Barnby Dun War Memorial
There is a bronze plaque in St Peter and St Pauls Church, Church St, Barnby
Dun which carried the names of 5 casualties from WWII, is reads:
IN MEMORY OF (NAMES) OF BARNBY DUN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR 1939-1945
IN MEMORY OF (NAMES) OF BARNBY DUN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR 1939-1945
Additional details
Ernest John Hall (D/KX 94694) Leading Stoker - Royal Navy - H.M.S. Repulse 10 December 1941, aged 21 Born in Doncaster in Q2 1920 Son of Ernest and Mary Hall, of Barnby Dun, Yorkshire. Plymouth Naval Memorial HMS Repulse, along with HMS Prince of Wales, was sunk by Japanese aircraft while on a mission to try to prevent the landings in Malaya |
Kenneth
Hewitt (D/KX 83257)
Petty Officer Stoker - Royal Navy - H.M.S. Repulse 10 December 1941, aged 26 Born in Thorne in Q3 1915 (Son of Tom and France Emily Hewitt) Husband of A. Hewitt, of Windynook, Co. Durham. In 1911 parents lived at 11 George Street, Hedon Father died in 1937, The Bungalow, South Bramwith. Mother died in 1953, 1 Fern Cottages, Doncaster Road, Stainforth Married in Durham North East - Q3 1939 - 1 Daughter Plymouth Naval Memorial HMS Repulse, along with HMS Prince of Wales, was sunk by Japanese aircraft while on a mission to try to prevent the landings in Malaya |
Leslie
Jackson (10562496)
Craftsman - Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - 6 Tank Bde Workshops 24 June 1944, aged 22 Born in (Doncaster) in approx 1922 Son of William and Emily Jackson; Husband of Dorothy Jackson, of Armthorpe, Yorkshire. Lenham Cemetery Killed by a V1, along with 51 other REME, which landed in Kent between Lenham & Charing, Kent. |
An extract of the of the units war diary shows:
24 June (0600 hours) - V1 shot down by the RAF bounced off the flat roof of the riding school and landed amongst the Nissen huts. Casualties: 46 killed and 6 died of wounds; 1 officer and 20 other ranks seriously wounded; 7 Nissen huts destroyed; and damage to 14 vehicles and 16 motor cycles. 24 June - Orders received to conduct an active service burial of the dead for reasons of security. A mass grave was dug in Lenham village cemetery during daylight hours. The burial of the dead was conducted at night by lantern light - Captain Cliff Gough (Second in Command) and WO1 (ASM) Humm recorded the exact placement of the bodies on a plan, a copy of which was sealed in a bottle and placed under a wooden cross after the grave had been filled in. 25 June (Sunday) - Burial Service in the presence of GOC District and Brigade Commander. 26 June - Jewish Burial Service for Cfn Lazarus conducted by a local rabbi Two of the other casualties were from the area: Leonard Hobson - 3317430 - was born in Doncaster Ernest Maurice Morley - 4347448 - was from Bramley, Rotherham |
Doris
Ena Senior (260544)
Sister - Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service 12 February 1944, aged 27 Born in Doncaster in Q2 1916 Daughter of George H. White and Eliza White, of Barnby Dun, Yorkshire. Lived at 9 Council Estate, Top Road, Barnby Dun Brookwood Memorial Died when troop ship SS Khedive Ismail sunk in the Indian Ocean by the Japanese submarine I-27. |
On 5 February 1944 Khedive Ismail left Mombasa bound for
Colombo carrying 1,324 passengers including 996 members of the East African
Artillery's 301st Field Regiment, 271 Royal Navy personnel, 19 WRNS, 53 nursing
sisters and their matron, nine members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and a
war correspondent, Kenneth Gandar-Dower. She was part of Convoy KR 8, she was
carrying the Convoy Commodore, and it was her fifth convoy on that route. It
was escorted by the Hawkins-class heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins and P-class
destroyers HMS Paladin and HMS Petard.
Early in the afternoon of Saturday 12 February, after a week at sea, KR 8 was in the One and a Half Degree Channel south-west of the Maldives. After lunch many of the passengers were below watching an ENSA concert, while others sunbathed on deck. At 1430 hrs the Japanese submarine I-27 positioned off Khedive Ismail 's port side to attack. A lookout sighted I-27 's periscope and raised the alarm; Khedive Ismail 's DEMS gunners opened fire on the submarine. At the same time I-27 's commander, Lt-Cdr Toshiaki Fukumura, fired a spread of four torpedoes, two of which hit Khedive Ismail.
The troop ship's stern was engulfed in flame and smoke and she sank in three minutes. As the convoy's merchant ships scattered for safety, Paladin lowered boats to rescue survivors and Petard released depth charges. The troop ship had sunk too quickly to launch any lifeboats, but her Carley floats floated free and some survivors were able to board them.
After three patterned releases I-27 was forced to the surface. The two destroyers engaged her with their 4-inch QF Mk 5 main guns and Paladin moved to ram her, but she was a Type B1 submarine considerably larger than the destroyer so Petard signalled Paladin to abort the manoeuvre. Paladin therefore took avoiding action but too late, and I-27 's hydroplane tore a 15-foot gash in Paladin 's hull.
I-27 submerged again and took refuge beneath the survivors. The destruction of a submarine that might sink more ships took precedence over the lives of survivors, so with Paladin out of action Petard resumed the attack with first depth charges, then 4-inch shellfire and finally 21-inch Mk IX torpedoes. The depth charge fuses had to be set to detonate at the most shallow depth, and they killed or wounded many people who had survived the initial sinking. The seventh torpedo finally destroyed I-27, sinking her with all hands. The battle had lasted two and a half hours.
Early in the afternoon of Saturday 12 February, after a week at sea, KR 8 was in the One and a Half Degree Channel south-west of the Maldives. After lunch many of the passengers were below watching an ENSA concert, while others sunbathed on deck. At 1430 hrs the Japanese submarine I-27 positioned off Khedive Ismail 's port side to attack. A lookout sighted I-27 's periscope and raised the alarm; Khedive Ismail 's DEMS gunners opened fire on the submarine. At the same time I-27 's commander, Lt-Cdr Toshiaki Fukumura, fired a spread of four torpedoes, two of which hit Khedive Ismail.
The troop ship's stern was engulfed in flame and smoke and she sank in three minutes. As the convoy's merchant ships scattered for safety, Paladin lowered boats to rescue survivors and Petard released depth charges. The troop ship had sunk too quickly to launch any lifeboats, but her Carley floats floated free and some survivors were able to board them.
After three patterned releases I-27 was forced to the surface. The two destroyers engaged her with their 4-inch QF Mk 5 main guns and Paladin moved to ram her, but she was a Type B1 submarine considerably larger than the destroyer so Petard signalled Paladin to abort the manoeuvre. Paladin therefore took avoiding action but too late, and I-27 's hydroplane tore a 15-foot gash in Paladin 's hull.
I-27 submerged again and took refuge beneath the survivors. The destruction of a submarine that might sink more ships took precedence over the lives of survivors, so with Paladin out of action Petard resumed the attack with first depth charges, then 4-inch shellfire and finally 21-inch Mk IX torpedoes. The depth charge fuses had to be set to detonate at the most shallow depth, and they killed or wounded many people who had survived the initial sinking. The seventh torpedo finally destroyed I-27, sinking her with all hands. The battle had lasted two and a half hours.
Charles
Henry Belton Allen (36245)
Lieutenant Colonel - Royal Ulster Rifles - Commanding 6th Bn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 7 April 1943 , aged 37 Born in India in approx 1906 Baptised n Son of Maj. Henry George Allen, O.B.E., R.A.V.C., and Rosamunde Elizabeth Allen; Husband of Katharine Elizabeth Mary Allen, of Barnby Dun, Yorkshire. In 1923 parents lived at 177 Main Road, Sidcup. 1938 Electoral Register he was living with his wife at 75 Prince of Wales Manions, London London Gazette - From Royal Military College 30 August 1926 to be 2nd Lt Royal Ulster Rifles Lived at Sandhurst, Barnby Dun Married in Doncaster 3 October 1935 - 1 Daughter Beja War Cemetery Lt-Col 'Heaver' Allen, the CO of the 6th Inniskillings, was killed during the initial assault on Djebel el Mahdi. Colonel Allen had advanced with his Bttn HQ, and in trying to personally silence a Spandau machine gun post, which was causing problems for "C" company, was shot dead. Allen had been promoted to command the Skins in December 1942 following the wounding of its original commanding officer |