THE moving story of a Derry man's search for his son’s body after he was killed during the Second World War is to be presented online by the city’s Tower Museum.
Sergeant Mackenzie Barr went missing when his plane was shot down while on a RAF bombing raid over Germany.
After he was reported missing in action, his father Ernest, who had a pharmacy on William Street, started a search for his son which is to be re-told in an online exhibition marking next week’s 75th anniversary of the end of the war.
The story of the search was recorded in a series of letters sent by Mr Barr. The responses, including one from US Army commander General Dwight Eisenhower’s office, eventually led to the sad discovery of his son’s grave in southern Germany.
The Barr Collection is one of a number of archives which will go online from next Friday, May 8 marking the end of the war in Europe in 1945. The collections document life in Derry at the time as well as the experiences of military personnel who travelled through the city’s port.
Mackenzie Barr’s sister Millicent Welch, said the family was delighted that her brother and father’s story was being used by the museum.
“We are deeply indebted to the museum for all their efforts in preserving and presenting the original documents and for telling the story that goes with them,” she said.
Museum and Heritage curator Roisin Doherty said the archive would provide an insight into the life of ordinary people in Derry as well as the search for Mackenzie Barr’s remains.
“From the initial devastation, to hope of survival, to confirmation of tragedy, it’s all revealed in great detail during the heart-breaking search for more information,” Ms Doherty said.
The collection will be available at towermuseumlearning.co.uk from May 8.
