Arthur Roy Brown, DSC & Bar

Arthur Roy Brown, DSC & Bar, was born on 23 Dec 1893, in Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada. He was the middle of five children, his father worked at a power company he had founded. He did well in school, and attended business school with the intention of eventually taking over the family business. Unfortunately it was not to be, he failed to graduate Secondary School. From 1913 to 1915 he attended Victoria High School in Edmonton, where he befriended Wilfrid May.

In 1915 Brown joined the Army Officers Training in the hopes of joining the RNAS. He proceeded to Dayton Ohio where he received his Flight Training in Nov of 1915. On 15 Nov ’15 he was confirmed a Flying Officer of the RNAS. On 22 Nov ’15 he travelled to England where he underwent further training. It was there while flying an Avro 504 in Training he crashed. Emerging from the wreck he claimed to be fine, but waking the next day he was in horrible pain and it was discovered he had broken a vertebra in his back. For the next two months he recovered while others continued training. September ’16 he was posted to Gunnery Training School, and Advanced Training School in Jan ’17.

By Mar ’17 he was posted to No. 9 Squadron RNAS flying Sopwith Pup’s. His Squadron was assigned to assist in the Battle of Arras but Brown fell seriously ill and missed the entire month of April recovering. Luck was with him as this was ‘Bloody April’ and his illness probably saved his life.

In June ’17 he was assigned to No. 11 Squadron flying the Pup, it was there he achieved his first kill an Albatros D.III. He then claimed a further three kills in quick succession. By Mid-August No. 11 Squadron was disbanded and the pilots returned to No. 9 Squadron now flying the Sopwith Camel. In October he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. Shortly after he was again promoted this time to Flight Commander a role he excelled at. 

Early 1918 No. 9 Squadron was posted to the Somme, just in time for the German Spring Offensive which forced the allied to retreat, but flying operations continued and flights were often two per day. By April his commander noted that Brown had lost 25 pounds, his hair had turned grey, and his eyes were bloodshot and sunken. He became ill after eating contaminated Rabbit meat and against recommendations continued to fly. He shot down two more enemy craft during this time, one on 11 April, and a second on the 12th.

No. 9 Squadron was redesignated No. 209 Squadron in April of 1918 and Brown continued to fly. On 21 April, 209 Squadron was flying a combat patrol when they were engaged by Jagdstaffel 11, the famed “Flying Circus” led by Manfred Von Richthofen. By this point Brown’s friend Wilifred May, from his Edmonton School days had joined 209 Squadron, and had been ordered to stay clear of the combat and observe.  While steering clear May noticed a German pilot doing the same thing. May decided to engage this enemy craft as that pilot would be as inexperienced as he was. That German Craft was flown by Wolfram Von Richthofen cousin of the Red Baron who had been told to remain out of the combat.

May was soon dragged into the main melee and fired as his guns came to bear on whatever he saw. His guns jammed and he soon found a Fokker Dr.1 all red Triplane on his tail. He dove steeply barely pulling out before hitting the ground, but the Triplane remained on his tail in pursuit. Brown saw his friend in trouble and dove in pursuit firing on the Red Baron to drive him away from May.

The air battle drifted over allied lines and it was here that the Red Baron met his end. It is disputed who fired the fatal shot, ground troops of Australia are now the favoured theory. Brown was credited with the victory by the RAF.

Nine days later Brown was grounded and sent to Hospital with Influenza and nervous exhaustion. In June he was posted to flight school as an instructor. On 15 July he was involved in a serious air crash and spent the next 5 months in recovery. In 1919 he left the RAF and returned home to Canada where he worked as an accountant in a small grocery store. In 1928 he founded a small airline, General Airways. 

In 1939 he applied to rejoin the RCAF and was refused. He instead entered politics and lost his election race in 1943. He purchased a farm near Stouffville, Ontario where he lived out the rest of his days. Brown suffered a massive heart attack on 9 March 1944 at the age of 50. He had recently posed for a photo with George Beurling Canada’s top Ace of WW2. He is buried in the Toronto Necropolis with his wife Edythe.