Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

12/02/1940

Place of Enlistment

Mascot NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

09/10/1915

Place of Birth

Summer Hill NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Booroondara Street, Reid ACT

Occupation

Clerk

Next of Kin

Son of James Cox (deceased) and Kathleen Cox, husband of Alwyn Theodora Cox of Booroondara Street, Reid ACT

Burial Place

Body not recovered

Service Number

260706

Final Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Final Unit

75 Squadron

Died in a flying battle, Port Moresby, Papua on 28 April 1942

AWM Roll of Honour Memorial Panel 103, Canberra ACT

Cox was a stockbroker's clerk in Canberra before the war. His father had served with the Light Horse in World War 1 and died in Palestine in 1918. Barry Cox married in June 1940, four months after enlisting. After training at Point Cook on Wirraways he was appointed as a Flight Lieutenant and posted to Narranderra. While on a training flight to Canberra his plane collided with another over Government House in Canberra in April 1941. Cox survived the crash but his passenger was killed. The accident was witnessed by the Governor General, the acting Prime Minister and the Chief of the Air Staff.

He served overseas from July 1941 and was posted to 75 Squadron in March 1942 flying a Kittyhawk out of Port Moresby. By this time Port Moresby was a regular target of Japanese bombing raids. On 28 April 1942 his squadron flew out to confront eight Japanese bombers which were supported by 12 Zero fighters. In the ensuing battle Cox' plane was shot down and crashed in Waigan Swamp near Port Moresby. An army search party found the plane buried down to its tail and on fire. They were able to identify the plane because it had 'Sweet Adeline' painted on its fuselage. The body of Barry Cox was not recovered.

WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
AWM Roll of Honour Database
AWM Roll of Honour Circular
NAA RecordSearch - Series A9300 (RAAF Officers Personnel files, 1921-1948)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'One of Jackson's Few', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
The Canberra Times - 5 April 1941, 30 April 1941, 2 May 1941