LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Alan Howard BREWIN
Service No: 543
Born: Adelaide SA, 12 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 November 1939 (at RAAF Station Point Cook VIC)
Unit: No. 1 Squadron, Sembawang, Singapore
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-25), Johore Strait, 7 May 1941, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Husband of Myrtle Caroline Brewin, of Vermont, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Column 411, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 97, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2100 hours on 7 May 1941, Hudson A16-35 based at Sembawang crashed into the Johore Strait and all the crew members were killed. The accident occurred at the conclusion of an Army cooperation night exercise. After taking avoiding action from searchlights, the aircraft got into an uncontrollable dive and crashed in the Strait near the Naval Base. The aircraft sank immediately and an explosion occurred and set fire to petrol on the surface. Naval salvage vessels failed to locate any of the crew members.
The crew members of A16-25 were:
Flying Officer Alan Howard Brewin (543) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Frederick Stephen Gildea (402288) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Geoffrey David Robinson (669) (Third Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Albert Robert Stevenson (282) (Pilot)
Corporal Arthur Theophilus Thompson (2399) (Wireless Equipment Mechanic)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/24/130
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992