Howard Michael PARSONS, Royal Army Medical Corps & LRDG MO

Michael Parsons


Long Range Desert Group medical officer Michael Parsons

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  Long Range Desert Group medical officer Michael Parsons

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Wartime medical officer who saved his commanding officer’s life and tended injured partisans in Albania
Michael Parsons joined the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) as medical officer after it had established a reputation for successful intelligence gathering and as a raiding force from the 8th Army’s open desert flank to the rear of Rommel’s Afrika Corps. After the defeat of the Axis Powers in North Africa, the unit began operations in the eastern Mediterranean, where Parsons’s predecessor had been reported missing on the island of Leros.
At the request of the British envoy to the Albanian communist partisan leader Enver Hoxha, an LRDG detachment under the unit’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel David Lloyd-Owen, was parachuted into central Albania during the night of September 24-25, 1944. The drop was made from too great an altitude, dispersing the party over a wide area. Lloyd-Owen landed safely but in the darkness stepped into a 30ft ravine and fractured his spine.
His mission was to persuade Hoxha to attack the German Army units entering Albania from Greece, a task he handed over to his second-in-command, but it was important for him to receive proper medical attention so as not to inhibit the movements of the party as a whole. The LRDG headquarters in Bari put plans in train to provide it; Parsons was told to collect the supplies he needed and be prepared to jump from an RAF Halifax aircraft with a picked crew that night. He had a healthy dislike of parachuting but reported to Brindisi airfield on time.
The Halifax pilot came in as low as the foul weather would permit and dropped Parsons with commendable accuracy. He was quick to diagnose Lloyd-Owen’s injuries, put him in plaster from shoulder to hip — distracting his patient’s attention with a description of how terrifying he had found the parachute drop — and patched up his badly gashed face. This treatment allowed Lloyd-Owen to follow the work of his LRDG patrols in making contact with partisan groups, while Parsons attended to the injuries sustained by members of the latter.
By early October Lloyd-Owen was well enough to move about with assistance. Parsons returned to him each evening utterly worn out with his exertions on behalf of the injured partisans and the trials of travelling by mule over mountain tracks in torrential rain. Before going to the coast for return to Italy by sea, Lloyd-Owen took Parsons to see his patrols ambushing the Elbasan-Tirana road. By the time they were ready to make the longer journey, Parsons had improvised two partisan field hospitals and taught some young women how to dress wounds.
The journey to the coast began in late October. Lloyd-Owen, Parsons and their small escort made their way south over the Shkumbin River to the sea. The Bari headquarters was warned by radio of their date of arrival and a pick-up point was suggested. A small craft of the Royal Navy answered their flashlight signal from the beach and the pair sailed into Brindisi at dawn the following day.
Howard Michael Parsons was born in Paddington during a Zeppelin raid in April 1918. He was the third child of a family of butchers, a fact that gave wry amusement after he began work as a surgeon. He was educated at Radley and qualified at University College Hospital, London. After return from Albania, he was sent to England for training to accompany the British force due to invade Japan, but the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war before he left.
He began his career with the NHS as a registrar. He obtained his FRCS ten years later and began a consultancy at Lewisham hospital. He specialised in ENT with particular focus on neck cancer surgery and also the investigation and management of deaf children. He travelled widely to increase his medical knowledge and experience, especially to the US and Japan.
He and his wife shared a passion for motor racing, both on the home circuits and at Le Mans and Monaco, and owned a series of Aston Martin and Jaguar cars. He retired from medicine at 72 but maintained close contact with the dwindling band of LRDG veterans.
He is survived by his wife, Sarah Foley, whom he married in 1942, and a son and daughter.

Michael Parsons, medical officer to the Long Range Desert Group, was born on March 14, 1918. He died on September 21, 2010, aged 92

 

Michael Parsons LRDG MO

Paul

 

MO Michael Parsons. RIP.

 

Michael Parsons - Telegraph

Michael Parsons, who has died aged 92, was a medical officer for the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) during the Second World War, and subsequently had a distinguished career as a surgeon.


Published: 5:39PM GMT 01 Nov 2010
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Parsons and his wife Sarah on their wedding day in 1942




In September 1944, David Lloyd Owen, the commanding officer of the LRDG, was parachuted with a team of men into the Albanian mountains. Their task was to link up with partisans and help these resistance groups step up their attacks on the Germans.

But Lloyd Owen fell 30ft into a ravine and was badly injured. As a result, Parsons – who had only recently been appointed the LRDG's medical officer in the rank of captain – was summoned to Bari, south Italy, from where he was ordered to fly to Lloyd Owen's assistance.


He greatly disliked parachuting, but boarded a Halifax and was flown across the Adriatic at night and in stormy weather. He jumped out at 3,500ft and dropped close to where Lloyd Owen was laid up. Among the items in his kit was a bottle of whisky, strapped to his leg, for his CO's approaching birthday.
After diagnosing a broken spine, he encased Lloyd Owen's back in plaster and treated his facial injuries. The CO was in no state to be moved for several days, so Parsons went with guides to give aid to wounded partisans in the surrounding areas.
When Lloyd Owen was fit enough to travel, they made for the coast, dodging enemy patrols and making detours so that Parsons could carry out life-saving operations. Often these had to be performed on a kitchen table with only an oil lamp for lighting.
"He would come back to me at night absolutely worn out," Lloyd Owen wrote afterwards. "Travelling in Albania was no rest cure, for mule tracks were rough and it rained nearly every day. It speaks highly of the man's courage."
At the end of October the men arrived at the coast, where they were picked up by motor torpedo boat. A few hours later they were in the safety of Brindisi.
Howard Michael Parsons was born in Paddington on April 14 1918 during a Zeppelin raid. He was the third child of a family of butchers. Given his vocation, this later gave him and his friends some amusement.
He was educated at Radley before attending medical school at University College Hospital in London. On qualifying in 1942 he joined the RAMC and subsequently volunteered for the LRDG. He served in North Africa and Italy, and after his Albanian exploits returned to civilian life in England.
He began his career as a registrar with the newly-created NHS. After a further 10 years of study, he obtained his FRCS and was appointed to a consultancy at Lewisham Hospital.
He played a notable part in the establishment of Shirley Oaks, Croydon's first private hospital. Clinically, he had broad experience of ear, nose and throat disorders and a particular interest in surgery for neck cancer.
Parsons travelled extensively to increase his medical knowledge. He and his wife also found time to indulge their enthusiasm for motor racing; he had been a youthful spectator at Brooklands, Crystal Palace and Donington Park in the 1930s. In the 1950s, annual trips to watch the Le Mans 24 Hours Race in the days of Jaguar and Aston Martin victories led to the couple owning a succession of both marques.
He retired from medicine in 1990 and, aged 72, took up golf on a course close to his home in Croydon. He kept up with his old LRDG comrades, and as recently as July attended the LRDG/SAS annual reunion lunch in London.
Michael Parsons died on September 21. He married, in 1942, Sarah Foley, who served in Queen Alexander's Imperial Military Nursing Service during the war. She landed in Normandy shortly after D-Day and was nursing in Caen while it was still being bombed by the Allies. She survives her husband with their son and daughter.

 

Michael Parsons RIP

Paul

 

Michael Parsons RIP

Tom