William Henry Brown

Name:

William Henry "Harry" Brown

Harry Brown [Courtesy of Teresa Jackson]

Country:

Canada

Rank:

Lieutenant

Service:

Royal Flying Corps
Royal Air Force

Units:

Victories:

Born:

12 March 1894

Place of Birth:

Victoria, British Columbia

Died:

28 February 1969

Place of Death:

Steilacoom, Washington, USA

After serving with the 1st Canadian Signal Corps, William Henry Brown transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. In August of that year, he was posted to 84 Squadron as an S.E.5a pilot. He scored nine victories before he was returned to the Home Establishment on 8 April 1918.

Military Cross (MC)

T./2nd Lt. William Henry Brown, Gen. List, and R.F.C.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Whilst bombing an enemy aerodrome his squadron was attacked by a formation of 40 enemy scouts. He engaged one of these with the result that it dived straight to the ground. He was then attacked by another machine, and by skilful piloting he succeeded in firing at close range behind its tail, with the result that it fell on its back and went down out of control. Later, whilst leading a low-flying attack on enemy troops he dropped four bombs from a very low altitude, scattering the enemy in all directions, and then at a height of 300 feet engaging them with machine-gun fire. Shortly afterwards he attacked two enemy two-seater planes, crashing them both to earth. In addition to these he has shot down out of control four other hostile machines, and has displayed throughout the recent operations marked gallantry and skill.

Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 June 1918 (30761/7404)

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	26 Nov 1917	0800	84	S.E.5a (B559)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	Fonsomme-Mt. d'Origny
2	23 Dec 1917	1300	84	S.E.5a (B559)	C (OOC) ¹	N of St. Quentin
3	10 Mar 1918	1420	84	S.E.5a (C5384)	C (OOC)	Bellicourt
4	17 Mar 1918	1730	84	S.E.5a (C9263)	Fokker DR.I (OOC)	Crevecoeur
5	18 Mar 1918	1130	84	S.E.5a (C9263)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	St. Souplet
6	18 Mar 1918	1130	84	S.E.5a (C9263)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	St. Souplet
7	25 Mar 1918	0920	84	S.E.5a (C9267)	C (DES)	Flers
8	25 Mar 1918	0930	84	S.E.5a (C9267)	C (DESF) ²	Flers
9	03 Apr 1918	1200	84	S.E.5a (C9263)	Albatros D.V (OOC)	W of Villers Brettoneaux

1	Shared with Capt Edward Pennell
2	Shared with Capt Robert Grosvenor

Aces · Aircraft · Books · Forum · Help · Medals · Search · Today