In the early morning of 14 Oct 1942, the Newfoundland Railway passenger/rail ferry, S. S. 'Caribou', was sailing across the Cabot Strait when it was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat; it had left Sydney, Nova Scotia, on the evening of 13 Oct and was heading for Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland. Aboard were 192 passengers (armed forces personnel, as well as civilians), a crew of 46, some livestock, rail cars and other cargo. The island of Newfoundland, a sea-faring country which was still a British colony at that time, was in a strategic location during the Second World War because it was so close to Canada. There were several military bases on the island where Canadian, British and American personnel were stationed; these servicemen often travelled on the ferries between Newfoundland and Canada.

Of the 46 crew members of the S.S. 'Caribou', 31 died, including her captain and his two sons. Of the 118 Canadian, British and American armed services personnel, 57 died. And of the 74 civilians aboard the Caribou that early morning, 49 perished. 136 people in all were lost.

Pilot Officer Barrett was one of the armed services personnel passengers, aboard the S.S. 'Caribou', who perished at sea. He was one of eighteen airmen lost; the eighteen young Canadian airmen were:

Pilot Officer John Hamilton BARRETT,

Pilot Officer Lionel Edgar LEGGE,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Lawrence William TRUESDALE,

Corporal William Palmer HOWSE,

Corporal Herbert Harold ELKIN,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Raymond CHATSON,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Thomas Henry CUMMINGS,

Aircraftman 2nd Class William Bruce WILSON,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Edward Allan THISTLE,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Raymond WATSON,

Aircraftman 2nd Class George William PARKER,

Aircraftman 2nd Class Donald Cameron GLOVER,

Leading Aircraftman Charles Michael McCARRON,

Leading Aircraftman Edward George WALKER,

Leading Aircraftman Dow Lester MITCHELL,

Leading Aircraftman Archie Walker JONES,

Leading Aircraftman Morris Nathan OIRING and

Aircraftman 1st Class Fred George COULSON.

From the Canadian Virtual War Memorial-

Military Service:-

Rank: Pilot Officer

Trade: Pilot

Service Number: J/14556

Age: 20

Force: Air Force

Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force

Division: 5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) [Brantford, Ontario]

P/O Barrett and his bride of only 2 weeks, Marjorie, were on their way to meet his family in Newfoundland. Marjorie survived the attack/sinking.

Son of John A. Barrett and Ena Constance (née Culbard) Barrett; husband of Marjorie R. Barrett of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; brother of Arthur W. F. Barrett, David G. Barrett and Rose Gillam.

His mother, Ena C. Barrett, a WWI War Bride, was a lyricist/poet. Lines from one of her poems are used on the base of the monument for The Newfoundland Airmen's Memorial found in the North Atlantic Aviation Museum, Gander, Newfoundland ["The Sun Gone Down | A Cross Of White | Forget Them Not."] This memorial was constructed in 1996 in memory of all Newfoundland Airmen who lost their life while serving with the Allied Air Forces in World War II (1939-1945).

John Hamilton Barrett was a university graduate--B.Sc. (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Pilot Officer John Hamilton Barrett is commemorated on Page 144 of the Newfoundland Book of Remembrance.

He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

P/O Barrett is also commemorated at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, England, and at the Bay of Islands War Memorial in Curling, Newfoundland.