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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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RAF Fighter Command Crest
20.10.1941 No. 4 BFTS Vultee Valiant BT13 LAC. Alexander T. Brooks

Operation: Training

Date: 20th October 1941 (Monday)

Unit: No. 4. BFTS (British Flying Training School)

Type: Vultee Valiant BT13

Serial: Not known 

Base: USAAF base Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona, Texas

Location: Mesa, Arizona, Texas

Pilot: LAC Alexander Thomas Brooks 1268283 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Mr Peter Phelps contacted Aircrew Remembered in September 2014 and provided some of these photographs - another aircrew remembered.

REASON FOR LOSS:

No details available on this loss. Are you able to assist further? Had this been a solo flight?

LAC Alexander Thomas Brooks shown middle row extreme right. LAC Phelps - front row 2nd from right. (courtesy Peter Phelps)

Above: an earlier mishap by LAC Alex brooks and below, his final flight (courtesy Peter Phelps)

He was a friend of LAC Eric John Phelps who later was killed off Deal Kent during a high altitude patrol. 

During World War II, this airbase was constructed in Mesa for the training of US and British fighter pilots. More than 2,000 pilots were trained at this airfield, Falcon Field, which today serves as a muncipal airport. 

Twenty-three British cadets and one American pilot were killed in air accidents during Falcon Field's four years as a training facility, and these individuals are buried in a special section of the Mesa Cemetery.

Burial details: 

LAC Alexander Thomas Brooks. Mesa City Cemetery. Lot 3. Block 528. Grave 8. Son of Alexander Daniel and Mary Brooks, of Eltham, London, England. Born in 1921.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Peter Phelps for information - Peter has built a Facebook Page to his Uncle. 

Also further information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Aircrew Remembered archives.

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CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
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Acknowledgements
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 MWO 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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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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