LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Bruce Bertram BARBER
Service No: 400456
Born: Cairo, Egypt, 18 May 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 82 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 82 Squadron Blenheim aircraft V6146), off the Dutch Coast, 21 October 1941, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and May Lightowler Barber, of Warsash, Hampshire
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 62, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1330 hours on 21 October 1941 Blenheim V6146 was one of a formation of eight aircraft which took off to attack a convoy off the Dutch coast. The convoy was sighted about 10 miles off Ijmuiden, Holland, and was attacked at 1435 hours. All aircraft were subject to intense anti-aircraft fire. V6146 was attacked by a Me109 fighter and seen to crash into the sea at approximately 1440 hours. There were no survivors and the crew was lost at sea.
The crew members of V6146 were:
Pilot Officer Bruce Bertram Barber (400456) (Pilot)
Sergeant Edward William Paine (1375140) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Henry Hodsmyth Pibus (J/5086) (RCAF) (Observer)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/23/81