CAPT ERIC BROWN

摘要

On 17 September 1939, the captain of HMS Courageous ordered that his boat be turned into wind so its aircraft could take off. Unknowingly, he put himself across the bow of U29, lurking nearby under the Irish Sea. The U-boat captain seized the moment. Twenty minutes later, Courageous had sunk, leaving the Fleet Air Arm desperately short of pilots. A few days later a 20-year-old RAF officer saw a notice inviting pilots to transfer to the FAA to make up its shortfall. Champing at the bit for some action during the tedium of the 'phoney war', he volunteered. Thus began the naval flying career of Capt Eric Melrose Brown CBE DSC AFC RN.