Jack Kenneth Barrett

Jack Kenneth Barrett was born on 9 September 1920 in Hackney, London, the only child of David and Ethel Barrett, who later lived at Goodmayes in Essex. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and was sent to South Africa to train as a navigator, earning a commission on qualifying, before being posted to No. 207 Squadron in February 1942, where he flew a long run of bomber operations alongside wireless operator Jack Guterman and, from late 1942, pilot Bill Ottley. Having completed his tour by the spring of 1943, Barrett followed Ottley into the newly formed No. 617 Squadron and was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross, his citation noting his cool and effective navigation. On the night of 16/17 May 1943 he flew as navigator in Lancaster ED910 (AJ-C) of the third wave during Operation Chastise, the attack on the Ruhr dams. The aircraft was shot down by flak near Hamm in the early hours of 17 May, killing Barrett, who was 22, and almost all of his crew; only the rear gunner, Fred Tees, survived as a prisoner of war. Originally buried by the Germans at Hamm, Barrett was reinterred after the war and now lies in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany.