LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ross Frederick BARNETT
Service No: 417794
Born: Broken Hill NSW, 11 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1942 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 582 Squadron (RAF), RAF Little Staughton, Bedfordshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 582 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB475), Buckinghamshire, 6 March 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred William and Irene Pearl Barnett, of Mitcham, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the night of 5 March 1945, Lancaster PB475 took off from RAF Little Staughton at 1733 hours, detailed to bomb Chemnitz, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it m failed to return to base. When homebound, the aircraft crashed at 0100 hours on the 6th March 1945, near Bellingdon, some two miles north west from Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Six of the crew members were killed, and Sergeant Hart managed to parachute to safety. A report into the flying accident stated: “The cause of the accident was due to a target indicator that had failed to release, exploded in the bomb bay when the aircraft was in flight.”
The crew members of PB475 were:
Flight Sergeant Ross Frederick Barnett (417794) (Navigator)
Sergeant Arnold Denbigh (1588726) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer John Charles Gould (177586) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant W Hart (1860300) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Baled out, Safe
Warrant Officer Ellis Wilby Hemsworth (423730) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gerald John Price Ralph (1811907) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Warrant Officer Glen Torr (417533) (Air Bomber)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/991
Bibliography:
Feast, Sean Master Bombers: the experiences of a Pathfinder Squadron at war, 1944-1945, Grub Street, London, 2008