LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ross Gordon Norman BARBER
Service No: 413335
Born: Parkes NSW, 30 April 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941
Unit: No. 54 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Charterhall, Berwickshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 54 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft T3384), North Sea, 23 November 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Joshua and Anna Antoinette Barber, of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Parkes NSW
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Parkes RSL Roll of Honour, Parkes NSW
On 23 November 1943 Beaufighter T3384 took off from Charterhall on a training non-operational night flight over the sea. The pilot of another aircraft taking part in the same exercise (Cooper) reported the weather was satisfactory for some time until he encountered cloud and hit severe rain. Severe icing was encountered at 9,000 feet. His aircraft lost height very rapidly but the aircraft was brought under control at 7,000 feet. He then tried to contact Barber without success. Cooper last heard Barber say he was icing very badly and something about being out of control. The aircraft loss occurred approximately 40 miles from Charterhall and both crew members of T3384 were believed drowned. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of T3384 were:
Flight Sergeant Ross Gordon Norman Barber (413335) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Mark Arthur Stokes (402620) (Navigator (W))
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/348
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line