Name  : William Lawrance Le Cocq BARNES. DSC.
Rank & Number : Lieutenant (A).
Service  : H.M.S.�Illustrious�, Royal Navy.
Date of Death : Sunday, 2^nd March 1941.
Age  : 24
Cause of Death : Not established.
Commemorated : Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery, Malta.
Reference : Prot. Sec. (Officers�). Plot E. Coll. Grave 4.

H.M.S.�Illustrious� is best remembered for her strike on the Italian Fleet at Taranto on the night of 11^th � 12^th November 1940, where torpedoes from her ancient Swordfish aircraft sank one battleship and caused two others to be beached. On 10^th January 1941 she was bombed by GAF Ju-87�s of I/St G 1 and IISt G 2 to the west of Malta in the Mediterranean. On 16^th January she was bombed by GAF Ju-87�s and Gu-88�s of FK X while lying in Grand Harbour, Malta. Temporary repairs were carried out in Malta from 10^th �23^rd January with further repairs undertaken in Alexandria between February and March. She remained out of action until December 1941.
William Barnes was the son of Colonel Lawrance Edward Barnes and Marjorie Sophia Barnes, of Maiden Newton.