Goodbye to Aussie great

Volume 48, No. 11, June 29, 2006

All-round great: The late WGCDR Andrew “Nicky” Barr with FLTLT Dave Temme, WGCDR Michael Kitcher and FLTLT Steven Bradley at the Gold Coast in 2004. Nicky Barr passed away earlier this month after a life of service to the Air Force and rugby.

AIR Force has farewelled one of its all-time greats with a four-ship Hornet fly-past.
The 90-year-old former CO 3SQN WGCDR Andrew “Nicky” Barr passed away on June 12 and was buried at the Gold Coast on June 16. CO 3SQN WGCDR Vincent Iervasi and former CO GPCAPT Michael Kitcher attended the funeral.

Nicky Barr was a star international rugby player. He played rugby for Victoria between 1936 and 1939 and was selected as a hooker for the second Wallabies tour of the UK in 1939. While the team was in the UK, WWII broke out and the tour was cancelled.

In March 1940 he joined the Air Force as a trainee fighter pilot and was promoted to PLTOFF in September that year. He was posted to 23SQN flying Wirraways in Queensland, but still found time for his sport when he captained the Queensland RAAF Rugby team in 1940 and 1941.

In October 1941, he was posted to 3SQN flying Tomahawks and then Kittyhawks in North Africa.
He showed a particular streak of aggressiveness and in his first 35 operational hours, he flew 16 sorties and shot down eight enemy aircraft. In less than a year, he had increased his tally to 12. At one stage he flew 20 operational missions in 14 days.

He gained notoriety on January 11, 1942, when, after shooting down two enemy fighters 25 miles behind enemy lines, he endeavoured to land and rescue a fellow pilot who had been shot down. As he turned to land, he was attacked by two Me109s, but shot down one of them. He was then shot down and, although wounded, made his way back to base after a five-day walk. It is a measure of his determination that he managed to gather information on enemy movements while evading capture. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for these exploits.

After a brief convalescence, he was promoted to FLTLT. On May 27 he made a forced landing after his engine overheated. As he tried to effect repairs, enemy tanks appeared, so, abandoning his engine cowlings, he took off and made it back to base. The next day, he was promoted to SQNLDR and assumed command of the squadron, only to be shot down again (returning safely two days later) on May 30.

On June 26, Barr was escorting some bombers when he was attacked by two Me109s and shot down for the third time. He was badly wounded and captured by Italian soldiers. He spent the next five months in military hospitals. He escaped once and nearly reached Switzerland, but was recaptured and sent to an Italian POW camp.

Three months later, Barr was transferred to Germany. While in transit, he managed to escape again, but was too weak to travel far. Instead, he linked up with an SAS unit operating behind enemy lines, as well as assisting other allied prisoners who had escaped to move through the area.

He evaded capture for eight months, but was finally captured by German troops. He escaped again and in February 1944 led a group of 10 allied escapees to safety.

He was awarded the Military Cross for these exploits, as well as a Bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross.
SQNLDR Barr was promoted to WGCDR and returned to Australia where he was Chief Instructor at No.2 Operational Training Unit from November 1944 to August 1945.

With the end of the war, he retired from the Air Force in October. He was 3SQN’s leading ace with 12-and-a-half aircraft destroyed, two probables and eight damaged to his credit. He had flown more than 84 combat missions.

His injuries were so great that his rugby career was over. However, he became a leading Australian business identity and devoted much energy to the development of international yachting in Australia. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

An autobiographer said that he was “considered by all to be a great pilot and a true legend”.

 

 

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