The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (423075) Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne, No. 189 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (423075) Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne, No. 189 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

423075 Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne, No. 189 Squadron, Royal Air Force
KIA 5 January 1945
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 14 July 2015

Today we pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne, who was killed in the service of the Royal Air Force in 1945.

Born in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool on 26 May 1921, Maxwell Browne was the son of Eric James Browne and Vera Gladys Browne.

Maxwell Browne attended Auburn Public School and Sydney Tech High School. A keen sportsman, he played football and tennis. Unemployed at the time of his enlistment in the Royal Australian Air Force in December 1941, Browne had previously worked as an assistant in a grocer’s shop.

Upon joining the RAAF he began training as a wireless operator, and in September 1942 embarked for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Browne was one of almost 27,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force squadrons in Britain throughout the course of the war.

Upon arriving in Britain via Canada in December 1943, Browne undertook further specialist training before eventually being posted to No. 189 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in November 1944. As part of Bomber Command the squadron was equipped with the four-engine Avro Lancaster heavy bomber.

On the night of 4 January Browne took part in a raid on the west coast of France. After successfully attacking the target, the Lancaster in which Browne was wireless operator collided with another aircraft, and crashed near the French city of Cognac.

Browne and five of his British crewmates were killed in the crash. Only one managed to parachute to safety. All men aboard the second Lancaster were killed. Their bodies recovered, Browne and his crewmates were buried in Cognac Crouin Communal Cemetery. Browne was 23 years of age.

At the funeral service a large crowd of locals, as well as civil, military, and religious representatives, came to pay their respects. Also present was the lone survivor from Browne’s Lancaster.

At the service, General Édouard Corniglion-Molinier, Commander of the French Air Force, who had also served in the RAF, made a speech by the graveside, saying that the names of those killed in the crash would be long remembered:

The fact that today were present, among this huge crowd, religious, civil and military personalities, shows the gratefulness and comprehension of the French people and their political and spiritual leaders.

As in the sands of the Far East, tombs can be found of crusaders who have given their lives for their faith, so the earth of France will religiously keep the tombs of those now crusaders in dignity, liberty and peace.

The commander of No. 189 Squadron wrote to Browne’s family of the young wireless operator:

I had a high opinion of his abilities and enthusiasm, and I am very sorry indeed to have lost his services in this way. We all miss him personally. I should also like to assure you how much we all honour the gallant sacrifice your son has made, so far from his own country, in the cause of freedom and in the service of the British Commonwealth of nations.

Browne’s name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 Australians who died serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.

Dr Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section