Lt. Col. Eric Parnis, the former commanding officer of the 1st Regiment of the Armed Forces of Malta, died on Monday aged 89.
Col. Parnis was commissioned at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1947 where he formed part the first group of Royal Malta Artillery officer cadets to attend the academy after the second world war.
In 1953 Col. Parnis led the Maltese contingent at Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation parade in London. The parade route was lined with sailors, soldiers and airmen from across the British Empire and Commonwealth in a procession before about three million spectators.
So sad to learn Lt Col (Ret) Eric Parnis passed away yesterday. Irreproachable, uncompromising, utterly principled - he personified the term an officer and a gentleman.
— Roberta Metsola MEP (@RobertaMetsola) July 2, 2019
I will miss our regular chats, his advice and his contagious optimism.
Thank you sir, #Malta salutes you. pic.twitter.com/PDDxN4PHPh
In the 1960s Col. Parnis served in Germany where he commanded an artillery battery. The 1st Regiment Royal Malta Artillery was then part of the British Army of the Rhine, but ceased to cease to be so from 1970.
Col. Parnis later returned to Malta where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel and was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Regiment of the Armed Forces of Malta.
In 1980 Col. Parnis, together with a group of other officers, resigned his commission in protest at the decision of then Prime Minister Dom Mintoff to set up the Army Task Force – separate to the Armed Forces of Malta – which included a number of police officers with no military training, some of whom went on to be given senior militay ranks.
A strong defender of Malta’s heritage, he dedicated many years to helping Din L-Art Ħelwa, the heritage NGO, where he did a lot of volunteer work, particularly in Gozo.