FLYING CROSS
WANGANUI AIRMAN
Advice has been received by Air Headquarters, Wellington, that the Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded to Acting Flying Officer William Davenport Brown. His father is Mr. W. R. Brown, 23 Gonville Avenue, Wanganui. The official citation states:
"One night in March, 1941, as rear gunner of an aircraft returning from a bombing mission, Acting Flying Officer William Davenport Brown sighted a Messerschmitt 110 some 300 feet below his aircraft. Despite bad visibility he kept the enemy aircraft in sight. After a few minutes it climbed to the attack, but. by excellent judgment and marksmanship Flying Officer Brown fired three short bursts and the enemy fighter was seen to dive straight into the sea. On a previous occasion, when he identified an approaching aircraft as hostile, his instructions to the captain enabled him to manoeuvre his aircraft so that the ensuing fire went under the tail. Flying Officer Brown then used his fire to drive off the enemy aircraft, which left in a damaged condition." Flying Officer Brown was born in Wanganui in 1918, and was educated at the Wanganui Technical College.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19410430.2.106
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 100, 30 April 1941, Page 13
Word Count
186FLYING CROSS Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 100, 30 April 1941, Page 13
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