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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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441 Squadron Spitfire IX NH178 Fl/Lt. Brown, RAF Digby, Grandmesnil, France

Operation: Recce

Date: 13th August 1944 (Sunday)

Unit: No. 441 Squadron

Type: Spitfire IX

Serial: NH178

Base: RAF Digby, Lincolnshire

Location: East of Vire, North Western France

Pilot: Fl/Lt. William Wood Lindsay Brown MiD. J/16571 RCAF Age 27. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Fl/Lt. William Brown in an armed recce to Flers, North Western France during the evening of the 13th August and was shot down by flak and spun into the ground East of Vire, France.

Above: as described - courtesy Francois Dutil

Burial details:

Fl/Lt. William Wood Lindsay Brown MID. Ranville War Cemetery V.F.12. Born on the 18th August 1916, the son of Thomas Wood Brown and Nellie Brown, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Grave inscription reads: “Ever Remembered And Sadly Missed By His Loving Family And Many Friends”.

KTY - 30.03.2018

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Acknowledgements
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Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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