Flight Lieutenant Barrington Armitage Knyvett DFC Memorial

This memorial is a rectangular shaped metal plaque attached to the bottom edge of the Leadville First and Second World Wars Honour Roll located in the Leadville Memorial Hall. The plaque was presented  by Mr and Mrs E F Knyvett in memory of their son, Flight Lieutenant Barrington Armitage (Barry) Knyvett DFC, a member of the 460th Squadron, Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) who lost his life on 2 January 1944.

Barry Knyvett enlisted on 11 November 1940 and trained at Bradfield Park (Sydney) and Narromine (Orana, NSW). In April 1941 he left for Canada where he completed his training in Alberta. After becoming a sergeant-pilot he left for England where he completed two months training as a bomber pilot and six months operational tour on Wellington bombers. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1942 for his many raids over the Ruhr. He later became an instructor and in December 1942, was promoted to the rank of flight-lieutenant. He continued in this role until the beginning of December 1943 when he commenced operations as a flight-commander of a Lancaster bomber squadron. Flight Lieutenant Knyvett was killed on 2 January 1944 when his Lancaster crashed over Binbrook Village in Lincolnshire, England whilst he was returning from a raid.

This plaque is one of three which were attached to the timber Leadville Honour Roll and unveiled on Anzac Day 1953. The other two plaques are dedicated to Private Adolphous Felix Abbott, who died on 3 December 1944 and Driver John Leslie Bowman who died on 12 February 1942.