), Douglas Bader (sitting, center), also shown Dominic Bruce (sitting, furthest right)]]
Parker was an orator and anecdotalist.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2566}} He thrived in the company of his mess mates.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2566}} In Colditz, Parker alongside John Patrick 'Bag' Dickinson and Albert van Rood, dealt in prisoner necessities and Red Cross luxuries.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2553}} They handled food staples, chocolate, coal and alcohol, which prisoners secretly distilled within the castle.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}}
====Secret Distillery==== Parker, along with fellow prisoners Dickinson and van Rood, traded alcohol with a Colditz guard, who handled fuel. The distillery churned a constant stock supply; almost becoming a monopoly.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 2083}}{{refn|group=note|name=Other rival brewers| there were rival breweries and distilleries . There were distillers of note. Distillers such as Michael Farr,{{sfnp|Macintyre|2022|p=152}} George Drew{{sfnp|Staff Reporter|2005}} and Pat Ferguson.{{sfnp|Staff Reporter|2005}}}}
Another inmate, Julius Green, a medically-trained dentist from Glasgow.{{sfnp|Green|1971}} Protected personnel according to the Geneva Convention. A man with a code of conduct.{{sfnp|Green|1971}} records that the Colditz Distilling Company also included the Canadian 'Scarlet' O'Hara.,{{sfnp|Green|1971|pp=141-142}} and Polish officer Tony Karpf.{{sfnp|Green|1971|pp=141-142}}
{{external media | float = right | width = 300px | image1 = [https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30088847 An illicit still from a different camp. Most POW camps distilled and brew alcohol.]}} The distillery traded and bartered.{{sfnp|Green|1971|pp=141-142}} The company maintained a surplus stock for profit selling a selection of liqueur. Distillers attempted knockoff drinks like grog,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3093}} whisky, vodka, crème de menthe, white schnapps and gin.{{sfnp|Green|1971|pp=141-142}}{{sfnp|Macintyre|2022|p=152}} A shovel of coal secured a cheap drink.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 2122}}
====Champ and Bader==== Parker was a great friend of Jack Champ and Douglas Bader. Jack Champ was one of the Eichstätt lads that arrived in 1943. Both independent characters, Parker and had a mutual respect for each other as pilots.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2593}}
====Donaldson==== Parker and Don 'Weasel' Donaldson{{refn|group=note|name=Donaldson's name| In the literature, his comrades call him Don Weasel Donaldson.{{sfnp|Reid|2015|loc=Kindle location 1025}}{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 2600}} His real name is Matthew Wilson Donaldson. He is presented by his initials M. W. Donaldson in other references.{{sfnp|CBC Museum|2004|ps=: "50 Sqn. Hampden I L4083 one of 6 shot down attacking Kristiansand in Norway. Sgt J. Greet RAF killed, F/O M.W. Donaldson RAF (Can.), F/O D.F. Middleton RAF (Can.) and Cpl (AG) A.C. Henry were taken PoW. They were the only survivors of the six aircraft lost on this operation. Their aircraft came down on a mudbank and portions were reported as recovered in the 1980s and are on display in a Museum in Norway (Airforce, Dec. 1979). Please see H. Moyle's "The Hampden File" for the story of their survival. F/O Middleton was one of the first RAF PoWs in Colditz."}}}} were great friends. Like Pete Tunstall, Don Middleton, Don Thom, Dominic Bruce, Frank Flinn and Walter Morison, Donaldson conceptualised plane escapes.
A Hampden pilot, downed on a daylight raid over Kristiansand Harbour in April 1940, Donaldson{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 2600}} was one of three survivors out of 24 from the squadron.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 2600}}
===Prisoner of war===
====Dulag Luft==== He spent many months in Dulag Luft. He was still at Dulag Luft in May 1941.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} He was part of the permanent staff in the compound.{{refn|group=note|name=Permanent staff| Dulag Luft was a transit camp for captured RAF personnel. Parker was at this camp many months. This implies: the guards placed him in a permanent staff role and he later lost the trust of the prison command.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}}} His role was to brief new prisoners on the finer nuances of captivity.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}
=====Two tunnels===== In Dulag Luft he dug and planned two tunnels.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} He dug tunnels with Jimmy Buckley, Peter Butterworth and Great Escaper and X-Organisation founder Roger Bushell.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} On 1 June 1941, fourteen permanent staff broke the trust of the German command.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} They formed part of a group of eighteen escapees that tunneled out of the Dulag Luft compound.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} The command reacted with intent. A search involving three-thousand police and security personnel found each escapee.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} Parker was one of the permanent staff involved who dug this tunnel.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} He missed out on the breakout.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}} The guards had shifted him to Stalag Luft I prior and this inconvenience upset Parker.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2483}}
====Stalag Luft I==== =====Loud speaker compass===== Parker and Buckley reunited in Stalag Luft I.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}} Peter Fanshawe, a future great escaper, joined Buckley and Parker in the next escape attempt.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}} Here they all dug the tunnel.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}} They needed compasses. Parker cadged magnets from the camp loudspeaker. He used these magnets to create compasses.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}} He got caught in the tunnel by the guards... The guards then placed him in the cooler for 14 days.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}}
=====Ghosts===== thumb|Barracks in a WW2 camp. For six weeks Parker minded his own business. He rested in the roof. He never disturbed the ferrets.
In June 1941, Parker decided the command should presume two inmates had returned home. Parker and Lieutenant Dakeyne became ghosts.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}} They tricked the command to think two men were missing. This had consequence.
Security staff struck two men off the records. At Appells the two missing ghosts would cover for escapees. The theory was ghosts helped escapers flee with less obstruction. They could flee occupied Europe with no search squad hunting them. Minding his own business, Parker hid in the roof. After six weeks ghosting, the ferrets captured Parker... The guards enforced solitary confinement on Parker.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2497}}
=====Snow burrow escape===== In January 1942, snow covered Stalag Luft I. Assessing the snow Parker conceptualised another escape. Parker thought about sheep surviving for days whilst flipped inside snow burrows.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} Thus, Parker believed a snow burrow could hide him until darkness...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} He theorised if it was dark enough he could climb out of the burrow, cut the wires for a nice escape...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}}
His escape revolved around two rugby matches. On the pitch, players created a burrow... They kicked in snow during a scrum.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} The next day, on the next match, Parker, via a scrum, placed himself inside the burrow...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} Next, the players kicked snow over him... They packed Parker inside. To trap heat Parker wore his donated woolens... A white periscope device placed through the snow helped his breathing. He also lay without moving for hours, which lost heat... Finally, when it was dark enough, he crawled out whilst soaking wet... and then sneaked to the wire.
Cutting the wire was dangerous... Guards had recently shot and killed a POW doing it.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} He cut the wire. He attracted the attention he dreaded... the guards started shouting. They ran to where Parker was working. Much to Parker's astonishment, the guards held back gunfire and arrested Parker near the wire. The guards had assessed a mysterious fire — not an escapee... They thought the condensation steaming off Parker was smoke.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}} This miserable day did not end well for Parker... The command placed Parker in solitary confinement. He spent many days in confinement dealing with frostbite.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}}
In January 1942, the RAF promoted Parker to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2505}}
=====Charlie Piltz===== A few days after his release from the cells, Parker attempted another escape.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} Parker had prepared the escape earlier.
Charlie Piltz, real name, Karl Piltz, was the main ferret.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} Escapers thought of Piltz as the most dangerous guard in Stalag Luft I and Stalag Luft III.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} He was a passionate anti-Nazi in the 1930s.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} Over a nine-month period in a prison, the Nazis re-educated Piltz.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} By 1942 he was a devoted Nazi.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} He always worked around the clock... He even worked off-duty. He took great pride in sniffing out tunnels. He complimented prisoners on ingenious escape attempts and mocked the poor attempts with glee. Piltz had a nasty criminal mind... as such, he worked on the same wavelengths as an escaper.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}} Piltz was a menace...{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}}
thumb|In the Second World War, klim tins had versatility to escapers.
Parker and Piltz shared a visual resemblance. Parker noted the chance to imitate Piltz.{{sfnp|Laplander|2014|pp=84-85}}{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} Parker acquired a pair of greasy overalls.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} Piltz carried a torch,{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} following the Piltz shtick, Parker made a dummy torch from Red Cross klim tins.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} He knew, once he'd beaten the gate as Piltz, he'd become an Italian worker with a matching ID. He'd then use a camp made compass and a traced map to travel.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}}
He executed the gate escape to perfection.... He mimicked the ferret Piltz. He walked through the gates with ease. To the guards he was Piltz on his way home. Outside the gates, Parker headed off to the woods, as planned. Here, Parker was unfortunate... On the way to the woods, Parker walked into his respected adversary — Piltz...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}} Piltz and the guards arrested the brazen Piltz impostor.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}}
====Stalag Luft III==== In March 1942 Parker was sent to a new built camp... A camp called Stalag Luft III, situated in Sagan, Poland. {{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2526}}
In the new camp, Jimmy Buckley and Roger Bushell continued the 'X Organisation'.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}} Buckley, not Bushell, was the 'Big X' in March 1942.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 373}} Parker was a founding member of the organisation.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}}
=====Planning staff===== There were four methods of escape from a compound.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} You could walk through the gate. You could be transported through the gate. You could climb over or through the wire, or dig a tunnel.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} In April 1942, the committee requested a role for Planning Staff with experience in the four methods.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} Parker had experience in many methods of escape. The committee appointed Parker to the role of Planning Officer.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} Parker's role was an agency for the committee. He had to assess escape plans from prisoners. Assess the prisoners aptitude for escaping, assess if the prisoner was serious enough, and inform them of dangers.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} Parker would look at the details of the escape plan and hammer it in to shape for the head of the committee.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}} He'd then present the case to the head of the committee for approval.{{sfnp|Grehan|2016|loc=Kindle location 566}}
=====Tunnel attempt and the Vorlager===== On arrival Parker, and Flight Lieutenants Casey, Panton and Dickinson, dug a tunnel. The busy ferrets found this tunnel.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} Desperate to escape, Parker was found in the ''Vorlager'' (which contained the German administration area) during another attempt.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} To punish Parker, the command placed him in the cells.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
=====Hardware store receipt===== In April 1942, Australian RAF pilot Cornish possessed a receipt for a magnet from a Sagan hardware shop. Cornish wanted to contain a problematic guard with the document.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1874}} The flaky guard had once supplied a magnet... Cornish's fake receipt revealed the guard had signed for a package that carried a magnet.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1874}} Cornish asked Parker to use his magic for the guard... When asked by Cornish, Parker, on cue, revealed the receipt for viewing. Parker threw this receipt in the air... and the receipt vanished.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1874}} The guard was ashen faced at the sight of that probative document...{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1874}}
In 1942, Parker become one of the first escapers to flee from Stalag Luft III.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
=====Train hopping===== In confinement, during his permitted one hours exercise, Parker, took a key from a door. Parker altered this key...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} On his next escape attempt, Dickinson in the next cell, distracted the guard. With the guard occupied, Parker opened and shut his cell door with the key. Parker jumped through a window and climbed over the wire.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} His escape was opportunistic... He hardarsed it.{{refn|group=note|name=Hardarse|In the Second World War the term 'hardarsing it' described a POW escaping without key escaping aids.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 2985}}|}} Parker wore his RAF trousers and a grey sweater, he had no food, and no ID papers.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
Outside of the compound, Parker decided to train hop. This mode of transport required luck. A goods train moving out of Sagan train station was the first hop.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} He travelled to a shunting yard in Chemnitz, Germany. Parker jumped off the train to hide in the woods.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} With the darkness of night Parker jumped on another goods train and his carriage travelled to Grünberg.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} Unsettled by this train journey taking him off direction, Parker stole a bicycle and travelled towards Poland.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
[[File:Wöhler Dusche Hof.jpg|thumb|Not a morsel. It was a nice bit of scran... For his tea, Parker ate a loaf of bread. It was taken from a farmhouse...]]
Food was scarce... Parker satiated his hunger pangs in a farmhouse. He stole black bread, and he ate this meal with no harassment.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} His bicycle journey took him to another yard near Zullichau on the Polish frontier.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} Here, he decided on another freight hop. The train had travelled along the Warsaw–Kunowice railway towards Warsaw, Poland...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} Warsaw was a place he could get help from the resistance.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} As Parker attempted to jump on this train, the station police accosted him.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}} The capture frustrated an exhausted Parker. Parker's long excursion turned circular. The excursion resulted in a return journey to Stalag Luft III, Sagan. In Sagan, the command returned Parker to the same confinement cell.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
=====Scrounging attempt===== Parker and his neighbour Dickinson were desperate. Doing a longer time in solitary confinement, the two smuggled in saws... The guards captured both sawing the bars...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
Getting the guards onside was, in general, common in 1942.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1863}} Many guards had political sympathies..., ...coffee was liquid gold. Many would take the coffee or the chocolate.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1863}} This all concerned the X-Organisation.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1863}} They felt this could lead to problems if too many escapers scrounge.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1863}} Later, Buckley and Bushell created a department for this type of deft prisoner-guard interaction.{{sfnp|Walters|2013|loc=Kindle location 1863}} Prisoners like Peter Stevens took over this type of work. In April and May 1942, Parker was confident he could bribe a guard. In the cells, Parker and Dickinson attempted to bribe a guard for a tool. The guard found this bribe insulting. The guard took umbrage. The command charged them with bribery.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2532}}
By May 1942, the command got tired of Parker. They regarded Parker as a serial escaper.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} On 5 May 1942 the command sent him to high security Oflag IV-C (Colditz).{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 52}}
====Oflag IV-C==== [[File:Colditz-Schloss-Fürstenhof-IMG_8263%2B11-200Gx94G-PanoZ-xn30-02-07-2022.jpg|thumb|Colditz court yard in 2022. On the right is a museum cutout of Bag Dickinson, Stephenson and Parker.]]
Parker and Dickinson were immediate in their next effort. They joined Harrison, Dick Howe, Lawton and O'Hara in an exploration. They cut an exploratory hole in the roof. The guards found the hole and arrested each explorer red handed.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2548}}
=====Locksmith on call===== On arrival, Parker learned the lags had a problem.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2555}} Some locks in the castle had up to twenty-seven tumblers.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} Parker announced he'd sort that out.. Parker cracked on, and in two weeks he had a key for every castle lock.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2555}} Don ‘Weasel’ Donaldson, recalled the first lock he picked.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} He and his comrades watched Parker lock picking in the attics... The atmosphere had tension, it was like participating in a heist movie...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} The only piece of equipment Parker had on arrival was a tube of toothpaste.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} For this lock, he injected the toothpaste after a tumbler moved.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} Using the toothpaste, Parker broke into his first door in the castle.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}} Within a week Parker, without using toothpaste, could master any lock inside thirty seconds.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2568}}
=====Parcel store===== Parker's comrades developed distraction strategies.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} They knew that guards could not focus on more than one thing at a time. They exploited the narrow focus of the human mind.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}}
Parker and his comrades knew a big object going missing presented a huge problem for any guard.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} A guard would face disciplinary action in that scenario. Accusations of loafing on duty would stigmatise him. The command may demote the guard from his rank, or discharge him. They estimated the small chances of any guard reporting such a theft.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}}
======Ladder====== November 1942, Tunstall faced a court-martial.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4519}} Assisted by Bader, and at a height, he splashed Eggers.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4519}} Black Campbell built the Leipzig case. Barred windows in prison camps breached the Geneva convention. And a case built around a barred window saved Tunstall's life.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4519}} Looking in to the yard,{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4519}} Tunstall saw an opportunity that eased him.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4519}} He noted a ladder on the court yard wall.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} Tunstall thought, the attic could use that.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} He pondered a ladder festive gift, too. The Dutch lads planned a tunnel,{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} the lads wanted seconds. Tunstall called on Dickinson, Donaldson and Parker.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}}
They placed Donaldson as the decoy.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} Donaldson slumped on the wall.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} He kept the guard's attention. For roughly ten minutes he performed.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} He pulled faces. Made shapes with his hands. Rubbed his nose with his foot.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} Other lags were perplexed and curious why Donaldson could not see his digits — a bad meal? They besmirched and judged Don Donaldson.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}}
Tunstall and Dickinson took the ladder. They carried it up the spiral staircase. A logistical problem presented itself here; it would not fit.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} Upset, Parker saved the day. He grabbed his tools and cut off a four-foot section.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}} The ladder, the ether claimed it.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}}{{refn|group=note|name=ladders| In the literature, Reid does not mention Parker in the theft. He describes Donaldson using the nom de plume 'browned off eagle' to call someone over.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 2329}} Later the browned off eagle used his tools to cut the ladder.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 2329}}In 2014, Tunstall explained Parker used his tools.{{sfnp|Tunstall|2014|loc=Kindle location 4524}}}} No security was called.
======Civilian vehicles====== In POW camps, many prisoners had not experienced civvy street for some time. A civilian vehicle was rarely seen inside a POW camp. A vehicle in a camp caused curiosity.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} In 1942, Parker stole tools from a civilian vehicle parked in the court yard. In this theft O'Hara also stole the map out of the glove compartment.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} This vehicle theft relied on a team distracting the guards. In 1943, these distractions became comfortable.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} In 1943 a delivery van appeared in the court yard. The van delivered heavy equipment for the barbers.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} The lags robbed the van. O'Hara stole a Hydraulic jack. The jack was a good tool, and O'Hara went to the top of the list with the escape committee. He also wanted to steal the back wheel... To their own detriment, the delivery lads rushed and flustered... They had their minds on the next job. Looking out for them, O'Hara left a tightened nut in the back wheel...{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} They later speculated the wheel would fall off the car in a country lane.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}} Parker and his comrades planned and executed the stooging system for the robbery.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1553}}
thumb|They liked playing cards. They wanted a pack of cards...
======Locksmith commons====== Like Parker, the lock-pick Guigues was a serial escaper... In 1943, the guards shifted Fredo Guigues. The Wehrmacht moved the French officers to Lübeck,{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1390}} though a harassed Guigues would later return to the castle... The alarmed parcel store was above the French quarters. Guigues had cracked the store.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1390}} Before leaving, Guigues had a chat with Dick Howe and Parker...{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1390}}{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}}
In 1943 Parker played in the last ever stool ball match. Parker played in the 4–4 draw against the departing French.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 2285}}
======Cracking the store====== Parcels were important to escapers. The parcels carried escaping aids.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}} All parcels were checked by the censoring department. And beating the censoring department to the contraband, boosted morale. In the summer of 1943, Parker's mechanical skill gave him access to the uncensored parcels.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 2440}}{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}} These heists were tense. The robbery of the store required timing, distractions and strategy... They set up stooging systems involving seventeen lookouts.{{Sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}} To keep the guards distracted, the lags arranged chews... These mock punch-ups caused injury.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3477}} A few POWs ended up with cracked teeth, others ended up in the sick bay with cracked ribs.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3477}} The lookouts took their positions in the chaos, and Parker, used the lookouts for cues. He opened the doors for Dick Howe, or Doug Crawford.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3477}}{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}} After twenty minutes, he let them out.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1408}}
=====Sick bay===== On the 1 May 1943, Schädlich updated his notes. He scribbled, they interrupted Parker,{{sfnp|Schädlich|2016|loc=Locations 1726}} finding him digging at 4 am.{{sfnp|Schädlich|2016|loc=Locations 1726}} Tools lay around the sick bay.{{sfnp|Schädlich|2016|loc=Locations 1726}} Seven sacks of rubble waited for a pickup.{{sfnp|Schädlich|2016|loc=Locations 1726}}
=====Franz Josef escape===== The Franz Josef escape attempt occurred on 19 May 1943. Mike Sinclair mimicked a guard who resembled Franz Josef. In the effort, the guards shot Sinclair... Parker and John 'Bosun' Chrisp were central to the escape attempt. Chrisp was the ropeman. Parker, was in charge of the sick ward as the signalman.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 1965}} His keys opened up castle doors.
=====A Colditz ghost===== On 28 March 1944 Parker attempted another escape. This escape was with a ghost called Mike Harvey.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}} To the guards, Harvey and Jack Best had left he castle in March 1943... Harvey wanted people to refer to him as Dennis Bartlett from that day onward. Jack Best was Bob Barnes...
Parker and Harvey cut the barred windows on the third floor of the Saalhous in anticipation for this one...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}} The ropeman prepared the rope, the forgery department prepared the fake IDs and Parker manufactured skeleton keys... Parker also had his lock picking tools ready.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}}
thumb|Bottom left is two temporary confinement cells. Greatcoats were an expensive bit of kit... Fresh air was needed in that cell... On the right of the cells, is the parcel office.
Parker had studied the movement of the guards outside the Saalhaus. He noted a building that had the sign Luftschutzraum on it.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}} In General, these shelters had two exits... They believed that more people entered that building than exited it. They opined one exit led to a civilian area.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}} Parker and Harvey also did recce on the patrolling guards... They noted a guard disappeared when he marched around the corner. The guard always left a 20-second window of opportunity...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3141}}
On the day of the escape attempt, Parker and Harvey, out of sight of the guard, rappelled from the third floor window and made their journey... On their way to the shelter, a sentry heard them...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3148}} They startled this guard... Reactive, he fired warning shots... Making it worse, he smashed the alarm... Hassled, Parker picked the lock of the shelter door...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3148}} Inside the shelter, Parker locked the door. Outside of the shelter it swarmed with guards using torches, using flood lights and carrying weapons. The security team rattled the locked door, and left. Parker and Harvey rushed down to the cellar that led to a dead end... Here they realised this escape was over.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3148}}
Eggers interviewed both escapers.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3154}} Parker turned the conversation, 'he was surveying, not escaping'. It was for Eggers's benefit... The one exit shelter dismayed Parker...{{sfnp|Eggers|1961|p=131}} He could not forgive that regulation breach. Parker contended, Eggers knew what he had done here... The poor bastards... He told Eggers he'll make a safety complaint...{{sfnp|Eggers|1961|p=131}} Eggers matched Parker's face and sent Parker to a temporary cell in the courtyard.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3154}} Eggers smelled a rat with Harvey. His face did not fit the ID photo of Dennis Bartlett... This resulted in suspicion. Eggers also found Jack Best... and this ended the ghosting in Colditz.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3154}} Uncovering the ghosting scheme stressed the security team... Excited, they did not search Parker.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3167}} They left him with his skeleton keys...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3167}} Parker cut a hole in the wire grill and passed out his greatcoat which contained his prized tools. The guards gave Parker extra confinement for damaging the cell grill.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3167}}
=====Great Escape===== The Gestapo executed comrades of Parker, after the Great Escape.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}} These murders, included the murder of Bushell — a comrade Parker had dug tunnells with.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}} Parker involvement in escaping activity was heavy at Stalag Luft III before he was shifted.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}} Parker reflected on 'what could have been'...{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3386}}
=====Private Murphy liberation===== On 15 April 1945, Private Murphy of the US Army liberated the castle. On the 16 April, three French POWs had ignored instructions and went missing. They had ventured into the countryside. The countryside around Colditz was volatile.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 4809}} On the 17 April, Dick Howe, as a senior officer, assessed the POW contingent around town. He made observations around Colditz.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 4811}} He noted Parker and his messmates had split up.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 4811}} Howe spotted Don Donaldson in a villa. Donaldson had a pleasant day. The owners of the building had done well for themselves during the war years. Donaldson, and two others were drinking cups of tea with three blondes.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 4811}} Howe spotted a large Mercedes-Benz touring car. Out of place..., it was driving around the town. Howe noted, Vincent Parker was in the driving seat, and Parker's two business partners, Dickinson and van Rood were his passengers.{{sfnp|Reid|2014|loc=Kindle location 4811}} Following the liberation, Parker returned to England for a period of leave.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} The RAF then posted him to Milfield to qualify on Hawker Tempests.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} [[File:Old RAF Buildings - Milfield - geograph.org.uk - 623696.jpg|thumb|right|Old RAF Building at RAF Milfield. Vets had brews on the ground floors...]]
==Personal life== Post war, Parker planned to marry his girlfriend.{{sfnp|Burgess|2019|loc=Kindle location 3878}}
==Death== On 29 January 1946, Parker tested a plane. Following a slow roll from 5000 ft, his plane, the Tempest V EJ859, crashed.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}} He died near Felkington, Duddo, Northumberland.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|Staff|1946}}
==Legacy== The RAF buried Parker at 10 am, on 2 February 1946.{{sfnp|ACR|2021}} Parker rests in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery.{{sfnp|BBM|2007}}{{sfnp|CWGC|1946}} Colditz comrade Noel Dan Hallifax rests nearby.{{sfnp|CWGC (b)|1946}}
{{See also|Commonwealth War Graves Commission|l1=CWGC}}
Mentioned in dispatches during the Second World War, the Air Ministry gazetted him on 13 June 1946.{{sfnp|Air Ministry|1946}} The city council in Townsville, Australia named 'Vincent Bushy Parker Park', situated in Rollingstone after him.{{sfnp|Townsville City Council|2014}} In 2003, the City of Thuringowa Council commissioned three murals to place inside his park. The murals paid homage to Parker's life and the amenities block at his park houses them.{{sfnp|Fraser|2015}} In 2007, the historian Colin Burgess published a book about Parker.{{sfnp|Burgess|2007}}
On Sunday 21 April 2024, almost 80 years to the day after Parker and his mates celebrated ANZAC day with the grog, Stonefall Cemetery CWGC paid respect to the ANZAC Vincent Parker.{{sfnp|Spencer|2024}} On Armed Forces Day, 29 June 2024, Vincent Parker's story was one of the five RAF volunteer stories remembered at Stonefall Cemetery CWGC.{{sfnp|Moss|2024}}
==See also== * Douglas Bader a serial escaper and flying ace. * Dominic Bruce a seventeen times serial escaper. * Jimmy Buckley a notable comrade of Parker. * Roger Bushell Great Escaper and X-Organisation founder. * John Chrisp The ropeman of Colditz. Integral to many escape attempts. * Lieutenant Alan 'Black' Campbell A lawyer whose skills saved lives. * Leslie George Cole (The Great Lavante) a magician who mentored Parker. * Damiaen Joan van Doorninck a Dutch Colditz escaper, and a lock breaker. * Reinhold Eggers The security officer of Colditz from November 1940 to April 1945. * Julius Green, an associate to the mess. He fixed lags teeth. * Cecil Hight A comrade of Parker's who died on the day Parker was captured. * Dick Howe a serial escaper and the head of the escape committee. * Pat Hughes ANZAC comrade of Parker, from 234 Squadron. * Corran Purdon a St Nazaire Raid commando and a Colditz comrade of Parker. * Pat Reid an author, and a comrade of Parker. * Geoffrey D. Stephenson a Colditz comrade of Parker's. * Peter Stevens serial escaper and scrounger in Stalag Luft III * Pete Tunstall a serial escaper and notable goon baiter.
==Notes== {{reflist|group=note}}
==Footnotes== {{reflist|20em}}
==Sources== ;Books * {{cite book | last = Burgess | first = Colin | author-link = Colin Burgess (author)| title =Bush Parker: An Australian Battle of Britain Pilot in Colditz | publisher = Australian Military History Publications | year = 2007| location =Australia | language =English | isbn =978-0980320473 }} * {{cite book | last = Burgess | first = Colin | author-link = Colin Burgess (author)| title =The Diggers of Colditz | publisher =Simon & Schuster | edition = 3 | year = 2019| location =Australia | language =English | isbn =9781760852153 }} * {{cite book | last = Eggers | first =Reinhold | author-link = Reinhold Eggers| title =Colditz - The German Side of the Story (edited and translated by Howard Gee)| publisher =W. W. Norton & Company | year = 1961| location =New York | language =English |url=https://archive.org/details/colditzthegerman006813mbp }} * {{cite book |title=The Colditz Conjurer: The amazing true story of Vincent 'Bush' Parker, Battle of Britain pilot and prisoner of war magician |first=James |last=Green |year=2022 |location=UK |publisher=Seven Questions Publishing |isbn=978-1739705602}} * {{cite book | last = Green| first = Julius Morris| author-link =Julius Green | title = From Colditz in Code| publisher = Robert Hale | date = 25 November 1971| location = United Kingdom| language = English | isbn = 978-0709124825|url=https://archive.org/details/fromcolditzincod0000unse}} * {{cite book |title=Stalag Luft III: An Official History of the 'Great Escape' PoW Camp |first=Howard |last=Grehan |year=2016 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=978-1-47388-305-5}} * {{cite book |title=Spitfire Pilot An Extraordinary True Story of Combat in the Battle of Britain |first=Roger |last=Hall |year=2013 |publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=9781445616841}} * {{cite book | last = Laplander | first = Robert J. | title =The True Story of the Wooden Horse| publisher =Pen & Sword Military | year = 2014| location =England | language =English | isbn =9781783831012}} * {{cite book | last = Macintyre| first = Ben| author-link =Ben Macintyre | title = Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle| publisher = Penguin | date = 15 September 2022| location = United Kingdom| language = English | isbn = 978-0241986974}} * {{cite book |title=Colditz: The Full Story |first=P. R. |last=Reid |year=2015 |location=New York |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=9780760346518}} * {{cite book |title=The Latter Days at Colditz |first=P. R. |last=Reid |year=2014 |location=UK |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=9781473603653}} * {{cite book |title=Tunnelling Into Colditz |first=Jim|last=Rogers |year=1986 |location=UK |publisher=R. Hale |isbn=9780709028048}} * {{cite book | last = Schädlich | first = Thomas | title = Tales from Colditz Castle: Diary from Martin Schädlich | publisher = Verlag Schädlich. Kindle Edition | year = 2016 | location = Colditz, Germany | language = English |asin= B01M0YQGZM}} * {{cite book |title=The Last Escaper |first=Peter |last=Tunstall |year=2014 |location=London, UK |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=978-0-71564-923-7}} * {{cite book |first=Guy |last=Walters | author-link = Guy Walters |title=The Real Great Escape |publisher=Bantam Press |year=2013 |location= UK | language =English |isbn=9780593071908}}
;Gazettes, journals, newspapers and magazines * {{cite news | last = Air Ministry | title = Supplement: 37598 | newspaper = The London Gazette (Supplement) | location = London | language = English | date = 13 June 1946 | url = https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37598/supplement/2817/data.pdf }} * {{cite news | last = Chalmers | first = Graham | title = Why Harrogate is shining a light on WW2 heroes | newspaper = harrograteadvertiser.co.uk | location = UK | language = English | date = 2 September 2022 | url = https://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/why-harrogate-is-shining-a-light-on-british-ww2-heroes-locksmith-of-colditz-and-bomb-sight-bertha-after-all-these-years-3829916 }} * {{cite news | url =https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/lifestyle/history/spitfire-pilot-dies-aged-27/news-story/a366706a0a18d50ce35ba86bb7ba2e71| title =Spitfire pilot dies aged 27 | last = Fraser| first =Ian | date = 18 January 2015| newspaper = Townsville Bulletin}} * {{Citation| last = Staff| title = EX-P.O.W. CRASHES| newspaper = Berwick Advertiser| location = Berwick| date = 31 January 1946| url = https://announcements.berwick-advertiser.co.uk/| access-date = 22 January 2023| archive-date = 22 January 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230122124532/https://announcements.berwick-advertiser.co.uk/| url-status = dead}} * {{cite news| last = Spencer| first = Kate| title = ANZAC Day ceremony to honour Second World War casualties at Stonefall Cemetery| newspaper = Harrogate Informer| location = Harrogate| language = English| publisher = harrogate-news.co.uk| date = 9 April 2024| url = https://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2024/04/09/anzac-day-ceremony-to-honour-second-world-war-casualties-at-stonefall-cemetery/| access-date = }}
;Websites * {{cite web | url =http://aircrewremembered.com/parker-vincent.html| title = 15.08.1940 No. 234 Squadron Spitfire I R6985 P/O. Vincent Parker| last = ACR| date = 12 March 2021| website = aircrewremembered.com}} * {{cite web | url =http://bbm.org.uk/airmen/ParkerV.htm| title = The Airmen's Stories - P/O V Parker| last = BBM| date = 1 January 2007| website = bbm.org.uk}} * {{cite web| url = https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/canadaairwar/canadaairwar1940.pdf| title = CANADA'S AIR WAR 1940| last = CBC Museum| date = 23 June 2004| website = bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca| access-date = 23 November 2023}} * {{cite web| url = https://www.chesterlestreetheritage.org/page48.html| title = Vincent "Bush" Parker| last = Chester-le-Street Heritage Group| date = 1 January 2022| website = chesterlestreetheritage.org| access-date = 22 January 2023| archive-date = 14 January 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220114141850/https://www.chesterlestreetheritage.org/page48.html| url-status = dead}} * {{cite web | url =https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-732513 | title =Prisoners of the Castle': The Jewish prisoners of the Nazis at Colditz - review| last = Collins | first = Kenneth | date = 24 February 2023 | website = jpost.com | access-date = }} * {{cite web | url =https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2624000/vincent-parker/ | title = Flight Lieutenant Vincent Parker | last = CWGC| date = 29 January 1946| website = cwgc.org}} * {{cite web | url =https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2623680/noel-dan-hallifax/ | title = Squadron Leader Noel Dan Hallifax | last = CWGC (b) | date = 8 November 1946| website = cwgc.org}} * {{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqv5d5jxqq9o | title = Stories of war dead shared from beyond the grave | last = Moss | first = Alex | date = 29 June 2024 | website = bbc.co.uk | publisher = bbc | access-date = | quote = }} * {{cite web | url =https://mg.co.za/article/2005-11-22-george-drew-serial-escaper-dies-at-87/ | title = George Drew, serial escaper, dies at 87| last = Staff Reporter | date = 22 November 2005 | website = Mail & Guardian | access-date = }} * {{cite web | url =https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/5628/Vincent-bushy-parker-park-factsheet.pdf| title =Vincent 'Bushy' Parker Park | last = Townsville City Council| date = 24 January 2014| website = townsville.qld.gov.au}}
==External links== * [https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/46040/harrogate-stonefall-cemetery/ HARROGATE (STONEFALL) CEMETERY (CWGC)] * [https://foundation.cwgc.org/ CWGC foundation]{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Vincent}} Category:1918 births Category:1946 deaths Category:Australian escapees Category:Australian magicians Category:Australian military personnel of World War II Category:Australian prisoners of war Category:Australian World War II flying aces Category:Australian World War II pilots Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Category:Escapees from German detention Category:Military personnel from Queensland Category:Military personnel from Sydney Category:People from Townsville Category:Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle Category:Royal Air Force airmen Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Category:Shot-down aviators Category:The Few Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1946 Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany