Barske, Paul Jack

Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Paul Jack
Surname Barske
Gender M
Age 26
Decorations
Date of Death 26-11-1943
Next of Kin Son of Mike Barske and Stephania Barske (née Somzurs) of Whitemouth, Manitoba, Canada.
BARSKE PJ

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax V
Serial Number LK969
Markings NA-G

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference 6. J. 13.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 127

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/157138
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 428 (Ghost)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Barske Lake, Manitoba; Between Lac du Bonnet and Pointe du Bois
Country Canada
Memorial Type Lake
Memorial Text
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Location Adjacent to fomer St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed slate tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served on 428 (RCAF) Sqn at Middleton St. George during WWII, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice
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Miscellaneous Information

The rest of the crew became PoW
Paul was born at Ladywood, Manitoba on 16 November 1917. Both parents were born in Glenaria, Poland and his father was a farmer. He had two brothers William and Frank and sisters Mary, Stefania, Bernice, Rose and Agnes (Stefania is also shown as Stephania). Paul went to Whitemouth Public School 1925-1932, and continued 1932-1938. He also attended Wesley College 1936-1938. His sport interests were baseball, football and hockey and his hobbies were mechanics and carpentry. He worked in a Brickyard 1937-1940, part time, as well as working in maintenance, 1938-1940, also part time. Paul also worked in the Defence Industries Cordite Plant, July 1941-Sept 1942, as a Kneader operator (rubber manufacture).
Paul then enlisted on 18 February 1942 and after training embarked from Canada for the U.K. He arrived at 3PRC on 18 March 1943 and was then sent to 3(0) AFU. 11 May 1943, 23 OTU 8 June 1943, 1664 CU 28 August 1943 and 428 Squadron on 26 September 1943. Sadly just two months later, Paul was to lose his life on 26 November 1943. Barske Lake, S/W of Lac due Bonnet and also called Hampshire Lake, locally, is named after him.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-11-1943
End Date 26-11-1943
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (3% moon)
Operation Frankfurt. 262 aircraft, mainly Halifaxes. 12 losses (4.6%) with no diversionary raids. The German controller correctly surmised that Frankfurt was the target. Cloud cover led to scattered bombing and it is thought that fewer than 100 bombs landed on the city. 80 deaths on the ground and 1500 people were bombed out
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter at 19000' over the target. Its first pass set light to the starboard inner engine while its second killed Sgt Barske and inflicted damage on the starboard outer engine
 
 
 
 

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.