Hector Barnes

He was killed in action on 8 April 1943. His death occurred during the brutal ambush and subsequent breakout attempt around Padana Chaung and Indin in the Arakan Peninsula of Burma (Myanmar) [See below].

In April 1943, the 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (affectionately known as "The Skins") were enduring some of the most brutal fighting of the Second World War.O perating in the Arakan Peninsula of Burma (now Myanmar), the battalion served under the 48th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 14th Indian Infantry Division. April 1943 marked the culmination of the First Arakan Campaign, a failed Allied attempt to seize the Akyab airfield from Imperial Japanese forces.

A battalion Decimated: By the start of April, months of fighting heavily fortified Japanese bunkers (such as those at Donbaik) alongside jungle diseases had shattered the battalion's numbers. In January 1943, the battalion stood 600 strong; by 5 April 1943, they were reduced to just 230 fit men.

Lieutenant-Colonel J.R.C. Crossle stepped down, and Lieutenant-Colonel C.A. Cooper-Key took over the depleted battalion during April 1943.

The defining engagement of the month occurred when an Inniskilling patrol was ambushed by a much stronger Japanese force in the Padana Chaung area. Cut off and facing relentless, indiscriminate fire, the survivors were forced to lay up in the dense undergrowth for an entire day—during which their Medical Officer was killed.

At dusk following the ambush, the remaining men executed a daring night-time breakout, slipping directly through enemy lines to move south and west until they hit the safety of the beaches south of Indin.

The losses during this specific week in early April were severe. Dozens of Inniskilling fusiliers were killed, went missing, or succumbed to disease. Because the Allied forces were actively retreating through chaotic jungle terrain, many who fell between 3 April and 8 April 1943 have no known grave. Today, names like Fusilier Cyril Lambert, Fusilier James Sharkey, and Fusilier James Pemberton are commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial in Myanmar.Following the retreat in April, the remnants of the 1st Battalion were pulled back out of Burma to India to rebuild, recuperate, and retrain after sustaining catastrophic losses.