LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Robert Nodin Plessay BROWN
Service No: 418053
Born: Wahroonga NSW, 27 December 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit Oxford aircraft IL218), Somerset, 2 August 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Bristol (Greenbank) Cemetery, Gloucestershire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of the Revd. Clifton Plessay Brown and Emma Nodin Brown, of Sorrento, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Eltham VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 1 August 1943, Oxford IL218 was detailed to carry out a solo overshoot at night. The aircraft had touched down between two flare paths, and then opened up, climbed to approximately 500 feet, and the aircraft stalled and dived, crashing just after midnight at Quarry Farm, Wrington, Somerset and Sergeant Brown was killed. It was considered possible that a single engine failure had occurred but there was not sufficient evidence to confirm this. It was also considered that the Pilot had been unable to maintain the aircraft in a controlled glide and that probably difficult weather conditions contributed.
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, 166/6/216