Black and White Photograph of Roy Parsons

Roy Parsons was born on 10 August 1894 in Marrackville, New South Wales and at two and half years old the family moved to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Years later the family moved into the Perth suburb of Subiaco where Roy worked for the Department of Lands and Surveys. Roy commenced training as a naval cadet in the RANR and while in the Naval cadets their crew won the Champions Cutters Crew. (see 2017.29.3)
When war broke out in 1914 Roy joined the Royal Australian Navy whilst in Albany as a Midshipman on board the HMAS Pioneer; a Pelorus Class Light Cruiser.
He involved with the capture of the German steamer SS Neumünster off Fremantle on 16 August 1914 and then some days later with another German capture of the SS Thuringun on the 26 August 1914. These ships became “prizes of war” where the Neumunster was renamed Cooee and used by Commonwealth of Australia during the war, and Thuringun renamed Moora and handed over to the Indian Government for service as a troopship.
Throughout the war Roy served on many ships such as HMAS Alacrity, HMAS Governor and HMAS Musgraves, however it was on the ship HMAS Encounter where Roy had his fondest memories of serving in the navy. It was on board the Encounter where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander (LCDR).
At the conclusion of the war on 24 November 1918, Encounter was deployed to Samoa and Tonga for humanitarian aid following a pneumonic influenza outbreak, otherwise known as the ‘Spanish Flu’. Encounter returned to Sydney on 17 December 1918 after carrying out vital medical aid.
Roy was discharged from the Navy on 14 October 1919 and returned to his work in the survey Department. He was appointed to the Royal Australian Naval reserve in July 1919 and retired in July 1930 at the rank of Lieutenant
During the Second World War, Roy enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corp in October 1942 in which he served for just over 2 years. Roy died on 27 June 1976.