THREE BROTHERS KILLED

Southland Times, Issue 24576, 27 October 1941, Page 6

THREE BROTHERS KILLED

FLYING BARNWELLS SONS OF AIRCRAFT DESIGNER The story of the death of the third son of the designer of the Blenheim and Beaufort aircraft, who himself was killed a few years ago while testing his new aircraft, was told by the Air Ministry news service in a recent cablegram from London. Barnwell was awarded the D.F.C. a month ago after he had shot down two Italian three-engined bombers in one night over Malta. One of his brothers was killed with a bomber squadron, and the other while flying night fighters. The story of the family’s magnificent record was told by Basil Cardew in a London newspaper at the time David Barnwell won the D.F.C. And now David has given his life for ills country, too. The last of the Flying Barnwells has won the D.F.C.—Pilot Officer David Usher Barnwell, son of the designer of the Blenheim and Beaufort bombers. From her home in Bristol —close to the aircraft works where her husband designed his aeroplanes—Mrs Barnwell told me of her two other sons, who died in the air, and of the third boy, who carries on the family traditions (says Mr Cardew). In one week-end over Malta he shot down four Italian aeroplanes. It is for that he has been awarded his decoration. Said Mrs Barnwell: “I have only David now. I am so proud of him. I am so proud of them all.” BUILT MACHINE FOR SONS Her husband, Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell, designed not only the Blenheim and the Beaufort, but also the Bristol fighter, which fought in the last war. In this war more Royal Air Force pilots have flown in Blenheims against the enemy than in any other aeroplane. Captain Barnwell crashed in 1938. He was killed in an aeroplane he had built for his sons, powered by a tiny 28 h.p. engine. It was built for economy; his boys had' found it too expensive to learn in the usual way. “My three sons,” said Mrs Barnwell, “took after their father. All four of them talked about nothing but the air. That was all I heard in the home. We have always lived on the edge of an airfield.

“My eldest, Richard Anthony, went from Bristol University into the R.A.F. in 1938. He was flying in a bomber squadron when he was killed. SHOT DOWN A HEINKEL “John Sandes, our middle son, went to Cranwell, the R.A.F. school, and when he joined the R.A.F. he piloted night fighters. He was reported missing in June 1940. Before he died he had shot down a Heinkel 111. John was a scholarly boy; he got the King’s Medal at Cranwell. I think he had the greatest flying brain of them all. David worked at Filton airfield, Bristol, where his. father had worked. He was only 18 when he finished his training in the R.A.F. and went to Malta. He has not much time to write to me. But he never fails to send a cablegram every week. He cannot afford many words, but he always makes them bright, and he ends by saying, ‘lm having a wizard time.’ “Although I do not like flying, I have always felt that my life is dedicated to it. My husband and my three sons seemed to be part of it. . “I do not think I would have had it otherwise. It was their job.”