Alan Parkes (middle)
Alan was born in Willenhall, West Midlands, on 26th May 1929
Leaving school at 14, Alan became an apprentice at Rubery Owen as a toolmaker. He would work in the day, and cycle to technical college in the evening to further his education. He was a life-long fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers and would regularly watch them at weekends, reveling in the skills of Stan Cullis and Billy Wright. He loved his sport, playing cricket for Willenhall Cricket Team; table tennis for various teams in the Wolverhampton leagues; and later taking up golf.
At the age of 21 Alan undertook National Service and was posted to 607 Squadron (County of Durham) of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force where he worked as an engineer on the aircraft. These years had left massive impression on him. He kept his Statement of Service and Certificate of Discharge with his rank of Senior Aircraftman. If ever you needed to guess his password protection for anything, you only needed to know his National Service Number. In his later days he became heavily involved with the 607 Squadron Association, becoming secretary at one point, and attending reunion dinners in Durham for Remembrance Services and events at the National Arboretum in Alrewas.
It was here he made some strong friendships. Fred Carter, another former member of 607 Squadron, described him as being “extremely popular and once a friend always a friend”. He also says that Alan was “proud to be a member of 607 and was a motivator in the Squadron Association”.
After National Service he returned to Rubery Owen where he worked until the 1980s, working his way up from his apprenticeship to becoming Managing Director of its Wrexham Plant.
On a personal level, Alan married Sheila in 1964, and they went on to have three children, David, Diane and Jeffrey, the latter providing Alan with 3 grandchildren Joe, Emma and Bethan.
Alan died in The Good Hope Hospital, Sutton, surrounded by his children on 27th March 2025 (aged 95).
Jeff Parkes