What d'ya do in the war Dad?

About the Book

This 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.

About the Author

Barry Parr was born in 1950. He left school at 16 and joined a firm of Turf Accountants in London's Mayfair. In 1977 he joined his father Wally (the subject of this book) in his window cleaning business. In 1991 his father retired to France and left the business to Barry. Throughout his life Barry has enjoyed writing - one of his ambitions was to write his father's life story but struggled to to find the spare time. In September 2005 he had a serious fall from his ladder which resulted in him giving up window cleaning for good. For the past year he has been recovering from his injuries and this book is the result of the spare time he suddenly had!