LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Vernon Stewart BARNES
Service No: 406324
Born: Canterbury England, 2 December 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 38 Squadron (RAF), Berka III Landing Ground, Libya
Died: Air Operations: (No. 38 Squadron Wellington aircraft HZ603), Aegean Sea, 27 October 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Horace Vernon Barnes and Amy Maria Barnes; husband of Hilda Barnes, of Herne Hill, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Victoria Park WA
Remembered: Column 277, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Wellington HZ603 of No. 38 Squadron took off from Nicosia at 1827 hours on 27 October 1943 to carry out an offensive operation in the Aegean Sea, and then return to Berka III. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of HZ603 were:
Warrant Officer Vernon Stewart Barnes (406324) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Charles Donald Bernard Dubery (1289187) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
ieutenant Clive Lancelot Garlick (209689V) (SAAF) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Alfred Henry Haworth (979392) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Donald Arthur McCord (407560) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Alfred Byrne Slade (407651) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Douglas Ralph Walton (139217) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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 A9301, 406324