P/O Kenneth Alan Barrett
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
158 Sqdn.
Brother of Reginald Henry Lewis Barrett
Birth:
1922 Gillingham, Kent, England
Death:
Apr. 16, 1943, Germany
Buried:
RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY Germany
Plot 9. E. 4.
Casualty of WW2 Kenneth Alan Barrett was the son of Henry John Barrett and his wife Emily Harrod. The family lived in Gillingham Kent. Kenneth was the youngest of Henry and Emma's three children, all sons. Kenneth's siblings were Harry J and Reginald Henry Lewis Barrett. Tragically Harry died in 1920 at the age of two as the result of an accidental scalding. Reginald also perished tragically as a result of the Gillingham Park Fete Fire Tragedy on July 11, 1929.
Kenneth was a Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 158 Sqdn. He was a member of the crew of the Halifax HR758 NP-Y which took off 20:32 hrs the night of April 16/17 1943 from Lissett, detailed to bomb the Skoda Works in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. The town of Dobrany was mistaken for Pilsen and a large asylum building was targeted instead of the intended Skoda Works.
Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Its thought that the aircraft was attacked by a nightfighter and exploded in the air. The plane crashed near Saarbrücken. Killed were the pilot B. P. Jay who was found in the plane and Kenneth who was later found 300 yards away from the wreck. It appears that though he baled out, his parachute failed to deploy. The other were taken as PoW's.
The crew:
F/O Brinley Pearce Jay RAAF KIA also buried in the Rheinberg Cemetery
(Son of Albin Henry and Rhoda Annie Jay; husband of Agnes Freda Gilmour Jay, of Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland.)
Sgt F.E.Holmes PoW
Sgt G.D.W.Scholes PoW
P/O K.A.Barrett KIA
Sgt A.Ford PoW
Sgt R.Newdick PoW
Sgt C.D.Fawcett RCAF PoW He was interned in Camps L1/357, PoW No 991.
Sgt A.Ford in Camps L1/L6/357, PoW No.993 with Sgt F.E.Holmes, PoW No.1004.
Sgt R.Newdick in Camps L3/L6/L4, PoW No.1020.
Sgt G.D.W.Scholes in Camps L3/L6/357, PoW No.1162.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty Details
Name:BARRETT, KENNETH ALAN
Initials:K A
Nationality:United Kingdom
Rank:Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer)
Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text:158 Sqdn.
Age:20
Date of Death:16/04/1943
Service No:123848
Additional information:Son of Henry John and Emma Barrett, of Gillingham, Kent.
Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:9. E. 4.Cemetery:RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY
Quoted from RAF History
16/17 April 1943327 aircraft - 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes dispatched to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. 18 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lost, 11.0 per cent of the force. One Canadian squadron, No 408, lost 4 of its 12 Halifaxes dispatched. This raid, took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success. In a complicated plan, the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of the Skoda factory visually; the Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general guide. In the event, a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum was bombed.
Mannheim was the target for 271 aircraft - 159 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes. The Pathfinders marked this target accurately and an effective attack followed. 18 aircraft - 9 Wellingtons, 7 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 6.6 per cent of the force.
11 OTU aircraft dropped leaflets over France without loss.
Total effort for the night: 609 sorties, 54 aircraft (8.9 per cent) lost. The aircraft losses on this night were the highest so far in the war, exceeding the 50 lost on the 1,000-bomber-type raid on Bremen on 25/26 June 1942, but 14 of the aircraft lost from the Pilsen and Mannheim raids came down in the sea and a proportion of their crews were rescued
Find-a-grave memorial
1922 Gillingham, Kent, England
Death:
Apr. 16, 1943, Germany
Buried:
RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY Germany
Plot 9. E. 4.
Casualty of WW2 Kenneth Alan Barrett was the son of Henry John Barrett and his wife Emily Harrod. The family lived in Gillingham Kent. Kenneth was the youngest of Henry and Emma's three children, all sons. Kenneth's siblings were Harry J and Reginald Henry Lewis Barrett. Tragically Harry died in 1920 at the age of two as the result of an accidental scalding. Reginald also perished tragically as a result of the Gillingham Park Fete Fire Tragedy on July 11, 1929.
Kenneth was a Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 158 Sqdn. He was a member of the crew of the Halifax HR758 NP-Y which took off 20:32 hrs the night of April 16/17 1943 from Lissett, detailed to bomb the Skoda Works in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. The town of Dobrany was mistaken for Pilsen and a large asylum building was targeted instead of the intended Skoda Works.
Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Its thought that the aircraft was attacked by a nightfighter and exploded in the air. The plane crashed near Saarbrücken. Killed were the pilot B. P. Jay who was found in the plane and Kenneth who was later found 300 yards away from the wreck. It appears that though he baled out, his parachute failed to deploy. The other were taken as PoW's.
The crew:
F/O Brinley Pearce Jay RAAF KIA also buried in the Rheinberg Cemetery
(Son of Albin Henry and Rhoda Annie Jay; husband of Agnes Freda Gilmour Jay, of Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland.)
Sgt F.E.Holmes PoW
Sgt G.D.W.Scholes PoW
P/O K.A.Barrett KIA
Sgt A.Ford PoW
Sgt R.Newdick PoW
Sgt C.D.Fawcett RCAF PoW He was interned in Camps L1/357, PoW No 991.
Sgt A.Ford in Camps L1/L6/357, PoW No.993 with Sgt F.E.Holmes, PoW No.1004.
Sgt R.Newdick in Camps L3/L6/L4, PoW No.1020.
Sgt G.D.W.Scholes in Camps L3/L6/357, PoW No.1162.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty Details
Name:BARRETT, KENNETH ALAN
Initials:K A
Nationality:United Kingdom
Rank:Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer)
Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text:158 Sqdn.
Age:20
Date of Death:16/04/1943
Service No:123848
Additional information:Son of Henry John and Emma Barrett, of Gillingham, Kent.
Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:9. E. 4.Cemetery:RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY
Quoted from RAF History
16/17 April 1943327 aircraft - 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes dispatched to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. 18 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lost, 11.0 per cent of the force. One Canadian squadron, No 408, lost 4 of its 12 Halifaxes dispatched. This raid, took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success. In a complicated plan, the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of the Skoda factory visually; the Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general guide. In the event, a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum was bombed.
Mannheim was the target for 271 aircraft - 159 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes. The Pathfinders marked this target accurately and an effective attack followed. 18 aircraft - 9 Wellingtons, 7 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 6.6 per cent of the force.
11 OTU aircraft dropped leaflets over France without loss.
Total effort for the night: 609 sorties, 54 aircraft (8.9 per cent) lost. The aircraft losses on this night were the highest so far in the war, exceeding the 50 lost on the 1,000-bomber-type raid on Bremen on 25/26 June 1942, but 14 of the aircraft lost from the Pilsen and Mannheim raids came down in the sea and a proportion of their crews were rescued
Find-a-grave memorial
