1803398 Charles Clarence BARNES, 101 Sqdn, RAFVR: 12/06.1944; Ninfield & District RoH

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by KevinBattle, Sep 23, 2011.

  1. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Having now retired to the country and escaped from the London ratrace, I am now researching some local War Memorials and trying to build a picture of the men, not just a List of Names.

    If anyone can provide further information, War Diaries etc, then it would be appreciated.
    My starter for 10:-

    Name: BARNES, CHARLES CLARENCE. Rank: Sergeant (Air Gnr.)
    Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Unit Text: 101 Sqdn.
    Age: 19. Date of Death: 12/06/1944. Service No: 1803398
    Additional information: Son of Clarence and Patience Barnes, of Colliers Green, Robertsbridge.
    Grave/Memorial Reference: Row B. Coll. grave 31-37. Cemetery: Evreux Communal Cemetery.

    At the outbreak of the Second World War 101 Squadron engaged in attacking enemy barge concentrations in the Channel Ports flying Blenheim IVs. In 1943 they converted to Lancasters to become a specialist in "Airborne Cigar" (ABC) and flew with an additional German speaking crew member known as the Special Operator who disrupted the enemy flight controllers with jamming and the broadcast of mis-information. 101 Squadron had the highest casualty rate of any squadron, mainly due to the enemy finally pinpointing their position through their ABC broadcast signals. The crew would be increased to 8 when carrying the special ABC operator.

    On the occasion of its loss, the Lancaster had only a crew of 7, the ABC operator not being regarded as necessary for operations around Normandy. On 2 previous Operations, to Hasselt on 11th/12th May and to Bourg Leopold on 27th May, this crew had Sergeant A424249 J Wheeler, RAAF on board, presumably he was their Specialist ABC Operator. It appears he survived the War. The crew only appear to have flown on 3 Operations with 101 Squadron, each in a different Lancaster, so they had not had a chance to “settle in” before being lost.

    In order to confuse the German fighter controllers, they had to maintain contact on their frequencies in order to “jam” or misdirect the fighters. This left them exposed for longer periods than the Main Bomber Force, consequently it was an elite unit with commensurate heavy losses. At first glance, this might appear to be a relatively “inexperienced” crew, but they undoubtedly had more Operations to their credit than first appears, and would have to be a highly rated crew in order to be selected for 101 Squadron.

    101 Squadron Lancaster Mk I. Serial Number LL751. Squadron Code: SR-F. Operation: Evreux. 11th/12th June 1944. This aircraft was one of 450 Lancasters ordered from Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft in April 1942 and delivered between Oct ‘43 and March ’44 as 100 Mk.II’s (with Bristol Hercules XV1 engines) and 350 Mk.I’s. LL751 was a Mk.I, delivered to 101 Sqdn in March 1944. When lost, this aircraft had a total of 59 hours. Airborne 00:59 12th June ‘44 to bomb rail communications in tactical support of the Normandy Landings. Crashed NE of Evreux where all are buried in the communal cemetery. P/O C.C.W. Gover RNZAF (Pilot) KIA; P/O W.H. Austin (Flt Engr) KIA; F/Sgt S.E. Morgan (Navigator) KIA; Sgt W. Cockshott (Bomb aimer) KIA; P/O J. Smith (W/Operator/AG) KIA; Sgt C.C. Barnes (mid upper) KIA and Sgt M.H. Hewes (tail) KIA.
    GOVER CCW 424453 12/06/1944 RNZAF Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    AUSTIN WH 175050 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    BARNES CC 1803398 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    COCKSHOTT W 1620633 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    HEWES MH 1819684 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    MORGAN SE 1578981 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    SMITH J 157892 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.

    Some small consolation may be derived from the fact that they flew and fought as a crew and remain together in death. Obviously this was a high impact crash with no chance of any of the crew baling out, either a direct hit from enemy flak, or more likely, a night fighter flying below and firing obliquely mounted 30mm cannon directly into the wing fuel tanks. They learnt that this was safer than firing into the fuselage and detonating the entire bomb load whilst they were immediately below.

    (From the Ewhurst War Memorial page) CC Barnes. Sergeant 1803398 Royal Air Force. Killed in action 12th June 1944. Eldest son of Clarence & Patience (Patsy) Barnes. Brother of Percy and Douglas. Born 22nd September 1924 at The Green in Ninfield. Joined up in 1942 aged 18 and went on to serve with 101 Squadron at Ludford Magna as an Air Gunner from September 1943. Shot down in Lancaster Mk1 serial LL751 SR-F “F for Freddy” on a raid on railway targets at Evreux. Buried along with the rest of his crew in Evreux Communal Cemetery, Grave refs: Row B, Collective graves 31-37.

    As usual, my Thanks in advance for any further info to add flesh to the memory of this man.
     
  2. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    I can just add a little bit to this.

    P/O Gover and crew sans Sgt Wheeler were posted into Ludford Magna from No. 11 Base on 30 April, 1944. The three ops listed here were it. Gover does not appear to have flown a 2nd Dickey trip either.

    Wheeler did indeed survive the war. In 1950 re-enlisted in the RAAF and was commissioned.

    The ABC operator never broadcast misinformation or anything actually. The equipment was not capable of transmitting, only jamming.
     
  3. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    alieneyes, Thanks as always for adding more and correcting my mistakes and guesses.
     
  4. Andy Crunden

    Andy Crunden Junior Member

    Hi Kevin
    I'm a local near to you, have you seen the Polish memorial to a downed Wellington bomber
    just outside Battle?
     
  5. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    No, that doesn't sound like W5421, tell me more!
    Ah! You mean.....
    This memorial is on the B2096 Heathfield to Battle road and is situated between Darwell Hole and Netherfield. It is a Memorial to the crew of a Wellington Bomber that crashed on the night of 27/28th May 1941. The Wellington was from 304 (Polish) Squadron and was coded NZ-N, serial number R1392. The aircraft had been hit and badly damaged while on a raid on the French port of Boulogne. In Memory of those crew who died; Pilot F/Lt Kuszczynski Bronislaw Pilot
    P/O Woroczewski Jan Stanislaw Navigator
    F/O Wieczorek Cezary Air Gunner
    Sgt Drozdz Jozef
    In Memory of those crew who survived; Air Gunner Sgt Nilski Jozef; Air Gunner Sgt Jozefiak Stanislaw.
    Only moved here recently and still have a lot to find out!
    Thanks for the heads up and anything more you may have!
     
  6. Andy Crunden

    Andy Crunden Junior Member

    Yes that's the one, and as far as I know from talking to the neighbour one of the survivors
    returns every year to pay his respects.
     
  7. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    A little more....
    The Wellington 1C bomber, number. R1392, took off from the 304 Polish Squadron at Syerston on 27 May 1941. It left for a bombing raid on the French port of Boulogne. The plane was hit by anti-aircraft guns shortly after releasing its payload and started to spiral out of control. The rear gunner, Jozef Drodz, baled out over the channel at that point and was never found. The pilot regained control but soon after the plane caught fire. Stanislaw Jozefiak managed to bale out and landed in trees at Hatfield. Josef Nilski also baled out and managed to survive. The remaining crew were killed when the plane crashed at Darwell Hole. They are buried in the Polish Air Force cemetery in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Jozefiak, originally from Poznan, managed to get to France following the German invasion of Poland. There he trained with other Polish airmen, coming to England early in 1940. By February 1941 about an eighth of the RAF Fighter Command was composed of eight Polish squadrons. Soon after there were four bomber squadrons. Josefiak completed 53 bombing operations, was promoted to Warrant Officer and decorated with the Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military cross and four times with the Cross of Valour. He later trained as a pilot, flying Spitfires and Mustangs, posted at 317 Polish Spitfire Squadon in Germany. He wrote a book entitled, ‘God, Honour and Country’. In 2000 Josefiak travelled from his home in Derbyshire to attend a memorial service at Chailey to honour three Polish combat squadrons. With the help of David Martin, he was able to locate the exact site where his plane had crashed. The plane had crashed into a large oak tree that still stood on the site. He decided to build a memorial to his fallen friends and came down to the site on frequent occasions building the monument little by little. It was completed on the anniversary of the crash on 28 May 2001.
    (Rowland, David. (2004). ‘Survivors’. Finsbury. Peacehaven.)
    This monument is almost directly due north of my home, next to the Doctors Cottage (The Oast) on the B2096, just west of the White Hart pub (Netherfield has 2 great pubs and terrific views, well worth a visit - perhaps late May??????).

    Thanks for this, it's not very far away from where one of 2 B26 Marauders collided not far from Battle in the early hours of D Day. One came down near Whatlington, the other at Ashburnham Place. Their Squadron had also been involved in another mid air over Gillingham about 30 minutes earlier.
    There's a Typhoon I need to trace near Wartling, too............
    Being almost opposite Abbeville, I'm sure there must be other crash sites round here.
    Thanks for bringing this one to my attention, I'll see if Battle RBL can lay a Poppy Wreath this year.
    Thank God the airspace is much quieter now, compared to Heathrow flight path near where we used to live!

    What a guy Stanislaw is (I hope he is still alive, but he'll be nearly 92 now, fingers crossed)
    Read much more about him here Visit Derbyshire - Famous People of Derbyshire
    With courage like his, I'm proud that Britain made a final stand when Hitler invaded Poland, and the enormous contribution the Polish military refugees did, especially in the early stages of the bombing campaign when all we had were Whitleys, Hampdens and Wellingtons.
    I think the reference in the report to "Hatfield" should actually read "Heathfield" but Netherfield is as close as it gets!
    Sincere thanks, Andy
     
  8. Andy Crunden

    Andy Crunden Junior Member

    There are lots of crash sites round here, here's a few for you to follow up maybe?

    ME 110 crash landed at Old Schools Farm Hooe.
    ME 109 crashed at New Lodge Farm near Hooe.
    Hurricane crashed on the Pevensey marshes, which my step mum witnessed. This I beleive was found around the late 70s.
    I think there was a bomber crashed in Church Road Herstmonceux.
    If you go to the Lamb pub at Wartling there used to a book there, archiving the local
    history of RAF Wartling which was a radar station during the war.
    Hope this helps.
     
  9. cyclopse

    cyclopse Junior Member

    KevinBattle, I'm so grateful to come across your post. My name is Chris Barnes, nephew of Charles Barnes "Uncle Charlie" lost in battle 12 June 1944. Douglas, Charlie's brother and my father is still living and in great health here in Canada. Unfortunately we lost my Uncle Percy last September who had resided in Staplecross, not far from Colliers Green up until his death. I have recently started researching the events of my Uncle Charlie's life, his service in the RAF and the details of the crash in Evreau France which took his and his six crew mates lives. I have found portions of the official records online and Dad is compiling his photos and documents for me to scan and copy and it is my intention to videotape discussions with him to retain a living record of his memories of the Barnes family including Uncle Charlie of whom sadly there are few details owing to his short life. Let me know if there are any specific details you would like to know I will do my best to provide them to you.
    Chris
     
  10. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Hi, Chris (cyclopse)
    Thank you for the contact and obviously any details you would like to share would be very much appreciated.
    If there is any consolation, he has an entire page in the Ninfield Roll of Honour, kept in St Mary's Church and also a copy in the Memorial Hall in the village.
    Name: BARNES, CHARLES CLARENCE. Rank: Sergeant (Air Gnr.)
    Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Unit Text: 101 Sqdn.
    Age: 19. Date of Death: 12/06/1944. Service No: 1803398
    Additional information: Son of Clarence and Patience Barnes, of Colliers Green, Robertsbridge.
    Grave/Memorial Reference: Row B. Coll. grave 31-37. Cemetery: Evreux Communal Cemetery.
    In 1943 101 Squadron converted to Lancasters to become a specialist in "AirBorne Cigar" (ABC) unit and flew with an additional German speaking crew member known as the Special Operator who disrupted the enemy flight controllers by jamming the German night fighters radio frequencies. 101 Squadron had the highest casualty rate of any Squadron, mainly due to the enemy finally pinpointing their position through homing in on their ABC signals. The crew would increase to 8 with an ABC operator. When lost, the Lancaster had only a crew of 7, the ABC operator not being regarded as necessary for operations around Normandy. On 2 previous Operations, to Hasselt on 11th/12th May and to Bourg Leopold on 27th May, they had Sergeant A424249 J Wheeler, RAAF, onboard, as their specialist ABC Operator. It appears he survived the War. The crew only appear to have flown on 3 Operations with 101 Squadron, each in a different Lancaster, so they had not had a chance to “settle in” before being lost. P/O Gover and crew (except Sgt Wheeler) were posted into Ludford Magna from No. 11 Base on 30 April, 1944. The three “Ops” listed here are all they flew before being shot down. Gover does not appear to have flown as a 2nd Dickey either. Wheeler did survive the war and in 1950 re-enlisted in the RAAF and was commissioned.
    In order to confuse the German fighter controllers, they had to maintain contact on their frequencies in order to protect the whole length of the Main Force bomber stream. This left them exposed for longer periods; consequently it was an elite unit with commensurate heavy losses. At first glance, this might appear to be a relatively “inexperienced” crew, but they undoubtedly had more Operations to their credit than first appears, and would have to be a highly rated crew in order to be selected for 101 Squadron.
    101 Squadron Lancaster Mk I. Serial Number LL751. Squadron Code: SR-F. Operation: Evreux
    11th/12th June 1944. This aircraft was one of 450 Lancasters ordered from Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft in April 1942 and delivered between Oct ‘43 and March ’44 as 100 Mk.II’s (with Bristol Hercules XV1 engines) and 350 Mk.I’s. LL751 was a Mk.I, delivered to 101 Sqdn in March 1944. When lost, this aircraft had a total of 59 hours. Airborne 00:59 12th June ‘44 to bomb rail communications in tactical support of the Normandy Landings. Crashed NE of Evreux where all are buried in the communal cemetery. P/O C.C.W. Gover RNZAF (Pilot) KIA; P/O W.H. Austin (Flt Engr) KIA; F/Sgt S.E. Morgan (Navigator) KIA; Sgt W. Cockshott (Bomb aimer) KIA; P/O J. Smith (W/Operator/AG) KIA; Sgt C.C. Barnes (mid upper) KIA and Sgt M.H. Hewes (tail) KIA.
    GOVER CCW 424453 12/06/1944 RNZAF Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    AUSTIN WH 175050 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    BARNES CC 1803398 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    COCKSHOTT W 1620633 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    HEWES MH 1819684 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    MORGAN SE 1578981 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    SMITH J 157892 101 SQDN 12/06/1944 RAFVR Row B. Coll. grave 31-37.
    Some small consolation may be derived from the fact that they flew and fought as a crew and remain together in death. Obviously this was a high impact crash with no chance of any of the crew baling out, either a direct hit from enemy flak, or more likely, a night fighter flying below and firing obliquely mounted 30mm cannon directly into the wing fuel tanks. They learnt that this was safer than firing into the fuselage and detonating the entire bomb load whilst they were immediately below.
    (From the Ewhurst War Memorial page) CC Barnes. Sergeant 1803398 Royal Air Force. Killed in action 12th June 1944. Eldest son of Clarence & Patience (Patsy) Barnes. Brother of Percy and Douglas. Born 22nd September 1924 at The Green in Ninfield. Joined up in 1942 aged 18 and went on to serve with 101 Squadron at Ludford Magna as an Air Gunner from September 1943. Shot down in Lancaster Mk1 serial LL751 SR-F “F for Freddy” on a raid on railway targets at Evreux. Buried along with the rest of his crew in Evreux Communal Cemetery, Grave refs: Row B, Collective graves 31-37.

    We have a thriving Local History Society, so you can keep in touch at Home - ninfield.
    If you would like to send a photo via the NLHG website email contact or when you have a few more posts via this site's Personal Message link, we'd be proud to add it to the RoH.

    Have you obtained his RAF Service Records?
    I believe they are available by nearest Next of Kin applying to
    Royal Air Force Service Records Section, PMA (Sec) IM 1b, Room 5, Building 248a, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester GL3 1EZ
    (I'm sure Pals will correct me if that's wrong!)

    Thank you very much for making contact!
     
  11. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Andy Crunden (and others)
    There will be a ceremony this year at the Wellington Memorial to the 304 Squadron crew of
    Stanislaw Jozefiak. I have made contact to get the message to him (he's still going strong at 94 in Derby!) so that we can make arrangements for the most convenient day for him (possibly the weekend before Sat 25 or Sun 26th if the 28th May (the actual 72nd anniversary date) is not convenient for him.
    One of our Battle RBL Branch committee members has been tending the enclosure for a good few years now and we're hoping for a fine day for Stanislaw!
     
  12. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Just a heads up on the Memorial Service at Netherfield.
    2:30 assemble for 3 pm service on Sunday 26 May.
    Battle RBL and RAFA, local ATC (304 Detached Flight) symbolic for 304 Squadron! and representatives from the Polish Association have been invited.
    The Memorial is just west of the White Hart pub on the B2096 (terrific views from beer garden) where refreshments will be held later.
     
  13. auzz77

    auzz77 Junior Member

    Thank you for this information. P/O Austin was my granduncle. RIP to all crew.
     

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