Wing Commander Mark Henry Brown, (9 October 1911 – 12 November 1941), nicknamed Hilly, was the first Canadian pilot to become a

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

whilst serving with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. He also flew in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

and was killed in action in November 1941 over

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Early life

Brown was a son of Mr. and Mrs. S. T. Brown, of

Glenboro, Manitoba Glenboro is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Glenboro – South Cypress within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held village status prior to January 1, 2015. it is located about 80 km southeast of the City of Br ...

. Whilst working for the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

(the building occupied by the Bank pre-war still stands on Rosser Avenue) he learned to fly at the Brandon Flying club and, after passing the required medical, left Canada to join the RAF in May 1936.

RAF career

After completing his flight training,

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

Brown joined No. 1 Squadron in February 1937. He was promoted to flying officer in December 1938.

World War II

At the beginning of September 1939, Brown's squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On 23 November 1939, Brown was credited with half a kill of a

Dornier 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...

whilst flying a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

. During the

in early 1940, Brown was involved in heavy fighting and on 20 April 1940 he claimed his first confirmed kill on a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

. He became the first Canadian pilot to reach ace status (five confirmed kills) on 14 May 1940 by claiming another Messerschmitt 109 destroyed. It is claimed that he was also the first Allied pilot to fly a captured German aircraft – a Messerschmitt Bf 109 – flying it to Britain where it was evaluated. With the French surrender to the Germans, Brown came back to Britain and was shot down over

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

on 15 August 1940 but managed to bail out suffering only minor injuries. On 3 September 1940 Brown was promoted to flight lieutenant. In October 1941 he was posted to the Middle East.

Death

On 12 November 1941, along with Wing Commander Alexander Rabagliati, while operating from Malta, he led a strafing attack on the Italian airfield at Gela in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. During the attack, Brown's Hurricane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and his plane crashed at the airfield. A little while later, during a raid on Malta, an Italian aircraft dropped a message that Brown had been buried with full military honours. His record details 17 enemy aircraft destroyed and four shared kills.

Honours and awards

*30 July 1940 – Acting Flight Lieutenant Mark Henry Brown (37904) is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross *23 May 1941 – Acting Squadron Leader Mark Henry Brown DFC (37904), No. 1 Squadron, Royal Air Force, is awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to the Distinguished Flying Cross *12 January 1943 – Czechoslovak Military Cross to Acting Squadron Leader Mark Henry Brown, DFC (37904), Royal Air Force London Gazette 13 January 1943
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Mark Henry Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 1911 births 1941 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down People from Portage la Prairie Canadian aviators Canadian World War II pilots Canadian World War II flying aces Royal Air Force wing commanders Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) The Few Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II