In memory of Ken Parry

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Kenneth Parry was the only son of Edward and Elizabeth Parry, of 22 St Mary’s Road, Llandudno, write John Lawson-Reay and Adrian Hughes.

After his schooling in Llandudno, Ken joined the RAF in in 1936, fulfilling his boyhood dream. He trained as a wireless operator. When war was declared in September 1939, he moved with his squadron of Blenheim bombers to northern France. The winter of 1939 was bitterly cold and often crews were grounded because of thick fog, ice and snow. When Ken and his crew could fly, it was to do reconnaissance missions and to drop ‘nickels’ (leaflets) over enemy territory.

On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Low Countries, and Ken’s squadron was soon in action. On the evening of 12 May, Ken’s Blenheim was tasked with a low-level reconnaissance mission but crashed 45 minutes after taking off. Ken died, aged 20. He was the first man from Llandudno to be killed in action in the Second World War.

He is buried in a joint grave at Cement House Cemetery, Belgium, with the Blenheim's pilot, Charlie Bellis of Wrexham.

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