Reginald Victor Kierath (1915 - 1944)

Ancestors

Biography

Reginald 'Rusty' Kierath was an Australian fighter pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He is notable for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 and as one of the men recaptured and subsequently shot by the Gestapo.

Reginald Victor Kierath was born on 20th February 1915 at Narromine, New South Wales, Australia. He was the fifth and youngest son and youngest of nine children of Albert Kierath and Ada O'Neill.^[1] In 1929, he left Narromine to attend Shore School, North Sydney and graduated in 1933. Willy Williams, another 'Great Escaper', was also educated at Shore School, but not until later. Reg gained employment with the Bank of Australasia and spent a year as a militia soldier in the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion.^[2]

On 19th August 1940, Reg enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for service during the Second World War.^[3] He graduated as a pilot on 10th June 1941 and was posted to No. 71 Operational Training Unit as a fighter pilot. In mid-August 1941 he joined No. 33 Squadron RAF in the Western Desert flying Hawker Hurricanes. On 8th January 1942 he was posted to No. 450 Squadron RAAF, was commissioned in May 1942 completed a five-month instructing tour in Rhodesia from August. Promoted to Flying Officer he returned to No. 450 Squadron RAAF in February 1943, flying P-40 Kittyhawk fighters.^[4] Having to 'bail out' of his flak-damaged aeroplane into the sea, Reg was taken into captivity as a prisoner-of-war at Tunis, then Sicily and then in the land from which his grandfather had migrated ninety years before: Germany. He soon found that he was in the same camp as his commanding officer and old Shore schoolmate, Squadron Leader John 'Willy' Williams.^[2]

Both men were among the 76 POWs who escaped during the famous "Great Escape" on 24-25th March 1944.^[5] After managing to reach the Czechoslovakian border posing as timber cutters, they were both re-captured and on 29th March, along with three other Australian airmen, were among 50 Stalag Luft III POWs murdered by the Gestapo.^[6][7] Reg and Willy's bodies were cremated at Brux (now Most) in an attempt to cover up the murders.^[8] Reginald Victor Kierath's name is located at panel 105 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. His ashes are buried in the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.^[9]

Stalag Luft III

His conspicuous bravery as a prisoner was recognised by posthumous promotion to Flight Lieutenant^[10] and a Mention in Despatches as none of the other relevant decorations then available could be awarded posthumously. It was published in a supplement to the London Gazette on 8th June 1944.^[11][12]

Reg's four older brothers and a sister also served during the war, all returning home safely other than for Greg, killed in action.

The Great Escape Memorial

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #9251/1915
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wikipedia profile: Reginald Kierath; accessed 4 Oct 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 402364 Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath; accessed 4 Oct 2019
4. ↑ DVA nominal roll: 402364 Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath; accessed 4 Oct 2019
5. ↑ Brickhill, Paul. The Great Escape. W W Norton & Company, 2004. ISBN 978-0-393-32579-9
6. ↑ Air Ministry telegram 15 May 1944
7. ↑ Read, Simon. Human Game: The True Story of the 'Great Escape' Murders and the Hunt for the Gestapo Gunmen. Berkley, 2012. ISBN 978-042525-273-4
8. ↑ Herington, John. Second World War Volume III: Air War Against Germany and Italy, 1939–1943 (1st edition). Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT, 1954
9. ↑ Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: 402364 Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath; accessed 4 Oct 2019
10. ↑ London Gazette 2 June 1944 Supplement: 36544Page: 2642; accessed 4 Oct 2019
11. ↑ Virtual War Memorial Australia: 402364 Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath; accessed 4 Oct 2019
12. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Flight Lieutenant KIERATH, REGINALD VICTOR, Service Number 402364, Died 29/03/1944, Aged 29, 450 Sqdn. Royal Australian Air Force, Mentioned in Despatches

See also:

• Tony Wright, The Sydney Morning Herald 28 Aug 2015: Step aside, Steve McQueen. Here's the real Great Escaper, and he's Australian; Truth is, no American took part in the great escape from Stalag Luft III in World War II.