The remarkable stroke of luck which allowed two families to rekindle a friendship lost in war

John Brown’s last recollection of his 22-year-old brother Walter was a visit he paid in Christmas 1944.
Alexandra Wood
By Alexandra Wood
Published 23rd Jan 2023, 05:00 GMT
Updated 23rd Jan 2023, 07:03 GMT

"He came over and took me down the lane on his shoulders to get some holly for Christmas,” said John Brown, who was just three at the time. "It's an event I will never forget. I can picture it now. He'd got his uniform on.

"Then a fortnight later all these people kept coming to the door to go and look at his coffin and I was bemused - I didn't know what it was for."

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The head boy at Tickhill Church of England School was only 17 when he joined up.

John Brown pictured with a photograph of his brother Flying Officer Walter Brown (right in the Photograph) and his friend Canadian Flying officer Lloyd Berry who were lost in a plane accident in France in World War 11, at his home at Tickhill, DoncasterJohn Brown pictured with a photograph of his brother Flying Officer Walter Brown (right in the Photograph) and his friend Canadian Flying officer Lloyd Berry who were lost in a plane accident in France in World War 11, at his home at Tickhill, Doncaster
John Brown pictured with a photograph of his brother Flying Officer Walter Brown (right in the Photograph) and his friend Canadian Flying officer Lloyd Berry who were lost in a plane accident in France in World War 11, at his home at Tickhill, Doncaster

Later in Clinton, Ontario, he met Lloyd Berry, when they trained together under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan - Walter as a navigator and Lloyd a pilot - prior to eventually being transferred to Britain.

By then the pair were good friends – Walter had met Lloyd’s family and when Lloyd was stationed in Britain he visited the family home in Doncaster.

However they became among the many casualties of war, when their Mosquito ran short of fuel and crashed just a few miles from their base in Surrey on January 15 1945, returning from a patrol over the Ardennes.

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After Walter’s death his grieving family tried to find out more from the War Department about what had happened but were never successful. They also lost touch with Lloyd's family in Canada.

Fast forward to last November when Elizabeth Smith was giving a talk about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to a group at St Mary’s Church, Tickhill. She decided to speak about Walter Brown, whose grave is near the entrance to the church.

After she finished speaking John, now 81, who was in the audience, put his hand up and said: "I’m Walter’s brother".

They visited Walter's grave and John told her he'd always longed to make contact with Lloyd’s family.

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An appeal on social media did the trick, with a Canadian contact of Elizabeth's doing a lot of research until he found the daughter of Lloyd’s cousin, Linda Trouten-Radford.

Linda, who has now been in touch with John Brown and his family, said her father had been a radar technician with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and served in England during the war.

An avid photographer, he’d spoken many times of Lloyd and their time in England. However they'd not known anything about Walter Brown. Lloyd is buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey and his name is listed in a book of remembrance in the Peace Tower of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada.

She said: "The crash that killed Lloyd hit Dad hard. I know he looked into the details of the crash and it was his sad task to relay the death back to the relatives back home. What a tragic end to a good friendship."

Despite the passing of the years, Walter remains on a pedestal for John, who's delighted to have been put in touch with Lloyd's family. He said: "He was the best thing to ever happen to the family."

Related topics:CanadaSurrey