Reginald Victor (Rusty) KIERATH MID

KIERATH, Reginald Victor

Service Number: 402364
Enlisted: 19 August 1940
Last Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Last Unit: No. 450 Squadron (RAAF)
Born: Narromine, New South Wales, Australia, 20 February 1915
Home Town: Narromine, Narromine, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Bank clerk
Died: Executed by the Gestapo (Great Escape), Poland, 29 March 1944, aged 29 years
Cemetery: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery
8 D 3
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Brisbane 450 Squadron R.A.A.F. Roll of Honour, Narromine War Memorial
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World War 2 Service

19 Aug 1940: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman 2 (WW2), 402364, Sydney, New South Wales
19 Aug 1940: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 402364, No. 450 Squadron (RAAF)
29 Mar 1944: Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 402364, No. 450 Squadron (RAAF), Prisoners of War

Help us honour Reginald Victor Kierath's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon

Flight Lieutenant Kierath, Service Number 402364, served with 450 Squadron  Royal Australian Air Force.

He was Mentioned in Despatches.

He was 29 and the son of William and Ada Elise Kierath, of Narromine, New South Wales, Australia.

Biography contributed by David Barlow

FLTLT Kierath was shot down by anti-aircraft fire in Kittyhawk FR477 of 450SQN RAAF while attacking naval targets in the Cape Bon region of Tunisia on 23 April 1943 and became a PoW

He was one of the three RAAF members that were executed following their participation in the "Great Escape" and their subsequent recapture by German forces - Warrant Officer Albert Horace Hake 403218 / Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath 402364 / Squadron Leader James Catanach DFC 400364

His brother - Captain Gregory Robert Kierath NX12509 AIF - was killed in 1941 at Tobruk

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