Years of service 1914 to 1949 Service/branch Royal Air Force Name Leslie Brown Rank Air vice-marshal | Role RAF officer Allegiance United Kingdom Died June 28, 1978 | |
 | ||
Born 11 July 1893
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa ( 1893-07-11 ) Commands held No. 20 Sqn
No 50 (Army Co-operation) Wing
84 Group Awards KCB - 1 Jan 1948
CB - 1 Jan 1945
CBE - 24 Sep 1941
DSC - 15 Jun 1917
AFC - 3 Jun 1919
MiD - 26 Jun 1931, 6 May 1932, 11 Jun 1942
King Haakon VII Liberty Cross - 12 Apr 1949 | ||
Sir Leslie Oswald Brown KCB CBE DSC AFC was a South African who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in both World Wars, attaining the rank of Air Vice Marshal.
Brown served in East Africa, the Middle East and the United Kingdom. His first years were with the Royal Naval Air Service, before that was absorbed into the newly formed RAF.
He commanded 84 Group as a temporary Air Vice Marshal during the allied advance across north west Europe, assigned to support the 1st Canadian Army's operations. His staff established extremely close operational contacts with their army opposite numbers, but this was not to the liking of his superior, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham and he was replaced in November, 1944.
He was appointed Commandant of the School of Land/Air Warfare later in 1944 and reverted to his substantive rank of Air Commodore.
Brown was promoted to Air Vice Marshal in October 1946, retired from the RAF on 23 January 1949 and died on 28 June 1978.