My book is 'Dedicated to Peace - which sadly can only be achieved through War.'

It tells the true story of my father, Wally Parr, who took part in the famous raid to capture Pegasus Bridge in Normandy on the eve of D-Day in 1944. It not only covers his war years but also his latter life when, at the 40th anniversary of D-Day, the author Stephen Ambrose wrote 'Pegasus Bridge' a book that told the intimate story of the raid and reunited many of my father's comrades for the first time since the war.

After my mother's death my father retired to Normandy and became actively involved in preserving the old bridge when it was replaced with a new one. He was also involved in the team that was responsible for the building of a new museum in Benouville that housed the old bridge and a full scale replica of a Horsa Glider. He met Prince Charles when he opened the museum in the year 2000.

The purpose of this book is to preserve and honour the memory of these fine men and to pass on to the next generation the importance of what they did. My family story is similar to thousands of others from all over the world - my hope is that this book may inspire others to record their own history for their children and their children's children.

This is not your basic war history book - far better equipped authors have covered the ground more than adequately, instead it is a first-hand account given to me personally. There will be people out there who will demand to see my credentials, others will ask what qualifications I have - to those people my answer is simple: I have only one - I am my father's son.


You can get a copy of Barry's book from Amazon or W.H.Smith by quoting ISBN 1-4251-1073-8, by clicking here to order directly from the publishing house or by emailing me here.

If you leave your home address and a telephone number I will contact you and do my best to deliver a signed copy for £14 including post and packaging.

In some cases if you are local to Catford I may be able to deliver it personally.


Read some of the comments that Barry has received since the publication of his book here.

64th Anniversary visit to Pegasus Bridge.

My wife and I have just returned from our annual visit to Normandy.

This year the same three veterans, Tich Raynor, Johnny Johnson and Stan Watson, attended and as always they flew the flag for their absent comrades who were either unfit to travel or had passed away.

I was greatly saddened to hear of the recent passing of Denis Edwards, my Dad's old sniping partner. Denis was a constant encouragment to me when I was writing my book and gave me access to much of his material and archives. To me he was the man who had kept all the veterans informed and together over the past two decades and his passing will leave a deep void to fill. I understand from his daughters, Jill and Nicky, that there will be a memorial service at sometime in the future.

The usual events and services took place overseen again by Penny and George Bates. As an added bonus the Pegasus Memorial team allowed the foyer to be used by the Project 65 team and I to promote their project and for me to sign some books. It was good to catch up with old friends and to meet people that I had been sharing emails with since they bought my book last year.

Project 65 will be attending the Bedford River Festival on July 12th/13th as they continue to promote their vision - they have asked me to join them on their display and I will be signing some more books and bringing lots of my Father's memorablia with me. If you are able to attend, look out for a model of the bridge and a certain Piat gun!

I have just heard that Tich Raynor will be joined by Billy Gray at Bedford. That's at least two beers I will be having!

One of my highlights of the trip to Normandy was meeting the artist Malcolm Winter who had just completed a painting of my Dad's 'No 1 Gun' with a quotation from my book inscribed on the frame.

To see some of the photos of my trip click here.

Harry 'Nobby' Clark

I was deeply saddened to hear the news that my Father's old friend and comrade, 'Nobby' Clark, passed away on March 5th this year.

Nobby was the last member of 'D' company to visit my Father in Lewisham Hospital before he died. You can read about his war exploits and his wounding on page 72 of my book - there is also two pictures of him on pages 257 and 263.

Again, this is another reminder that as "less and less appear at each year's roll" we, the relatives and friends, continue to preserve the memory of these brave men.

Project 65

Project 65 is the brain-child of Barry Tappenden, son of 'Ham & Bloody Jam' Ted.

Barry has a vision to raise funds for a memorial to the boys of 'D' Company and to give donations to various military organisations.

He aims to do this by encouraging as many people as possible to run 65 miles between Tarrant Rushton and Pegasus Bridge in June 2009.

The memorial will be unveiled in the grounds of the Pegasus Memorial Museum.

For all the latest information go to Project65.net

Pegasus Memorial Team visit London

Details of the Pegasus Memorial Team visit to London can be found here.

Role Models

We are only half way through March and the celebrity obsessed public has already learnt that a world renowned young actor has tragically died from an accidental overdose of anti-depressants, an American pop diva has been sectioned in order to protect herself and closer to home one of our top singers has received several Emmy awards while in and out of rehab - we will not discuss divorce settlements!

Moving from the 'arts' to 'sport', most of us are still reeling in the realisation that this summer all four national football team players will be sunbathing in luxury somewhere in the world while the cream of European teams will be battling it out for the European Championships. But then again we are used to it, not since 1966 have we tasted footballing success on a national level. But as we continue our love/hate relationship with our over-paid and over-pampered footballing 'heroes' I feel there is hope. A new boy is in town, Fabio Cappello, a man that looks like he will install the three 'D's', Desire, Dedication and Discipline into our squad.

My immediate thought is that a 'next generation John Howard' has taken over and is about to lick a modern- day 'D' Company into shape!

Click here for an extract from my book where I compare the 'Coup de Main' boys of '44 with the 'World Cup Squad' of '66.

We will remember them

At all times we must remember the stirling work done by the Royal British Legion in supporting countless veterans and their families. In my book I mentioned Dean Croucher and his work colleauges who did a sponsored march for the Legion at the 60th Anniversary of D-Day click here to read about his march. Recently I have also heard from a guy called Tim Burling who contacted me on my comments page after reading my book. He too has recently completed a march for the British Legion in Normandy, he and Dean not only share the same passion for D-Day but they are also Police Officers with the motivation to encourage fellow work mates to join in. You can read Tim's account of his march by clicking here.

Regular book extracts....

for the benefit of first time visitors to this website and also for people who have read my book but would like a recap here are some extracts from my book with some additional thoughts and comments.

The Next Generation -

I was recently contacted by Barbara Barnes, Head of History, at Clayesmore Prep School, which is in Blandford, Dorset. The 12 to 13 year old students, as part of their D-Day studies, recently visited nearby Tarrant Rushton to see where the gliders took off on the night of June 5th 1944. They continued their studies by making a trip to Normandy to visit many sites including Pegasus Bridge. Some of the children were deeply moved by what they saw and were inspired to write some poetry. If you click here and follow the link to 'D-Day poetry' you will see poems by James Gill and poetry by Clayesmore Prep School.

It is so encouraging to see the next generation embracing the magnitude of what happened in June 1944.

Normandy 2007 -

Some details of our trip to Normandy, in June 2007, can be found here.

Raymond 'Tich' Rayner -

Some details of a visit to see Tich Rayner can be found here.

The News Shopper -

The May 10th edition of my local newspaper 'The News Shopper' had an article in it's history section about my book and my Father's war story.

If you missed the article, it is available here.

'Wally Parr of Catford' listens to Prince Charles at the unveiling of the glider'

Wally Parr's London -

Some details of a recent walking tour of Wally Parr's London can be found here.

This site always being updated so please visit again soon.

You can contact Barry Parr here for further information.