Brigadier Leonard Parrington was a British Army officer.
39 Facts About Leonard Parrington
1.
2.
Leonard Parrington joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1911 and served with them in the First World War in which he was mentioned in despatches four times and was awarded the Military Cross.
3.
Leonard Parrington was mistakenly thought to be pro-Nazi and was recommended, without his knowledge, for command of the British Free Corps, a collaborationist unit of the German SS.
4.
Leonard Parrington's commission was confirmed and he was granted the substantive rank of second lieutenant on 3 September 1912.
5.
Leonard Parrington served with the RGA in the First World War and was appointed to the acting rank of captain on 20 October 1914.
6.
Leonard Parrington took part in the May 1915 Battle of Aubers and was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant on 9 June 1915.
7.
Leonard Parrington served as aide-de-camp to General Herbert Plumer, commander of the Second Army between February and April 1916.
8.
Leonard Parrington took part in the Battle of the Somme and on 26 September 1916 was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry.
9.
Leonard Parrington was serving as a forward observer officer in an exposed lookout point when he came under heavy enemy artillery fire.
10.
Leonard Parrington remained at his post and continued to relay targeting information back to his battery.
11.
In October 1916 Leonard Parrington was appointed to command a howitzer battery.
12.
Leonard Parrington was appointed to the acting rank of major on 9 January 1917, when he assumed command of a siege artillery battery.
13.
Leonard Parrington took part in the 1917 Battles of Arras and Passchendaele.
14.
Leonard Parrington was confirmed in the substantive rank of captain on 3 November 1917.
15.
Leonard Parrington was mentioned in despatches four times during the war.
16.
Leonard Parrington relinquished the acting rank of major on 13 October 1919 and went on to serve in the post-war occupation of Germany.
17.
Leonard Parrington was appointed to the temporary rank of staff captain on 20 September 1920 and relinquished this on 1 April 1921.
18.
Leonard Parrington was seconded for service with the Territorial Army reserve force on 18 April 1923, serving as adjutant of the 58 Medium Brigade RGA.
19.
Leonard Parrington attended the Gunnery Staff Course from 31 August 1926.
20.
Leonard Parrington left that role on 31 August 1926 and returned to the regular army on 26 September 1927, joining the Royal Artillery as the RGA had since been merged with the Field Artillery.
21.
Leonard Parrington was seconded to the Indian Artillery School on 29 December 1927.
22.
Leonard Parrington left that post on 29 December 1931 and returned to the British Army on 24 February 1932.
23.
Leonard Parrington was appointed an assistant instructor at the Royal School of Artillery on 19 June 1937 and was immediately seconded to the British military mission to the Egyptian Army.
24.
Leonard Parrington was granted the local rank of lieutenant-colonel on 1 December 1938, to be held whilst serving with the mission.
25.
Shortly after the start of the Second World War Leonard Parrington was promoted, on 2 October 1939, to the substantive rank of colonel.
26.
Leonard Parrington was promoted to the acting rank of brigadier in March 1941.
27.
Leonard Parrington was senior Allied officer on the beachhead and in command of the evacuation.
28.
Leonard Parrington warned Hinton he could have him court martialled for speaking to a senior officer like that upon which Hinton said "if you're not careful I'll have you court-martialled for talking surrender" before leaving.
29.
Leonard Parrington surrendered the following day, one of 8,000 men captured by the Germans at Kalamata.
30.
In captivity Leonard Parrington was ordered by Major-General Victor Fortune to visit a number of "holiday camps" set up by the Germans for prisoners of war, to ascertain what the purpose of the camps was.
31.
Leonard Parrington did not discover the recruitment operation and gave the prisoners permission go on escorted parole to visit Berlin.
32.
Leonard Parrington, who did not enjoy his visits to the camps, told the prisoners they had a duty to escape, where possible.
33.
Leonard Parrington's visit led to him being proposed, unknowingly and unwillingly, to SS leader Heinrich Himmler by SS general Gottlob Berger as a possible commander for the Free Corps.
34.
Berger claimed Leonard Parrington had "the reputation of being both enthusiastically and sincerely devoted to the Fuhrer".
35.
Leonard Parrington was likely known to New Zealand Free Corps member Roy Courlander, who had been captured at Kalamata.
36.
Leonard Parrington's acting rank ceased shortly after the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.
37.
Leonard Parrington retired from the army on 15 March 1946 and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier.
38.
Leonard Parrington left the Reserve of Officers on 24 February 1948, upon reaching the age limit of 58 years.
39.
In 1963 Leonard Parrington won a libel case against history writers Anthony Heckstall-Smith and Vice-Admiral Harold Baillie-Grohman and publisher Anthony Blond who he said had cast doubts on his courage and ability at Kalamata in their book Greek Tragedy '41.