Stories
Stories
Parents’ Heartache and Pride: Sending Their Sons to War
As war clouds darkened the world in the late 1930s and early 1940s, thousands of young New Zealand men answered the call to serve. For their parents, watching a beloved son stand tall in uniform, ready to embark on this journey into the unknown, must have stirred a mixture of pride and trepidation. Accompanying every farewell was a silent hope that they would one day see him return safely from a war that would reshape their world forever. Sadly, for many, that day would never come.
Hugh Stainger Brown with his parents, Alan and Ada Brown
The circumstances of the time came into sharp relief when we uncovered this photo of Hugh Stainger Brown (NZ404527) standing proudly with parents, Alan and Ada Brown at Dunsandel before he left for service. What must each of them been thinking?
A salesman from Christchurch, Brown applied for enlistment as aircrew on 17 January 1940 and enlisted later that year at the RNZAF’s Initial Training Wing, Levin on 24 November 1940. Just seven weeks later (on 6 January 1941), he embarked to Canada for training as an Observer.
On 26 May 1941 he received his Air Observer Badge and was promoted to Sergeant. Next month he transferred to Nova Scotia for embarkation to the UK. Arriving on 19 July he was posted to No.19 OTU at Kinloss Scotland. Here he crewed up, and trained on Whitley’s before his eventual operational posting to
No.51 Sq. at Dishforth, Yorkshire in December 1941.
Little more than a year from arriving at Levin he was on ops.
Sgt. Brown was in a Whitley bomber on the night of 26/27 January 1942 that failed to return from operations to Emden, Germany. They were shot down by a night-fighter, over the North Sea possibly off Schiermonnikoog, Friesland. The five crew members are all missing in action and are commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial. Hugh Brown was 24.
Another family forever affected by loss.
Two other New Zealanders from 51 Sq., were killed in the same operation, Captain Harvey Grut (NZ404866) and 2nd Pilot Robert Hamilton (NZ41328) were both in Whitley Z9315/V. Theirs was one of two aircraft on the raid detailed to carry leaflets rather than bombs, a so-called nickel raid.
Reference:
E W Martyn. For Your Tomorrow Vol 1.
RNZAF Biographies of Deceased Personnel: 1939 – 1945