Operation: Training
Date: 21st September 1941 (Sunday)
Unit: No. 59 Operational Training Unit (81 Group)
Type: Hurricane I
Serial: P3623
Code: Not known
Base: RAF Crosby-on-Eden, Cumbria
Location: Westlinton, Cumbria, England
Pilot: Sgt. William Brownlie NZ/405227 RNZAF Age 24. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Not a great deal on the sad loss of this New Zealand pilot. It seem that the aircraft dived into the ground at high speed and caught fire at Westlinton in Cumbria at 15:40 hrs.
Possible cause of the crash were that the pilot other suffered oxygen starvation or that he blacked out during a manoeuvre.
Burial details:
Sgt. William Brownlie. Carlisle Cemetery (Dalston) Ward 11.Sector O.Grave 17. Son of William Brownlie and of Ann Brownlie (née McClelland), of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand. 144 flying hours logged.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:
