Parry was born in Liverpool in 1915 and practised as a chartered masseur from 1933 to 1938 before studying medicine at University College Hospital, where he qualified in 1944. He subsequently held various posts at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and continued to attend weekly clinics there until his retirement in 1981. In 1958 he joined the artificial limb and appliance service as a medical officer, being based in Nottingham and then Roehampton. In 1968 he supervised the move of the artificial limb and appliance centre for Oxford region to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre; he then became the first honorary consultant in the service. Roland took a keen interest in all aspects of rehabilitating amputees; perhaps his greatest contribution was to develop an expert service for the prosthetic rehabilitation of children with congenital limb deficiencies. He died on 28 November 1991, survived by his wife, Audrey, a son and three daughters.