Edward Parry (Royal Navy officer)

For the earlier admiral, see William Edward Parry.

Sir Edward Parry
1st Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (later CNS)
In office 26 January 1950 – 13 October 1951
President	Rajendra Prasad
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Mark Pizey
2nd Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy
In office 14 August 1948 – 25 January 1950
Monarch	George VI
Governor General	C. Rajagopalachari
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Preceded by	John Talbot Savignac Hall
Succeeded by	Office Abolished
Personal details
Born	(1893-04-08)8 April 1893 London, England[1]
Died	21 August 1972(1972-08-21) (aged 79) London, England
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1905–1951
Rank	Admiral
Commands	New Zealand Division HMS Renown Royal Indian Navy
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War Battle of the River Plate Normandy landings

Admiral Sir William Edward Parry, KCB (8 April 1893 – 21 August 1972) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Naval career

Parry joined the Royal Navy 1905 and served in the First World War.^[2] He was appointed Officer in charge of the Anti-Submarine Establishment at Portland in 1936.^[2] In 1938 he attended the Imperial Defence College.^[1]

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke on the bridge of HMS Kelvin during a visit to France shortly after the Normandy landings, 12 June 1944. Parry is standing behind Churchill.

During the Second World War, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Division commanding HMNZS Achilles at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939.^[2] In this battle he was wounded in the legs when shrapnel hit the bridge. He assumed command of HMS Renown in 1943.^[2] He took part in the Normandy landings and served on the staff of Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force in 1944.^[2] After the war he became Deputy Head of the Naval Division at the Allied Control Commission in Germany.^[2] Parry became Director of Naval Intelligence in July 1946 and Chief of Naval Staff (Commander-in-Chief) of the Royal Indian Navy in August 1948.^[2] He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1950 New Year Honours^[3] before retiring in 1951.^[2]

In the 1956 film The Battle of the River Plate, Parry was played by Jack Gwillim.

References

1. "Royal Navy officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
2. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
3. "No. 38799". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1949. p. 39.

External links

• Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945

Military offices
Preceded by Henry Horan	Commander-in-Chief, New Zealand Division 1940–1941	Post discontinued
Preceded by Edmund Rushbrooke	Director of Naval Intelligence 1946–1948	Succeeded by Eric Longley-Cook
Preceded by John Talbot Savignac Hall	Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy 1948–1951	Succeeded by Eric Longley-Cook