Intelligent but shy, Roy Brown loved to fly. After entering the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915, he was almost killed when he crashed an Avro 504 during a training flight on May 2, 1916. He recovered and was assigned to 9 Naval Squadron on the Western Front in April of 1917. Reassigned to 11 Naval Squadron, he scored his first victory on July 17, 1917, shooting down an Albatros D.III while flying a Sopwith Pup. In the fall, he rejoined 9 Naval Squadron to fly Sopwith Camels, becoming a flight commander in February of 1918. In what would become the most famous aerial combat of the war, Brown's flight encountered Jasta 11 on the morning of April 21, 1918. In the battle that followed, Brown scored his final victory of the war. Engaging a red Fokker DR.I he was officially credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen. For this action, Brown received a bar to his Distinguished Service Cross. In 1919, Brown left the Royal Air Force and returned to Canada where he worked as an accountant, founded a small airline and became an editor for "Canadian Aviation" magazine. During World War II, Brown entered politics after his application to join the Royal Canadian Air Force was rejected. The year before he died, he ran for Parliament but lost the election. TORONTO, March 10. - The Lethbridge Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta) - Friday, March 10, 1944 Combat Report "At 10:35 a.m. I observed two Albatrosses burst into flames and crash. Dived on a large formation of fifteen to twenty Albatross scouts, D.5's, and Fokker triplanes, two of which got on my tail, and I cameout. Went back again and dived on pure red triplane which was firing on Lieutenant Wilfrid May. I got a long burst into him, and he went down vertically and was observed to crash by Lieutenant Francis Mellersh and Lieutenant May. I fired on two more but did not get them." Brown's combat report, April 21, 1918 Quotes "If he had been my dearest friend, I could not have felt greater sorrow." Roy Brown, on viewing the body ofManfred von Richthofen Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) "For the excellent work he has done on active service. On September 3, 1917, he attacked a two-seater Aviatik, in company with his flight. The enemy machine was seen to dive down vertically, the enemy observer falling over on the side of the fuselage, shot. On September 5, 1917, in company with his formation, he attacked an Albatros scout and two-seater, driving them away from our lines. One machine was observed to go down apparently out of control. On September 15, 1917, whilst on patrol, he dived on two Aviatiks and three Albatros scouts, followed by his flight. He dived several times and picked out one enemy scout, firing about 200 rounds, when the enemy machine went down out of control, spinning on its back. On September 20, 1917, whilst leading his flight, he dived on five Albatros scouts. Flight Lieutenant Brown picked out one enemy machine and opened fire. One of his guns jammed, but he carried on with the other. The enemy machine went down out of control and over on its back and remained in that position for about twenty seconds, whilst Flight Lieutenant Brown continued firing until his other gun jammed. The enemy machine then disappeared in the clouds, still on its back. Another officer of the same patrol was later followed by four enemy machines, as he was separated from the formation. Both Flight Lieutenant Brown's guns were jammed, but he dived on the enemy machines and drove them off, thus undoubtably saving the pilot's life." DSC citation, London Gazette, November 2, 1917 Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On April 21, 1918, while leading a patrol of six scouts he attacked a formation of twenty hostile scouts. He personally engaged two Fokker triplanes, which he drove off; then, seeing that one of our machines was being attacked and apparently hard pressed, he dived on the hostile scout, firing the while. This scout, a Fokker triplane, nose dived and crashed to the ground. Since the award of the Distinguished Service Cross, he has destroyed several other enemy aircraft and has shown great dash and enterprise in attacking enemy troops from low altitudes despite heavy anti-aircraft fire." DSC Bar citation, London Gazette Supplement, June 21, 1918 Name - Arthur Roy Brown Country - Canada Rank - Captain Service - Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force Units - 4 Naval, 9 Naval, 11 Naval (RNAS) 209 (RAF) Victories - 10 Date Of Birth - December 23, 1893 Place of Birth: -Carleton Place, Ontario Date Of Death - March 9, 1944 Place of Death - Stouffville, Ontario
I'm afraid all the evidence is that von Richthofen was brought down by ground fire. I haven't got time right now to go into it, maybe tomorrow. It suited the RAF and the Canadian government to claim that it was Brown who brought him down. To Brown's credit, he didn't make a big deal about the incident after the war; fame was very much something that that the media imposed on him and there is little doubt that he was a courageous and honourable man. He suffered from ill-health all his life, hence his early death, and it has been said that neither Brown nor MvR were medically fit to fly on that day and would have been grounded in later wars.
It is now been over 90 years since Baron Manfred von Richthofen Germany’s greatest WW1 fighter pilot was shot down and killed over the Australian lines in the Western Front in France on 21 April 1918. Captain Browna Canadian pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, flying a Sopwith Camel single seat fighter, was known to have attacked von Richthofen and he was officially credited with shooting him down, eventually receiving a bar to his DSC for the feat. Brown’s claim to have shot down von Richthofen was immediately contested by the Australians because von Richthofen had flown at a very low height directly over their lines and had been fired on by Australian anti-aircraft machine gunners, as well as by many Australian soldiers. The controversy as to who was responsible for shooting down von Richthofen has continued over the years. C E W Bean, the author of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 to 1918, carried out considerable research into the death and devoted an Appendix, in Volume V of the Official History, published in 1935, to describe the circumstances in detail (1). Bean was of the opinion that Sergeant Popkin, an Australian Vickers machine gunner, was responsible for shooting down von Richthofen and that Captain Brown had not fired the fatal shot. I did find this also Adrian ..... http://www.anzacs.net/who-killed-the-Red-Baron.htm Annie
The best book on the death of Rittm Manfred von Richthofen is The Red Baron's Last Flight by Norman Franks and Alan Bennett; ISBN 1 898697 75 2. It comes down fairly heavily towards Sgt Popkin. I suspect that for its own reasons the RAF needed to credit an airmen with bringing down its greatest enemy, so that's what happened. A couple of months ago I was treated to an address by the son of a pilot from No 3 Sqn AFC, who was a pallbearer at von Richthofen's funeral. He was just back from a trip to France and told us that it was a strange feeling to stand on the exact spot where his father stood, with a wreath, at Bertangles cemetery in April 1918. Gareth
Annie Gareth's information and your anzacs.net link say everything that I was going to say, so I won't bother writing a long discussion. Suffice it to say that the main evidence against Brown is the forensic evidence of the path of the fatal bullet throught MvR's body; the Triplane was stripped of all its fabric by souvenir hunting troops immediately after the crash, so no evidence there. Incidentally, despite a wound which would have been fatal in under a minute, he still managed to put the aircraft down without destroying it. It turned on its nose and he received facial injuries, but the aircraft would probably have been repairable and the injuries not fatal by themselves.
