Eighty years since his tragic death at the young age of only 29 the relatives of an airman killed when his plane was shot down in the Second World War are being urgently searched for in the Manchester areas of Withington and Chorlton.
Flight Sergeant Michael Vincent Browne was killed in 1941 when his plane, containing seven crew members, was tragically shot down near their village by one of our own night-fighters in a case of mis-identification.
The Parish Council of a village in Northamptonshire are searching for the relatives of the family who were last known living in the Withington and Chorlton areas of Manchester and the Parish Council.
They are hoping to be able to trace one or more of them as they prepare to erect a memorial to mark the 80th anniversary of the tragic event described as an ‘own goal’.
Chairman of Wollaston Parish Council, Councillor Lindsay Alvis was so touched when he heard the story he decided to erect the memorial in their honour.
He said: "Last summer I was walking along a farm track on the edge of the village when I met an old man coming the other way.
"During a socially distanced conversation he told me about a tragic incident concerning the loss of an RAF bomber with its seven crew, which crashed in the field next to where we were.
"I became very interested in this and quickly discovered that the incident is well documented as the bomber was shot down by one of our own night-fighters in a case of mis-identification.
"It happened in the early hours of June 22 1941.
"After some research and talking to friends a few members of the Community and I decided to raise a monument to these brave airmen who gave their lives on our doorstep. This will be dedicated on the 80 th anniversary of the crash which is on June 22 this year.
"So far we have traced relatives or people connected with four members of the crew but in the case of Flt Sgt Michael Browne, apart from knowing that his parents came from Manchester we have drawn a blank.
"We would therefore be grateful if we may please enlist your help in finding any of his family or relatives”.
The plane, an Avro Manchester of 207 Squadron based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire was one of seven detailed to bomb the docks in Boulogne on the night of 21/22 June 1941.
Each carried 12x500lb general purpose bombs and they took-off between 1am and 1.42am
Approximately three hours later, at around 4.20am, six aircraft returned.
The squadron operations record book records the fate of the missing aircraft:
“Waddington. 22/6/41 It was learnt that an aircraft that had been shot down by a Beaufighter at approximately 01.55 hrs. near Wollaston, Northants was our missing Manchester L7314 (‘Y’). Traces of five bodies were found and the identity tag of Sgt James. (The Manchester carried a crew of seven). The aircraft was outward bound on track at about 6000 ft. It crashed in flames after the attack and some of the bombs exploded.”
The night fighter involved was from 25 Squadron based at RAF Wittering in Northamptonshire.
The accident investigation noted that its pilot had been convinced the aircraft intercepted was hostile, and that this had resulted in his failure to correctly identify it.
He had been influenced by the sector controller who had informed him that a bandit was in vicinity, and subsequently a portion of the blame went to ground control for the part they played in the identification process.
There was intruder activity that night as another Beaufighter from 25 Squadron shot down a Ju88 near Market Deeping so it was L7314’s misfortune to have been passing during the alert.
Flight Sgt Michael Vincent Browne's parents, Henry and Alice Browne are shown in the 1939 Register as living in Withington. There also appears to have been a sister living in Chorlton.
Despite extensive research Wollaston Parish Council have been unable to discover any further details about the family, whether there were other children or whether either parent had any siblings. If they did there may be Great Nephews or Great Nieces still living.
Wollaston Parish Council would like to hear from anyone who knows of any relatives of Flight Sergeant Browne and asks that they contact the Parish Clerk, Debra Styles at: clerk@wollastonparishcouncil.gov.uk
