Legendary Nicky Barr dies
Tuesday June 13 2006
Wallaby and war hero
Nicky Barr, rugby player and war hero, died in Queensland on 12 June 2006 at the age of 90.


Andrew William Barr, MC, DFC and Bar, OBE, was an heroic fighter pilot in World War II, the war which prevented him from becoming an international rugby player.

Barr, who had changed from Aussie Rules football to rugby football after leaving school, played hooker for Victoria from 1936 to 1939 and then, at the age of 23, was chosen for the Wallaby team to tour the UK and Ireland in 1939. They got to England but the tour was called off the next day because World War II had broken out.

He went back to Australia with the disappointed team and joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a fighter pilot in September 1940, In November, Barr was posted to 23 Squadron flying CA-3 Wirraways on patrol around Queensland. He entered the ongoing African campaign in October 1941 when posted to 3 Squadron in the Western Desert. He flew P-40 Kittyhawks in the air over Africa. During his first 35 operational hours, Barr flew 22 missions, engaged in 16 aerial combats, and was credited with destroying eight enemy aircraft.

On 11 January 1942, during an attempt to rescue a downed pilot, he became engaged in a dogfight with Me-109s and was shot down 25 miles behind enemy lines. Although wounded, he evaded capture for five days and even gathered information on the enemy.

After a brief recovery, Barr returned to combat, and in May assumed command of 3 Squadron, leading them against Rommel's advance into Egypt. At one point, 3 Squadron flew a record 64 fighter and dive bombing missions in one day. He completed a record 6! On 26 June 1942, during his third morning flight, Squadron Leader Barr was shot down. Badly wounded, he was captured by Italian forces. By that time, he had flown 84 combat sorties and scored 12 victories.

He spent the next 5 months in military and POW hospitals in Italy. He escaped once but was recaptured and sent to the Italian fortress prison of Gavia place from which no one ever escaped.

After 8 months, he was being sent to Germany, but en route he once again managed to escape by jumping from a moving train. He evaded the enemy in Austria and Italy for eight months. During this time, he joined the remnants of an Allied Special Airborne Services unit conducting clandestine operations in and around Field Marshal Kesselring’s Headquarters at L'Aquila, Italy.

Finally, in March 1944, 21 months after his initial capture, Barr infiltrated the German lines and rejoined the Allied forces. For his exploits in enemy territory, he received the Military Cross.

Wing Commander Barr left the RAAF in October 1945.

Queensland author, Peter Dornan wrote a biography of his extraordinary life, Nicky Barr – An Australian Air Ace which was released in 2002 and shares Barr’s heroic story of war time experiences. Dornan says: "Nicky Barr never deliberately sought danger or adventure, but when confronted with it he had the courage to face it and survive."

He was still only 27 years of age at the end of the war, but his war injuries put an end to his rugby career. Instead he became a noted businessman and a keen yachtsman.

The blurb to Dornan's book says: "Nicky Barr earned a reputation amongst allies and enemies alike for his acts of bravery, his selflessness, his dogged determination and his infectious sense of humour. His is a story of adventure, war, courage and mortality, and the love for his wife that sustained him through it all."

Nicky Barr turned 90 on the 10 December last year but his health deteriorated quickly after his beloved wife Dot passed away only a few months before him.