7th Training Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
William Parkes, or ‘Billy’ as he was probably known, was born in mid-1892 to William and Salena Parkes, of North Creswick, Victoria, Australia.
When declaring his mother to be his next of kin Billy stated her address to be Clunet Road, Creswick.
Billy enlisted on 4 August 1915 at the age of 23 years and two months, stating his occupation to be a HM Customs Officer. His initial posting was as Private (number 3246) in the 7th Reinforcements of 27th Battalion, Australian Infantry.
On 12 January 1916 he sailed from Adelaide aboard the HMAT RMS Oriana, bound for Marseilles and arrived there on 27 March. From there it was a long train journey north through France to the Western Front to join up with the Australian forces fighting there.
On 13 April he was deployed to the 7th Australian Machine Gun Company, joining them in the field on 2 May: attachment to 7th Brigade, Australian Machine Gun Corps followed on 22 July 1916.
On 13 November he reverted to the 27th Battalion, Australian Infantry.
He was treated at 6th Field Ambulance for a septic ankle on 16 February 1917 and was quickly passed to No 45 Casualty Clearing Station. As his condition did not improve he was sent by Ambulance Train on 28 February 1917 to the 1st Canadian General Hospital at Etaples and then on to England via Calais and the Hospital Ship Brighton.
It is not known where he received treatment once in England but he ended up at No 1 Convalescent Depot and after a period of furlough at Perham Down Camp on 10 May 1917.
He appears to have been late arriving as he was confined to camp for three days and docked two days pay for absence without leave on 8/9 May.
A posting to the Machine Gun Corps Training Depot at Grantham followed on 15 May – possibly as an instructor.
His transfer to the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) took place on 28 November 1917 and he had an initial posting to the AFC Depot at Halton Camp, Wendover. This was followed, on 1 February 1918, by a posting to No 2 School of Military Aeronautics, Oxford, as a Cadet, with a view to becoming a
Flying Officer pilot.
It was then off for a course at the Royal Air Force Armament School, Uxbridge etween 31 March and 1 May 1918. Thereafter, it was back to Wendover prior to a posting, on 30 May to 7th Training Squadron, based at Leighterton, where he graduated as a pilot on 14 August and was promoted to Second Lieutenant.
On 1 September Billy Parkes, aged 26, took to the air from Leighterton at about 5.40pm in a RE8 (serial number D4975) to practice aerial fighting with a camera gun against a fellow officer pilot. He had over eleven hours solo flying in the RE8 and was onsidered a reliable pilot in the air.
At a Court of Inquiry a witness stated that, at about 6pm, the RE8 was being gently brought into land, when the Billy appeared to perceive a difficulty, as the engine stopped and was restarted and the aircraft turned to the left.
Over the edge of the airfield there was another left turn and the engine stalled, with the result that the nose dipped and the machine started to spin to the left.
Billy appeared to regain control but coming out of the spin appeared to hold onto the right rudder for too long, causing a spin to the right a crash to the ground six hundred yards from the southern edge of the aerodrome.
He was found dead in the wreckage from a fractured skull.
Second Lieutenant William Parkes was buried with military honours in Leighterton Church Cemetery on 4 September 1918, where a CWGC headstone now marks his grave.
Research by Graham Adams 6 February 2018
