LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Harold Lawrence BARRON
Service No: 27266
Born: Broken Hill NSW, 7 December 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 July 1940 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF East Kirkby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB526), Germany, 22 June 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Augustus and Ethel Ruby Barron, of Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Broken Hill NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster JB526 took off from RAF East Kirkby at 2300 hours on the night of 21/22nd June 1944, detailed to bomb Wesseling, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft when outbound, was attacked by a night fighter which set its engines on fire, and the JB 526 exploded and disintegrated in the air. It crashed 1 km north west of the small town of Koslar, 3 kms west of Julich. Six of the crew members were killed and Pilot Officer Weightman became a Prisoner of War. Six aircraft from the Squadron (including JB526) failed to return from this mission.
The crew members of JB526 were:
Flight Sergeant Harold Lawrence Barron (27266) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Albert James Osborn (1895092) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William Ronald Parkinson (2204260) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Chester Szymanski (J/25119) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Donald George Townsend (1321858) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer S Weightman (174946) (RAFVR) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Henry William John Yardley (1868604) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/5/1460