Barr, Andrew William (Wing Commander, b.1915 - d.2006)

Accession Number PR04423
Collection type Private Record
Record type Collection
Measurement Extent: 4.5 cm; Wallet/s: 2
Object type Log book
Maker Barr, Andrew William 'Nicky'
Royal Australian Air Force
Various
Place made Australia, Italy, North Africa, United Kingdom
Date made 1940-1951
Access Open
Conflict Period 1950-1959
Second World War, 1939-1945
Period 1940-1949
Copying Provisions Copyright expired. Copying permitted subject to physical condition. Permission for reproduction not required.
Description

Collection relating to the Second World War and post-war service of O35392 Wing Commander Andrew William 'Nicky' Barr MC, DFC & Bar, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Australia, Middle East, Europe, Pacific, 1940-1951.

Wallet 1 of 2 - Consists of Barr's RAAF flying log book. The log book begins in March 1940, when Barr was a pilot trainee learning to fly on the de Havilland Tiger Moth and Hawker Demon at No 3 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF and No 1 Service Flying Training School RAAF, respectively. The log book thereafter records Barr's posting to No 23 Squadron RAAF in Queensland and, from November 1941, contains detailed entries of his operational service with No 3 Squadron RAAF in the Western Desert of North Africa. There is a gap in the log book from June 1942 to March 1944, when Barr was held as a prisoner of war to Italy, but from then on includes entries documenting operational flying over Europe and instructor duties in Australia to August 1945. The log book also includes entries between November 1949 and July 1951, when Barr was serving with the RAAF Reserve. The log book has been treated as almost a scrapbook and contains dozens of photographs, documents, articles, anecdotes and ephemera related to Barr's service and wartime experiences. A back page in the log book includes Barr's aerial combat claims.

Wallet 2 of 2 - Consists of photographs, documents, news clippings and ephemera related to Barr's wartime service. The wallet includes material (notably the ephemera and photographs) that were once pasted or inserted into Barr's flying log book. The wallet includes Barr's brief handwritten recollections of [252761 Flight Lieutenant Frederic] 'Freddie' Eggleston, a telegraph of congratulations from the Minister of Air on the award of Barr's Military Cross, and a document from Flight Lieutenant G P Barton (Intelligence Officer, No 3 Squadron) confirming Barr's combat claims for the period of June 1942.