In early 1943, Lt. Robert L. Brown was a B-24 bomber copilot on a temporary duty assignment with the 8th Air Force, based in the U.K., temporarily detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force in North Africa.



While on a bombing run on the sea port at Bizerte, Tunisia, Lt. Brown, in the B-24-D-10-CO, 41-23909, Ambrose II, and his fellow pilots, flew their B-24Ds in close to their target for a more precise bomb run and began taking hits from the German flak guns defending the port, wounding two of his gunners. After their bomb run, they were attacked by German fighters and took more hits from the fighters' cannons, and took a hit to a gasoline line. Pilot Lt. John Roche, Lt. Brown, and the crew escaped the area, but they knew they could not make it back home to Benghazi, in their crippled airplane with a major fuel leak, failing to return to base, (FTR). Lt. Roche asked the crew over the plane's intercom for their preferences, whether they wanted to bail out, or try for a wheels up landing on the Algerian desert in deference to their badly wounded gunners, who could not bail out. The crew elected to try the very dangerous landing attempt. The pilots made a crash landing on the desert in the dark, causing their B-24 to break up on the rough ground they hit, upon landing, and were stranded on the Algerian desert. The crew spent a long cold night shooting at native Algerians, protecting the plane from the armed natives, who wanted to strip the plane and the two dead gunners, who did not survive the rough landing. 2 KIA. 8 RTS. 13 December 1942.



Later, Lt. "Bob" Brown was killed in Action (KIA) . He and his crew, flying the B-24D, Celhalopdos, B-24-D-1-CO, 41-23675, still detached (TDY) to the 9th Air Force, at Benina Air Base, Libya, were shot down down over Naples, Italy, with no survivors. 10 KIA. 15 Feb 43.



~ Lt. Robert Brown's Awards :



Distinguished Flying Cross - Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters - World War II Victory Medal - European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 Bronze Star - Purple Heart