550 Squadron
F/Lt A W Browne and Crew
The usual F/Lt Browne crew (i.e. the men that all transferred into 550 Squadron as a crew) was:
- F/L A W Browne RCAF (P)
- F/Sgt W J Broom (F/Eng)
- F/O E G Smith RCAF (Nav)
- F/Sgt W B Reid (A/B)
- F/O C G Hetherington RCAF (W/Op)
- Sgt J Regan (MU/AG)
- Sgt S Sorsby (R/AG)
However the following crewman flew one or two ops as a replacement W/Op with this crew:
F/L Browne and Crew
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F/Lt A W Brown DFC (RCAF) and crew
Left-to-Right: F/Lt Browne, F/O Smith, F/Sgt Reid, F/Sgt Broom, F/O Hetherington, Sgt Regan, Sgt Sorsby Picture courtesy of Mark Simpson |
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F/Lt A W Brown DFC (RCAF) and crew (3/45 - 6/45)
Back Row, L-to-R: F/Sgt Broom, Sgt Regan, (?), F/Sgt Reid, Sgt Sorsby(?) Front row, L-To-R: F/O Hetherington, F/Lt Browne, F/O Smith |
F/LT Browne was awarded the DFC following a raid on Plauen in April 1945 when, despite the loss of one engine on the outbound leg, he pressed home the attack and then suffered the loss of a second engine on the return flight. See the London Gazette, 5th June 1945 for the full citation. The citation is also mentioned in the April 1945 squadron record.
Dare We Forget
A book written by Ontario man Russell Slaughter, called "Dare We Forget", relates stories about veterans of WWII. Alan Coxwell wrote a story for the book about Art Browne, called "The Man Behind A Distinguised Flying Cross".
[Thanks to Sue Browne for this.]
Log Books
Below are a number of pages from the 550 Squadron air-crew log book of F/O Grant Hetherington, showing various live operations during 1945, training exercises and food-drop operations over The Netherlands.
| Photo (large) | Description |
|---|---|
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Live ops and cross-country bombing and air-tests
Photo kindly made available by Rick Hetherington (son of W/Op Grant Hetherington) |
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Live ops and Operation Manna (food drops)
See the detail entered for the Plauen raid, and the note in pencil recording the award of DFC to the pilot for the raid Photo kindly made available by Rick Hetherington (son of W/Op Grant Hetherington) |
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Operation Manna (food drops) and Operation Exodus (PoW repatriation).
Photo kindly made available by Rick Hetherington (son of W/Op Grant Hetherington) |
Station Narrative No. 16
This narrative, included in the Station Operational Record Book, is the report on the operation on 10/11 April 1945 when the crew had an eventful trip to Plauen, landing at Manston on return. Following this trip F/Lt Brown was awarded an immediate DFC:
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Browne crew, Plauen, 10/11 Apr 1945 |