PARKIN, Annie
Age at Death: 21
Rank Leading Aircraftwoman
Unit Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division
Service Number W309495
Place of Burial Sussex Kirk Hill Cemetery, NB
Date of Birth 1922.04.15
Place of Birth Durham, UK
Enlistment February 4, 1943, Moncton NB
Date of Death 1944.01.01
Daughter of John William and Edith Anne Parkin, of Sussex
Annie was born in England but raised in New Brunswick. Her father was a Sergeant in the British military. She had worked as a cook at the Sussex Manganese Mines until the mine closed, and as a personal housekeeper. Her goal after the war was to become a telephone operator.
On New Year’s Eve 1943, a little under a year after enlisting, LAW Parkin was admitted to hospital, unconscious and with a high fever. The following day, she died of acute meningitis. Her father wrote in a letter to the RCAF, “It was a severe blow to us, but she was loved by all, was of upright character, a hard worker. She died in the service she loved, as she was very proud to be in the Air Force… However, it is so, Sir, that the finest of our children have to be taken.”
