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W. F. Barton |
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Full Names |
Rank /Unit |
Years at Q.E.G.S. |
William Frank Barton |
Flight Lieutenant |
1921 |
Date / Place of Birth |
Date / Place of Death |
Age at Death |
1913 |
Monday 4th September 1939 Wilhelmshaven |
26 |
The service number and the rank of Flt. Lt. Barton indicates that, at the time of his death, (on the day following the declaration of WW.2), he had already spent several years in the R.A.F. It is known that he was a Plt. Off on Probation by 24/8/35 -
The base of his unit was Wattisham, Suffolk, which was opened on 5th April 1939 with 107 & 110 Squadrons, and it was from here that he took off at 1600 hrs in a Blenheim Mk.IV bomber, N.6184. OM-
Flt. Lt. Barton and his crew, the Observer [Navigator]-
Wm. F. Barton is understood to have been the son of Frank Ernest and Elsie L. Barton of Ferring, (between Littlehampton & Worthing), Sussex. It is not known whether his family lived within easy reach of Wimborne at the time he was in the school but it is extremely likely that he was a boarder.
William's father, Frank, was originally, thought to have died during the Great War, whilst a Prisoner of War in Germany. It has more recently been established that he was a Private in the 1st Bn., The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt.) and he died on Tuesday 25th of September 1917, toward the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. His name is on the Tyne Cot Memorial -
Frank's mother became a nurse and subsequently married Hugh Brock, a son of Lord Brock.