Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James Cook's Endeavour voyage. Early life Parkin was born in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood on 6 November 1910, the youngest of three children. An early interest in ships saw him join the sea scouts. He also became interested in art and drawing (especially the drawing of ships), and after leaving school at age 14, he took a job at an engraving firm. In 1928, aged 18, he joined the Royal Australian Navy. He rose through the ranks of the navy to become a chief petty officer and, in 1939, he was drafted onto the newly commissioned light cruiser HMAS Perth. Its first peace-time mission was a voyage to New York to represent Australia at the World's Fair, after which the vessel saw service in World War II. World War II Parkin began writing during his war service. He started a novel, which was lost when Perth was sunk by Japanese action in the Sunda Strait in the early hours of 1 March 1942. After about 11 hours in the water, Parkin and nine other survivors washed up on a small island. They found a steel lifeboat and rigged a sail and tried to get back to Australia. Over 16 days, covering 500 miles, they managed to slip past enemy shipping and endured tropical storms before reaching occupied Tjilatjap where they were greeted by Dutch Officers, who handed them over to Japanese troops. In June 1942, Parkin was imprisoned in Bandoeng camp. There he met Dutch soldier and author Laurens van der Post and they became friends. Among other prisoners with an interest in art was Dutch artist Keis von Willigen, and together they would source paper from wherever they could. Van der Post managed to get Parkin a set of watercolour paints from a Chinese contact and with these he would create portraits of fellow prisoners. In November 1942, Parkin was among the "Dunlop 1,000", a group of prisoners under the authority of Australian army surgeon Lieutenant Colonel "Weary" Dunlop who were sent to work on the infamous Burma-Thailand Railway. Despite the hardship, Parkin continued to draw, focusing on the beauty that could be found: plants, butterflies, nature generally.