In Memory Of
PYOTT, JOHN BARRIE
Service Details
Age:
20
Date of Birth:
-0001-11-30
Service No:
542941V
Rank:
Lieutenant
Unit:
450 (R.A.F.) Sqdn.
Regiment:
South African Air Force
Date of Death:
1945-03-04
Cause of Death:
Killed in action, Kittyhawk IV FX595, left 1350 to Vittorio Veneto area to bomb a bridge, shot down in flames SSE Belluno 1450. The viaduct, known locally as "Dodici ponti" (Twelve Bridges), still exists and is on the active railway line between Vittorio Veneto and Ponte nelle Alpi. The attack was conducted along a north-south route and Pyott's plane crashed near a group of houses called "La Sega". Pyott's body was taken away from the fascists of the Black Brigades by the parish priest Father Raffaele Saler, who had it transported to the Forcal cemetery to await burial. Father Raffaele Saler was killed along with 20 other civilians in the following day's raid by 15 USAF P47 Thunderbolts that mistakenly hit the nearby district of S. Giustina. Lieutenant John Barrie Pyott's plane crashed as a result of the early blast of the bomb dropped by the previous plane.
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
IV. C. 6.
Cemetery:
UDINE WAR CEMETERY
Country:
Italy
Additional Information
Son of Ian Vernon Jeffrey Pyott, DSO (RFC Pilot WW1) and Norah Frances Pyott, of Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa. Born Durban. Educated Hilton College, Natal. A student
