LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Edgar Harold BROWN
Service No: 401024
Born: Brighton VIC, 29 September 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 December 1940
Unit: No. 34 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 34 Squadron Blenheim aircraft Z5597), Malaya, 11 January 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archibald Hume Brown and Marian Annette Brown, of Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Irymple VIC
Remembered: Column 422, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 11 January 1942 Blenheim Z5597 departed Singapore to carry out a raid on Sungei Patani, Malaya. Storms were encountered one hour from Singapore and only one aircraft reached the target area. No news was heard from Z5597 and the aircraft did not return to base. It was later recorded that the missing crew members had no known graves.
The crew members of Z5597 were:
Sergeant Edgar Harold Brown (401024) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Petrus Helgard Hillebrand (580565) (RAF) (Observer)
Sergeant James Ellis Smith (402905) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
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, 163/93/364