LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Barry Sydney SMITH
Service No: 424471
Born: Parramatta NSW, 18 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1942
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD346), Germany, 1 February 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney and Iris Wilder Smith, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: North Strathfield NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster PD 346 took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 1638 hours on the night of 1February 1945 detailed to bomb Siegen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed into wooded hillside near Ehrenstein about 50 kms south east of Siegen. Five of the crew members were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of PD346 were:
Sergeant C E Atkins (1675910) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer Charles Ridley Fairbairn DFC (419988) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Alan Berkeley Fitzhardinge (424293) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant N G Jones (1852150) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer John Stanley Edward Locock (154080) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Jack Pannett (1592609) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Barry Sydney Smith (424471) (Air Bomber)
In a later report Sergeant Atkins stated: “the aircraft crashed 30 miles south east of Siegen. Met the Mid Upper Gunner at the reception centre. The other five crew members were killed.”
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, 166/38/902