Winston Parker's Handkerchief

Winston Parker's Handkerchief
- A painting completed at Stalag VIIIB

Introduction

F/Sgt. Winston Parker was an air-gunner aboard 419 Squadron Wellington X3467 (VR-N)
when it was shot down on a raid to Hamburg during the night of 8/9 April 1942.
His pilot was F/O A.B. Crighton and all six members of the crew were Canadians.

The aircraft was abandoned after fires broke out in both of the aircraft's engines.
Five of the crew parachuted successfully and became Prisoners of War
but P/O Ernest Richard 'Dick' Howard of Longview, Alberta was killed.

Winston became a prisoner in Stalag VIIIB (344) Lamsdorf where he stayed until he was forced to participate in 'The Long March'.

"Once in a while the air force prisoners were allowed to get together with the army prisoners in the camp,
most of whom had been captured at Dieppe.
There were a lot of Canadian army guys there including a French-Canadian named P. Dumaine who painted stories on handkerchiefs.
One guy offered me a clean handkerchief and I had P. Dumaine paint our story on it."

(The artwork is dated 1943. Winston obviously took it with him on 'The Long March'.)

Hamburg Handkerchief Painting.

Bomber Command Museum of Canada