Roy Brown

[fitzee]

I recently had the chance to read the letters of Roy Brown archived at the National War Museum in Ottawa

Brown was a prolific writer and wrote to his family as much as he could. The letters chronicle this mans facinating career.They tell the story of two best friends Stearne Edwards and Roy Brown who learn to fly at the Wright Brothers school They go off on "the great adventure" and find themselves in the horrors of the airwar over France surrounded by death.

Roy was plagued with health problems. He had injured his back playing hockey and had also survived a bad crash during training at Chingford. He was in the hospital with food poisoning during "Bloody April" 1917 and that might have saved his life

Roy survived a year at the front He flew many Patrols and had downed several enemy machines As a flight leader he was very respected and well liked by his men He had the reputation of looking after new pilots and making sure they were well oriented before they went on a patrol. In fact, the day of the Richthofen fight he was trying to distract the Baron from shooting down Wilfred May who was a novice pilot on his second patrol

In a letter to his father Roy was certain he had killed Richthofen. After looking at the Barons body he wrote"What I saw that day really shook me up, I left with a lump in my throat,if he had been my dearest friend I could not have felt greater sorrow"

Roy was almost killed in a crash at the end of the war and was in the hospital when he got the news that

Stearne Edwards was killed in a flying accident One of the last letters, witten with shakey hands, talks about how sorry he is for Stearnes mom

There is no question Roy came home from war a very different man.He refused to comment on Richthofen, he felt he had killed the man and wanted to forget about it. His family said he never talked about it

Fitzee

[EdStevens]

In a letter to his father Roy was certain he had killed Richthofen.

Fitzee

I'm curious as to the specifics of the above -- do you have a quote from the letter? Not regarding his reaction to the body, which I have read in other sources, but about his certainty of having killed Richthofen. Brown remained closed-mouthed about the incident after the war, as you note. The debate about who shot down MvR will never be solved, but part of the debate is fueled by virtually no statements from Brown supporting his claim other than the combat report, which is itself controversial because the RAF wanted to claim Richthofen so badly.

[fitzee]

From a letter to his father dated April 27 1918

...It was rather funny about Richthofen being shot down. The infantry on the ground the anti-aircraft and an Australian squadron put in reports that they had shot him down. All reports differed. They had a medical examination on the body and it was found they were all wrong without the slightest doubt. It is a terrible thing when you think of it that they should examine a body to see who should have the credit of killing him. What I saw that day shook me up quite a lot as it was the first time I have seen a man whom I know I had killed. If you don't shoot them they will shoot you so it has to be done. Shall write again soon.

Love to all

Roy

[EdStevens]

Thanks! Ironic that Brown states that the medical examination (there were actually two) left no doubt that he had killed von Richthofen. Today it is that same medical evidence that is used to show that he couldn't possibly have done it. Go figure.

[fitzee]

Yes, Roy was quite convinced he had killed Richthofen and seeing the body must have had a profound effect on him. Roy came from a very religious upper class family. He didn't drink or curse. He must have lived with a certain amount of guilt for the rest of his life and this might explain his "no comment" stance on the subject.

Shortly after writing that letter he collapsed after a patrol and was sent to England never to fly combat again.

Stearne Edwards was releaved from the squadron shortly afterward with battle fatigue.

A few months later as instructors in England,Stearne watched in horror as Roy's Camel clipped some telegraph lines

Its possible Roy had fainted at the controls

The Camel nosedived into the ground and Roy was pronounced dead at the scene. Stearne noticed some signs of life in his friend and convinced the doctor to save him

It was recovering from this accident that Roy received the news that Stearne had crashed on Armistice Day

Stearne Edwards died ten days later

[Adrian Roberts]

Roy Brown certainly seems to be an underrated hero who fought his own demons of ill-health all his life, and flew and fought despite pain that would put most of us in bed. He died in 1944, aged only about 50.

Ironically, von Richthofen also carried on despite suffering headaches and nausea following his head wound of July 1917, and suffered increasingly from depression. It has been said that both men should have been certified as unfit to fly by April 1918, and in later wars they would have been.

[fitzee]

Your absolutely correct Adrian.Roy died of a heart attack in 1944 at the age of 50 but he never fully regained his health after the war. He had problems with his breathing and most certainly his back and his family was convinced his early death was a result of his war injuries. He did try to reenlist during the outbreak of WW2

but was declined because of his age. His last public appearance was a photo op with"ace" George Beurling,I've been trying to locate the photo with no success,if anybody has a copy please let me know

Fitzee

[MikeW]

Brown actually died of a cerebral haemorrhage on the 9th March 1944, not a heart attack.

His early death was probably due to Syphilis, the treatment for which resulted in his being admitted to Naval Hospitals during 1916 and 1917. His family are still not aware of this - the new biography "the life and times of Artur Roy Brown", due out from the late Alan Bennett will state that he was in hospital with tonsillitis - Alan was, of course, fully aware of the real reason but wanted to spare the family's feelings. He actually urged me to not to go into print with the truth in my work on Naval 9.

If anyone is worried about the Syphillis comment above, I have repeated nothing that is not in the official public domain (if you know where to look)

[mickdavis]

Edwards died in Pup B4181 while serving with 38 TDS at Tadcaster. 38 TDS was intended to turn out stationary-engine scout pilots, with an official establishment of SE5as and Avros but had some Pups on charge.

Brown went to 2 Fighting School at Marske and made a real mess of Camel C175. As the attached photo shows, he was lucky to survive,

[fitzee]

Mike

The syphillis angle is certainly quite interesting...I don't think it would worry anyone. As you know, Syphillis was a huge problem during both world wars.Let's face it, there's a lot Grampa didn't tell us about when asked what he did in the war! Syphillis would explain alot of Browns ongoing physical problems as the treatment was mercury or strychnine based, or at best, Salvarsan, which was arsenic based.There is no doubt the stresses of combat flying in WW1 would problably exasperate the condition. I wasn't trying to whitewash Roy Brown by any means,and this fact adds to the tragedy of his story. He was a young man involved in a very dangerous occupation and living in extraordinary times. Perhaps acquiring this ailement also contributed to guilty feelings about what he had participated in during the war,who knows why he refused to comment later in life. I was very surprised that Alan Bennett had this information and wanted to spare the feelings of the family [He was working with Brown's daughter on the project}.As a historian of his caliber, it dosen't make any sense to change facts when writing a biography, no matter whose feelings are involved.in fact, Alan he had a bone to pick with many authors who had written about the death of Richthofen with embellishments and the glamorization of facts. And tonsillitis! Alan, rest in peace, but you let me down man!

Brown of course made no mention of syphillis in his letters to home, unless he subconsciously did when he told his parents he got sick eating "bad rabbit". Besides ,maybe he caught it from a dirty toilet seat...

Fitzee

[fitzee]

P.S... who knows what was going on in the Rittmeisters pants with creepy Hermann Goering lurking around the barracks at night in his flying boots and garter belt

Richthofen did die wearing pink pajamas !

Fitzee

[Adrian Roberts]

His early death was probably due to Syphilis, the treatment for which resulted in his being admitted to Naval Hospitals during 1916 and 1917. His family are still not aware of this

I hope they're not reading this, then! Especially as syphilis can be passed onto children - congenital syphilis. But as Fitzee says, we needn't think any the less of him. The mental torture as well as the physical discomfort would be another burden for him to carry.

Richthofen did die wearing pink pajamas !

Did he?!! Where did he pin the Blue Max? I think I would have slept in my uniform if I was going on Dawn Patrol!

Adrian

[fitzee]

All joking aside, This is a doctors quote from an article on the the history of salvarsan which was developed in 1909 to treat syphilis and illustrates the seriousness of the disease, You might find this of interest

"Despite the availability of a specific cure, and the use of the Wassermann test for diagnosis, syphilis was a major problem affecting the health of soldiers on the Western Front; I recall treating an aged lady in 1986 who had developed a manifestation of tertiary syphilis. Her primary infection, in 1919, of which she was unaware, was from her husband who had returned to Australia from the Western Front."

Fitzee

[freddy1918]

Not only syphillis either. I've done a it of research on another prolific pilot and his medical recorded is stuffed full of repeated references to VD. I'm guessing that was even more of a problem.