LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Cyril BRENNAN
Service No: 404771
Born: Brisbane QLD, 9 March 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940
Unit: No. 130 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Unrecovered
Buried: Air Operations: (No. 130 Squadron Spitfire aircraft BM536), off the French Coast, 25 June 1942, Aged 23 Years
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Cyril and Helen Borthwick Brennan, of Morningside, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 112, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 5 October 1941, Sergeant Brennan was involved in an aircraft accident in which Sergeant Travis Arnold Hutton Hiddleston (400713) was killed.
On 25 June 1942 Spitfire BM536 together with 11 Spitfires from the Squadron led by Wing Commander Blake DFC took off, to escort bombers of No. 19 Squadron in an attack on German shipping off the Island of Ushant off the north-west coast of France. Eight enemy ships were attacked by the formation. Sergeant Brennan was seen by Sergeant Paton lagging 200 yards behind the formation with an FW190 firing from the rear. BM536 did not appear to take evasive action. The same FW 190 then attacked Sergeant Paton’s aircraft. Flight Lieutenant Durrant noticed that Sergeant Brennan’s aircraft was missing from the formation, and almost immediately saw a splash in the sea some 30 miles north of Ushant. BM536 did not return to base after this mission. In 1948 it was recorded that Sergeant Brennan had lost his life at sea.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/93/556