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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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03.10.1940 No. 20 SFTS Harvard I P5963 P/O. Brown

Operation: Training

Date: 03rd October 1940 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 20 Service Flying Training School

Type: Harvard I

Serial: P5963

Code: -

Base: Cranborne, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

Location: 10 miles East of Harare (Salisbury)

Pilot Inst: P/O. Willis Stewart Brown 40505 RAF Age 25. Killed (1)

Pilot U/T: Sgt. Cyril Thomas Arthur Jacobs 777633 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

During a duel instruction training exercise control was lost in cloud. It is not known who was flying the aircraft at the time.

Although partial recovery was made the aircraft struck the ground killing both instructor and pupil.

(1) His older brother, 28 year old, Sgt. Ivor Morrison Brown 965683 RAFVR lost his life the following year. On the 20th September 1941, flying as pilot with 602 Squadron Spitfire Vb P8787 escorting bombers to Abbeville, France when he was shot down. His body was washed ashore the following month.

Burial details:

P/O. Willis Stewart Brown. Harare Cemetery. Eur. War Graves Plot. Grave 8. Born on the 23rd May 1915 at Mataura, the son of Douglas Campbell and Frances Jane Brown (née James), of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand. A Student prior to service. Bachelor of Applied Science New Zealand. A total of 855 plus flying hours logged. Grave inscription: 'If Death, I Shall Die At Last, Strong In My Pride And Free'.

Sgt. Cyril Thomas Arthur Jacobs. Eur. War Graves Plot. Grave 9. Son of Thomas Arthur and Lucy Jacobs, of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Grave inscription: 'Your Duty Nobly Done, Sleep On'.

Other:

Sgt. Ivor Morrison Brown. Calais Canadian War Cemetery. Grave 3.D.10. Born on the 21st November at Invercargill. A Student prior to service at the Royal Veterinary College, London. Bachelor of Applied Science New Zealand. Grave inscription: 'At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember Him'. 363 flying hours logged and on his 62nd operational sortie.

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 Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 01.11.2019

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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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