RAF riddle (From Barry And District News)

RAF riddle

IN the Barry & District News of December 11, 2003, you kindly published my letter concerning a Czech airman, Valentin Kubin, who died on March 17, 1945, and who is buried in Barry Cemetery.

I have visited Prague since then and am continuing to investigate his life, relatives, and the circumstances of his death at 24 years.

Also, why is his final resting place in Barry? Czech and Slovak airmen served in any of four RAF squadrons: Numbers 310, 311, 312 and 313.

Only 312 was ever based in Wales, but not at RAF St Athan, or anywhere near here. All four squadrons transferred to Prague in August 1945 and went over to Czechoslovak control in February 1946 - eleven months after his death.

It could be that he died at RAF St Athan whilst detached on "other duties," or returning from a mission, near here, he could even have been groundcrew. Do any readers know anything of him, or his death, and why he came to be interred in Barry? In the meantime my search for his relatives and friends in the Czech Republic and Slovakia continues.

Christopher Short

Redbrink Crescent

Barry Island