LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor KIERATH MID
Service No: 402364
Born: Narromine NSW, 20 February 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 August 1940
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID), 8 June 1944
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed) (POW from the loss of No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FR477 over Tunisia on 23 April 1943), 29 March 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Ada Elise Kierath, of Narromine, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Narromine NSW
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Gordon Rugby Football Club, Chatswood NSW
Remembered: Narromine Cenotaph, Narromine NSW
On 24/25 March 1944, 76 allied prisoners of war broke out of the Stalag Luft III Prison Camp near Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland) (the Great Escape). All but three were recaptured and of those, 50 including six Australians were executed by the Gestapo. Those six Australians executed were:
Squadron Leader James Catanach DFC MID (400364) (No. 455 Squadron) Executed 29 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Brian Herbert Evans MID (42745) (RAF) (No. 49 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Warrant Officer Albert Horace Hake MID (403218) (No. 72 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker Leigh (46462) (RAF) (No. 76 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath MID (402364) (No. 450 Squadron) Executed 29 March 1944
Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams DFC (40652) (RAF) (No. 450 Squadron (RAAF)) Executed 29 March 1944
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9300, KIERATH R V
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line