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Baker-Falkner, Roy Sydney DSC (Lieutenant Commander)

Killed in Action 1944-July-18

Birth Date: 1916-June-03 (age 28)

Born: Nottingham, England

Son of Reginald Sydney and Grace Marjorie (ne Smerdon) Baker-Falkner of Saanich, British Columbia. LCdr Baker-Falkner's father was stationed in Britain with the 79th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force

Home: Torquay, Saskatchewan

Enlistment Date: 1929-06-01

Decorations: DSC, DSO, MiD


Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service CrossMentioned in Dispatches
Service
RN FAA
Unit
830 (BR) Sqn- Squadron (FAA)
Base
HMS Formidable
Rank
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
Distinguished Service Cross

Citation for Distinguished Service Cross awarded as per London Gazette of 25 July 1944:

"For outstanding zeal, patience and cheerfulness, and for setting an example of wholehearted devotion to duty, without which the high tradition of the Royal Navy could not have been upheld".

Distinguished Service Order

Citation for Distinguished Service Order awarded as per London Gazette of 30 May 1944:

"For undaunted courage, skill and determination in carrying out the daring attack on the German Battleship TIRPITZ on 3 April 1944".

Mentioned in Dispatches

Citation for Mentioned in Dispatches awarded as per London Gazette of 25 July 1944:

"For bravery, leadership, skill and devotion to duty while operating from, or serving in H.M. Ships during successful strikes at enemy shipping off the coast of Norway".

The crew of 830 Squadron Barracuda aircraft LS 556 5K, flying from HMS Formidable, were lost at sea in poor weather conditions while an anti-submarine patrol

Pilot Wing Leader Lieutenant Commander Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner DSC DSO MiD (RN-FAA), Observer Lieutenant GN Micklem DSC MiD (RNVR-FAA) and Air Gunner Temporary Petty Officer AH Kimberley MiD (RN-FAA) were all missing, presumed Killed in Action

These aircrew have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Fleet Air Arm Memorial at Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, UK

General Battle of Britain London Monument-Lt(FAA) RS Baker-Falkner

General Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Flying Personnel 1939-1947

Roy Baker-Falkner photographed at Royal Naval Air Station in Great Britain, 1943. Photo courtesy of Graham Drucker private collection.
Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner

Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner was born on 3rd June 1916 in Nottingham, England; his father was stationed in Britain with the 79th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force. The family returned to Canada in early 1918, eventually moving to Saanich on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to be close to their cousin, a magistrate at Steveston near Vancouver.

In mid 1929, Baker-Falkner applied to join the Navy at Esquimalt naval base, British Columbia. As the Royal Naval College of Canada at Esquimalt had closed eight years previously, he was transferred to the United Kingdom on a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. Along with other RCN cadets, he enrolled for officer training at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. In 1934, as a midshipman, he was appointed to HMS Kent, flagship of the China Fleet.

In 1937 he transferred to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm as a pilot, completing his pilot training with the Royal Air Force. Baker-Falkner earned his pilot's wings in 1938 with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant RN/Flight Lieutenant RAF, and specialized in torpedo reconnaissance.

He was appointed to an operational carrier-based squadron in HMS Glorious in the Mediterranean. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, his Fairey Swordfish squadron was actively involved in the search for the German warship Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean.

Baker-Falkner returned to England in Spring 1940 and was seconded to a shore-based squadron where he supported the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk and later participated in the Battle of Britain. He was one of the few Canadian naval officers to participate in this battle. He then was seconded to RAF Coastal Command, flying the venerable Swordfish biplane in mining missions against the German coastline.

For his actions he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. After 15 months of operational duties, in August 1941 Baker-Falkner was attached as a pilot instructor to the Fleet Air Arm air station at RNAS Condor in Arbroath, Scotland, at which time he took part in the Royal Navy information film "Find, Fix and Strike".

He was appointed as commanding officer of 767 squadron in August 1942. Subsequently in October 1942 he was appointed to the Royal Navy aircraft testing squadron at RAF Boscombe Down as a test pilot, and proved instrumental in testing naval aircraft prior to their operational use by the Royal Navy. Chief amongst these was the dive-bomber, the Fairey Barracuda. Based on his unique skills with the Barracuda, he was given command of 827 squadron in August 1943, the first Royal Navy unit equipped with this advanced dive-bomber.

Baker-Falkner was soon appointed Wing Leader of 8 Torpedo Bombing Reconnaissance Naval Air Wing, which consisted mainly of young Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand Volunteer Reserve aircrews. The Wing joined the carrier HMS Furious in the Orkney Islands off Scotland in February 1944.

Baker-Falkner led the Wing on an air strike against enemy shipping in north Norway, supported by the Home Fleet and three Canadian Tribal class destroyers, HMC Ships Iroquois, Haida and Athabaskan.

On 30th March 1944, No. 8 Naval Air Wing embarked from Hatston in Scotland to the Fleet carriers HMS Furious and HMS Victorious to lead Operation Tungsten, an air attack on the giant German battleship Tirpitz, anchored in a Norwegian fjord.

Coincidentally, the strike force was escorted in part by HMC Ships Algonquin and Sioux. This was Algonquin's first operation against the enemy. Baker-Falkner led an audacious low-level dive-bombing attack against Tirpitz on 3rd April 1944.

The air strike of 121 aircraft, including 40 Barracuda and 40 Wildcats, was a success; Baker-Falkner's Wing shared 14 dive-bombing hits, crippling Tirpitz. This decisive action prevented Tirpitz from posing a major threat in the forthcoming invasion of Normandy by the allies in June 1944. The aircrews returned to Scotland in the unaccustomed full glare of the international media.

In July the Wing was ordered to undertake further operations against Tirpitz. The squadrons boarded the Fleet Carriers Formidable, Furious and Indefatigable and conducted a strike on 17th July, 1944.

Baker-Falkner led the strike of some 92 aircraft, but German submarines spotted the advancing armada and surprise was lost. With Tirpitz surrounded by a smoke screen, the aircraft were unable to deliver accurate attacks, and so the mission met with limited success.

On 18th July 1944, with the Fleet threatened by U-Boat wolf packs, Lt. Cdr. Baker-Falkner was launched on the first anti-submarine patrol. Flying a Barracuda II aircraft with the serial LS556 and the squadron code 5K, he was assisted by his Observer, Lt. GN Micklem, and his tactical Air Gunner (TAG), PO AH Kimberley.

A Corsair of 1841 squadron flown by the senior pilot, Sub Lt. HS Mattholie, escorted his Barracuda.

Tragically, the weather worsened and Baker-Falkner's Barracuda and the Corsair failed to find the Fleet and became separated. Baker-Falkner and his crew were lost at sea. Sub Lt Mattholie crash-landed in Norway and was subsequently taken prisoner. Sub Lt. Mattholie's successor as senior pilot in 1841 squadron was Lt. Robert Hampton Gray RCNVR, who was later to posthumously earn the Victoria Cross in the Pacific.

Roy Baker-Falkner was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 25th July 1944 and mentioned in dispatches for his 'bravery, leadership, skill and devotion to duty while operating from, or serving in HM Ships during successful strikes at enemy shipping off the coast of Norway'.

He is commemorated on the Fleet Air Arm Memorial at Lee-on-Solent. Graham Falkner Drucker (nephew of Roy Baker-Falkner)

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Lieutenant Commander Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner has no known grave.

Home
Google MapTorquay, Saskatchewan

Google MapLee-on-Solent Memorial
Bay 5 Panel 1

Barracuda LS556

Lieutenant Commander Baker-Falkner, Roy Sydney (RN FAA)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1944-July-18
Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Gosport Borough, Hampshire, UK

Male Head

Petty Officer (T) Kimberley, Arthur Howard (RN FAA)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-July-18
Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Gosport Borough, Hampshire, UK

Male Head

Lieutenant Micklem, Guy Noel (RNVR FAA)
Observer
Killed in Action
1944-July-18
Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Gosport Borough, Hampshire, UK

Fairey Barracuda

A Fairey Barracuda II of 814 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm flying over HMS Venerable and an attendant destroyer, the Italian ALFREDO ORIANI.
Royal Navy official photographer - This is photograph A 28847 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal.

The Barracuda was developed as a replacement for the Fairey Albacore biplanes. Development was protracted due to the original powerplant intended for the type, the Rolls-Royce Exe, being cancelled; it was replaced by the less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. On 7 December 1940 the first Fairey prototype conducted its maiden flight; early testing revealed it to be somewhat underpowered. However, the definitive Barracuda Mk II had a more powerful model of the Merlin engine, while later versions were powered by the larger and even more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The type was ordered in bulk to equip the FAA; in addition to Fairey's own production line, Barracudas were also built by Blackburn Aircraft, Boulton Paul, and Westland Aircraft.

The type participated in numerous carrier operations during the conflict, being deployed in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean against the Germans, Italians, and Japanese respectively during the latter half of the war. One of the Barracuda's most noteworthy engagements was a large-scale attack upon the German battleship Tirpitz on 3 April 1944. In addition to the FAA, the Barracuda was also used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Dutch Naval Aviation Service and the French Air Force. Following its withdrawal from service during the 1950s, no intact examples of the Barracuda were preserved despite its once-large numbers, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has ambitions to assemble a full reproduction. Wikipedia

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Fairey Barracuda

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
Canadian Crewed (4)
last update: 2024-07-16 20:46:27

Barracuda ll LS556

A/S patrol off Norwegian coast with Corsair JT404, diverted due to fog, believed ditched near Steigen 18.7.44, L/C Baker-Faulkner, Lt. GN Micklem & PO AH Kimberley killed.

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