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Guests traveled from all over the world to attend Peter Brown’s funeral.
London CNN –
Hundreds of people gathered at a London church on Thursday for the funeral of one of the last black Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots to fight in World War II.
Flight Sergeant Peter Brown, born in Jamaica in 1926, was one of the so-called “Pilots of the Caribbean”, a group of Afro-Caribbean RAF volunteers.
The veteran died alone at his home in London in December, aged 96, according to British news agency PA Media.
Brown’s funeral was held at St Clement Danes Church, used by the RAF as a memorial to those who had served, where his coffin was wrapped in the Union Flag in front of hundreds of guests.
The ceremony was originally intended to be modest, until a call from the local council to give the veteran a “more dignified farewell” was picked up by archivists and historians, which drew public attention.
Since the appeal was received, “a worldwide search has been conducted for his relatives and a number of leads have been followed up by parish officials and genealogists,” Westminster City Council said in a statement in April.
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Service members and veterans lined up to attend Brown’s funeral on May 25.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and MPs Tom Tugendhat and Johnny Mercer – who have each served in the military themselves – tweeted their support for the search for his family.
After the organizers were “inundated with requests to attend the service,” a new date and venue was agreed “to accommodate the very large number of well-wishers” that the appeal had reached.
“Precautions have been taken to ensure that Mr Brown receives a dignified farewell worthy of his life story,” Westminster Council said in a statement.
Hundreds of mourners answered the call, and many flew thousands of miles to pay their respects.
Brooke Alexander, a relative of Brown who was contacted during the appeal, traveled from Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, to attend the funeral.
“Flight Sergeant Brown is an example of the selfless contribution of all Commonwealth personnel who have served in the RAF’s history,” said an RAF spokesman.
Donald Campbell, 71, founder of The Forgotten Generations charity and former RAF pilot, told PA Media: “When I joined the Royal Air Force in the 1970s I had no idea there were Africans and Caribbeans like Peter Brown, who served in the world.” Second War.”
“I wish I had known about people like Peter because that would have given me the confidence to say: my ancestors fought for this country, some of them died, so I have a right to be here,” Campbell added news agency added.
“There are so many Peter Browns whose stories will benefit generations to come.”