William Parr (footballer)

William Parr

Personal information
Full name	William Wilfred Parr
Date of birth	(1915-04-23)23 April 1915
Place of birth	Blackpool, England
Date of death	8 March 1942(1942-03-08) (aged 26)
Place of death	St Ervan, England
Position(s)	Outside right
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1935–1938	Blackpool[1]	18
1939–1940	Dulwich Hamlet[2]
1939–1940	Arsenal
1939–1940	Wealdstone[3] (guest)	23	(15)
International career
1936–1939	England Amateur	12	(9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Wilfred Parr (23 April 1915 – 8 March 1942) was an England amateur International footballer and an English professional footballer who played as an outside right for Blackpool, Dulwich Hamlet and Arsenal. He joined Arsenal in May 1939 but his first game with the team was not until almost a year later during World War II, in April 1940 at Southend. He then joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

England amateur football career

Parr took part in the 1937 Tour of New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon by the England Amateur National Team.^[4][5]

Death

A Sergeant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Parr was one of three crewmen on board the Lockheed Hudson V serial number AM535 of No. 233 Squadron RAF based at RAF St Eval, who were killed when it crashed in a field at Lower Treburrick Farm, St Ervan, four miles north east of RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, on the night of 8 March 1942. The three airmen were conducting a training exercise, but overshot the airfield and crashed, killing pilot Parr and the other two on board.^[6][7][8]

References

1. Anton Rippon (21 October 2011). Gas Masks for Goal Posts: Football in Britain During the Second World War. The History Press. ISBN 9780752471884. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
2. "Norm the Eclectic Rabbi: Hamlet History : 1938/39 London Senior Cup". Normtheeclecticrabbi.blogspot.co.uk. 15 April 2002. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
3. "Wealdstone Football Club - Roll of Honour" (PDF). wfchistory.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
4. "British FA XI Tours". The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 May 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
5. "1937 England Tour of Australia". Ozfootball.net. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
6. "Casualty Details". CWGC.org. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
7. "View 1942 Crash Log". RAFdavidstowmoor.org. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
8. "No. 233 Squadron Hudson V AM535 ZS-E Sgt. Parr". aircrewremembered.com. Retrieved 21 February 2020.

External links

Media related to William Parr (footballer) at Wikimedia Commons