Robert Benjamin Barr

Prisoner of War 1941-July-24

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date

Born:

Parents:

Spouse:

Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAF

Unit

144 (MB) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Who Shall Stop Us

Base

RAF North Luffenham

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Service Numbers

41147
PoW: 18391

Home

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Target

Brest

Took off from North Luffenham in Hampden Mk I (Sqn code: PL- Bomber Command) on an operation to Brest France.

Aircraft was shot down and crashed at Ploudalmezeau near the target.

Killed: Pilot Officer Peter Gordon Anderson RAF KIA Ploudalmezeau Communal Cemetery Row 14. Collective grave 179-180. Sergeant Albert Bertram Cooper RAF KIA Ploudalmezeau Communal Cemetery Row 14. Coll. grave 179-180. Sergeant Donald Parkin RAF KIA Ploudalmezeau Communal Cemetery Row 14. Coll. grave 179-180.

POWs includes Barr: Sergeant James Ernest Wiggall RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus.

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Hampden serial: AE225

(RCAF Photo via Chris Charland)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944.

Handley Page developed a modern stressed-skin mid-wing monoplane, powered by Bristol Pegasus radial air cooled engines, with its first flight in 1936. It had the most advanced wings available at the time, giving it a remarkably low landing speed of 73 mph for an aircraft of its size, with a top speed of 265 mph. The Hampden had a short, narrow but tall main fuselage with a very slender tail unit. This configuration led to the nicknames "Flying Panhandle" and "Flying Suitcase". At the end of the war, no complete or partial Hampden aircraft were retained for museum display.

The Hampden served in the early stages of the war, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and in the first 1000-bomber raid on Cologne. In Canada, Hampdens were built by six companies that formed Associated Aircraft. There were three in Ontario and three in Quebec, hence they were identified as the Ontario Group and Quebec Group. They supplied all the the components to the two assembly plants. The Ontario Group's assembly plant was at the Malton Airport, while the Quebec group's assembly plant was at the St. Hubert Airport. Canadian Museum of Flight and Harold A Skaarup web page

YouTube Handley Page Hampden in Flight