Lot Essay
D.S.M. London Gazette 6.5.1941. Recommendation states 'Able Seaman Brown was A./S. Operator throughout the whole of the long hunt and contributed most materially to the successful outcome'.
Mention in Despatches London Gazette 8.7.1941 'For courage and enterprise in action with an enemy Submarine'.
Able Seaman Robert James William Brown, D.S.M., who was Decorated for his part in the destruction of the U-70 on 7.3.1941 and Mentioned in Despatches for similar services on the occasion of the destruction of the U-76 on 4.4.1941 when he formed part of a Boarding Party (Seedie's Roll of Naval Honours and Awards 1939-1959 refers), was still aboard the Corvette H.M.S. Arbutus when she was torpedoed in the North Atlantic in February 1942 and went down with over 40 hands - Brown was lucky to be picked up in one of her lifeboats.
The Arbutus's first success in March 1941 had been executed in liaison with another Corvette, H.M.S. Camelia and the Destroyers Wolverine and Verity, the whole comprising the Escort Group for North Atlantic Convoy OB 203. The Convoy was attacked by four U-Boats on 7 March, including the U-99 and U-47, both captained by Aces, the latter by Gunther Prien, the man responsible for the destruction of the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow. In the subsequent depth-charge attack carried out by the Arbutus and Camelia, one of the U-Boats, the U-70, was forced to the surface and sunk. In the meantime the two Destroyers also met with success and took out Gunther Prien in the U-47. Although on this occasion the U-99 evaded Brown's Escort Group, she was successfully engaged on 17 March by another, and her Captain and Ace, Otto Kretschmer, taken P.O.W. So too was the U-100, the Command of yet another Ace, the ten day period marking a turning point in the fortunes of the Battle of the Atlantic. Brown received his D.S.M. at an Investiture held in November 1941.
Mention in Despatches London Gazette 8.7.1941 'For courage and enterprise in action with an enemy Submarine'.
Able Seaman Robert James William Brown, D.S.M., who was Decorated for his part in the destruction of the U-70 on 7.3.1941 and Mentioned in Despatches for similar services on the occasion of the destruction of the U-76 on 4.4.1941 when he formed part of a Boarding Party (Seedie's Roll of Naval Honours and Awards 1939-1959 refers), was still aboard the Corvette H.M.S. Arbutus when she was torpedoed in the North Atlantic in February 1942 and went down with over 40 hands - Brown was lucky to be picked up in one of her lifeboats.
The Arbutus's first success in March 1941 had been executed in liaison with another Corvette, H.M.S. Camelia and the Destroyers Wolverine and Verity, the whole comprising the Escort Group for North Atlantic Convoy OB 203. The Convoy was attacked by four U-Boats on 7 March, including the U-99 and U-47, both captained by Aces, the latter by Gunther Prien, the man responsible for the destruction of the Royal Oak at Scapa Flow. In the subsequent depth-charge attack carried out by the Arbutus and Camelia, one of the U-Boats, the U-70, was forced to the surface and sunk. In the meantime the two Destroyers also met with success and took out Gunther Prien in the U-47. Although on this occasion the U-99 evaded Brown's Escort Group, she was successfully engaged on 17 March by another, and her Captain and Ace, Otto Kretschmer, taken P.O.W. So too was the U-100, the Command of yet another Ace, the ten day period marking a turning point in the fortunes of the Battle of the Atlantic. Brown received his D.S.M. at an Investiture held in November 1941.