N.Z.-JAPAN AIR MAIL

Press, Volume C, Issue 29480, 5 April 1961, Page 9

N.Z.-JAPAN AIR MAIL

Survey Flight Recalled Mr L. H. Parry, of St. Albans, who was killed when a glider crashed at the R.N.Z.A.F. Station, Wigram, on Sunday, pioneered the air-mail route from New Zealand to Japan. Wing Commander Parry, as he then was. completed a survey flight of 12,000 miles metween Auckland and Iwakuni in a Dakota aircraft of No. 41 Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F. The flight included many other officers as well as the squadron commander, WingCommander Parry. A special study along the route led to the establishment in 1947 of a weekly air-mail service to the New Zealand forces of occupation in Japan. The aircraft on the survey flight reached Iwakuni within two minutes of the scheduled time of arrival announced before it left Auckland. Flying conditions were difficult over the last section, but the Dakota arrived safely. A Flying Fortress on the same leg and carrying an American general become lost and was later found wrecked in Formosa. The son of Mrs H. C. Parry, of Christchurch, and formerly of Hokitika, Mr Parry was a member of the Hokitika Aero Club before the Second World War, and did a great deal of flying on the West Coast. He was reported missing when he crash-landed a Gypsy Moth aircraft in the Taipo Valley, inland from Kumara, but walked out of • the bush. An expert navigator as well as pilot, Mr Parry flew 32 operational flights in the South-west Pacific area during the war and took part in 142 convoy escort flights. In 1945 he was Officer Commanding No. 4 Bomber Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F., based at Los Negros.