The RAF Association was sad to learn of the death of Group Captain Ken Parfit (96), a D-Day veteran who was awarded France’s highest honour for his contribution to the allied invasion of Normandy.

Soon after being evacuated from his Hertfordshire home to Norfolk during the Battle of Britain, Ken took up a place on an engineering and astronomy course at Glasgow University.

While at Glasgow, he joined the University Air Squadron and learnt to fly Tiger Moths. After passing the RAF aircrew entry exam, he was selected for training as an RAF navigator and was posted to an air navigation school in Canada.

After training, Ken joined No 61 Squadron, flying in Avro Lancaster bombers. His first of many Bomber Command raids was as part of a force of 250 Lancasters that bombed German troops in the Caen area of France in order to support invading Canadian soldiers.

Ken went on to join the 8 Group Pathfinder Force, whose vital role was to locate and mark out targets for the main bomber fleet. He took part in 29 missions, flying his last operation in April 1945 when he was just 21.

Ken’s RAF career continued after the war, as he became Commanding Officer of No 84 Squadron in Aden, Yemen, which flew Beverley heavy-lift transport aircraft. A few years later, he was the Commanding Officer of No 30 Squadron at RAF Fairford, which flew Hercules C130 transport aircraft.

In 1974, he became Station Commander at RAF Episkopi, Cyprus, and had only been there for a few weeks when Turkey invaded the island in response to an attempt to annex it to Greece. Ken helped with arranging support for refugees, and with the repatriation of families to the UK.

Ken was then posted to Ankara, Turkey, and served as the Plans and Policy Officer for the Central Treaty Organisation, which was intended to counter the threat of Soviet expansion into Middle East oil-producing regions.

On leaving the RAF in 1977, Ken worked for British Aerospace in Saudi Arabia until his retirement.

He and his wife, Margaret, moved to Dursley in 2011, where he became a member of the RAF Association’s Dursley and South Gloucester Branch.

In 2015, Ken was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French Government for his role in the D-Day bombing raids in June 1944 in support of allied ground forces.

Ken is pictured in 1974, when he became Station Commander at RAF Episkopi.