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- Cyril Joe Barton VC (5 June 1921 – 31 March 1944) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was 22 years old, and a Pilot Officer in the 578 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 30 March 1944 in an attack on Nuremberg, Germany and while 70 miles from the target, Pilot Officer Barton's Handley Page Halifax bomber (serial LK797) was badly damaged by enemy aircraft, losing an engine. A misinterpreted signal resulted in three of the crew bailing out, and Pilot Officer Barton was left with no navigator, bombardier or wireless operator. He pressed on with the attack, however, releasing the bombs himself. On the return journey, as he crossed the English coast, the fuel ran short and with only one engine working he crashed trying to avoid the houses and pit head workings of the village of Ryhope, near Sunderland. He was pulled alive from the wreckage but died before reaching the hospital. One miner died, when he was hit by part of the crippled plane, but the remaining three crew members survived. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum (Hendon, England). Barton Green in New Malden, Surrey, where he had attended Beverley Boys School, was named in his honour during the early 1950s and Barton Road at the Yorkshire Air Museum (Elvington, North Yorkshire) was named in his honour, on the 46th anniversary of his death. A housing estate in Ryhope, Barton Park, was also named after him, while a nearby street was named Halifax Place, after the bomber he flew. Kingston College (England), which Barton attended, also offers an annual prize for its student of the year, which is named after him.
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