Ania Waterman (2060) found this signed photograph of Wing Commander Peter Lawrence Parrott (272) (1920-2003) on eBay. Peter was a member of the P*rr*tt Society during his lifetime, but prior to that he had an illustrious career in the RAF.
Peter joined 607 Squadron in 1940 at the age of 20 and was the first pilot in his squadron to fly a Hurricane. During the Second World War – to his embarrassment – he appeared on recruitment posters with the words ‘Volunteer for Flying Duties’.
After the war he worked as a test pilot for the Vampire and Meteor and eventually left the RAF in 1965. He went on to work for the Libyan royal family and government, a job which included his plane being destroyed by Israeli bombers in 1967 at Damascus airport and an arrest in 1972 when he was sent by Gadafi to collect Idi Amin from Uganda and wrongly suspected to be a mercenary.
Peter, who was married to Mary Dunning, was a descendant of the Aylesbury Parrott family, which previously came from Wotton Underwood in Buckinghamshire. There have been a number of other Society members over the years descended from this family.
Peter’s obituary appeared in The Telegraph in 2003 and can be read here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1440901/Wing-Commander-Peter-Parrott.html
