{"id":172937,"date":"2023-03-23T22:06:54","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T22:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=172937"},"modified":"2023-03-23T22:06:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T22:06:54","slug":"video-link-set-up-for-funeral-of-pilot-of-the-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/video-link-set-up-for-funeral-of-pilot-of-the-caribbean\/","title":{"rendered":"Video link set up for funeral of &apos;Pilot of the Caribbean&apos;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Appeal to find mourners to attend funeral for WWII &#8216;Pilot of the Caribbean&#8217; who died alone with no known family has been so successful that live video-link is being set up in the 140 capacity chapel<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Peter Brown, 96, one of the last &#8216;Pilots of the Caribbean&#8217;, died on December 17<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&#8216;Humble&#8217; flight sergeant Brown died alone at London flat with no known family<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An appeal to find people to attend the funeral of a WWII pilot who died with no known family\u00a0 has been so successful, organisers have been forced to provide a video feed of the service.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>TheSS search was launched after retired Flight Sergeant Peter Brown died alone aged 96 in Maida Vale, west London, without any known family. Mr Brown was a &#8216;pilot of the Caribbean&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Westminster Council, the Royal Air Force and history enthusiasts teamed up to ensure he has a send-off &#8216;befitting his importance&#8217; at Mortlake Crematorium next week.<\/p>\n<p>Defence Secretary Ben Wallace plus MPs Johnny Mercer and Tom Tugendhat also tweeted their support in the search for his family.<\/p>\n<p>Flight Sergeant Brown left his native Jamaica to enlist in the RAF in 1943, training as a wireless operator and air gunner before serving on Lancaster bombers during WWII.<\/p>\n<p>The proud veteran later worked for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and became a popular community figure in Maida Vale, but sadly passed away at the end of last year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/03\/23\/09\/69022843-11893667-image-a-4_1679562691841.jpg\" height=\"843\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Peter Brown, 96, was one of the last so-called &#8216;Pilots of the Caribbean&#8217;, who served for the RAF on Lancaster Bombers.<\/p>\n<p>Due to Flt Sgt Brown having no known family members, a group of neighbours began a campaign to invite well-wishers to pay their respects at a &#8216;dignified&#8217; service to commemorate his long life later this month.<\/p>\n<p>The call was taken up by both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who honoured the forgotten &#8216;Pilot of the Caribbean&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Now the veteran&#8217;s story has now been so widely shared that funeral directors are worried the service will be &#8216;oversubscribed&#8217;- and urged only those who knew him to attend whilst inviting others to attend via an online video link.<\/p>\n<p>Funeral directors W Sherry and Sons say they&#8217;ve been so overwhelmed with requests to attend the service that they have set up a live link to allow the well-wishers they can&#8217;t fit into the 140-capacity chapel to pay their respects.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/03\/23\/09\/69022833-11893667-image-a-3_1679562682653.jpg\" height=\"938\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>In 1943, and at the age of 17, Flt Sgt Brown volunteered from Jamaica, and after training as a wireless operator and air gunner,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/03\/23\/09\/69022819-11893667-image-a-1_1679562668906.jpg\" height=\"418\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Neighbours and locals remembered Flt Sgt Brown as a &#8216;true gentlemen&#8217; and a &#8216;kind man&#8217; who was always smartly dressed<\/p>\n<p>Peter Sutton, director of the funeral, added: &#8216;The service has grown an awful lot of legs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s the biggest funeral we have ever done, and trying to keep track of it is amusing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There are quite a lot of dignitaries due to attend, from the Jamaican High Commission to the Assitant Chief of the Air Staff.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But there is a funeral before and one after Peter Brown&#8217;s, and we don&#8217;t want the whole of West London to become gridlocked with well-wishers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We only have so many seats in the chapel, and were are hoping Peter&#8217;s neighbours and people who knew him will be in attendance, as well as dignitaries.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Julian Futter lived opposite &#8216;stubborn&#8217; Flt Sgt Brown for more than four decades and was one of a small group of neighbours who banded together to ensure he received the send-off he deserved.<\/p>\n<p>The 70-year-old said of his neighbour: &#8216;We just wanted to make sure that Peter would be given the respect he deserves.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He was fiercely independent, and stubborn as well; always friendly and a very proud person.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I lived opposite him for 40 years. He knew my children and I even once introduced him to one of my grandchildren, who was interested in aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Peter took the time to speak with him about his experiences in the RAF.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He was a really decent, good person who always had time to talk to people.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He never spoke much about his experiences in the RAF &#8211; he was very modest like that and never boasted.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Flt Sgt Brown, then 17, enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve in September of 1943, as one of 6,000 volunteers from the Caribbean who enlisted to serve with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Airforce during WWII.<\/p>\n<p>The RAF acknowledge that he may have travelled from Jamaica prior to presenting before the Aircrew Selection Board, which he passed later on September 19, which they say was &#8216;possibly at his own expense&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He and 11 other young volunteers, who paid for their own journey to Britain, trained to become a Wireless Operator and Air Gunner, before being posted to 625 Squadron at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire &#8211; home to the famous Dambusters squadron &#8211; where he flew on Lancaster bombers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Peter was proud to have served in the bomber command on the same airfield as The Dambusters squadron,&#8217; Mr Futter recalls.<\/p>\n<h3>Who were the &#8216;Pilots of the Caribbean&#8217;?\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>During the First World War, African-Caribbean volunteers joined Britain&#8217;s armed forces, including the new flying services.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Around 15,600 black volunteers joined the British West Indies Regiment, and these battalions served in France, Palestine, Egypt and Italy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When war broke out with Nazi Germany, the RAF began recruiting for aircrew and around 6,000 black Caribbean men volunteered for the RAF, 5,500 as ground staff and some 450 as aircrew.<\/p>\n<p>Another 80 women joined the Women&#8217;s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The largest Caribbean contingent came from Jamaica, and in February 1945 there were over 3,700 Jamaicans in air force blue.<\/p>\n<p>After the war, the black volunteers returned to the Caribbean and Africa, while some came to Britain and are known as the Windrush Generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>Source: RAF Museum\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After the war, he continued to serve in the RAF in Palestine, Tripoli, Egypt and Malta, before going to work for the MOD and his local county council.<\/p>\n<p>Cricket-mad Flt Sgt Brown was also a member of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1986 to 2016 and often went to watch games at the nearby Lord&#8217;s Cricket Ground &#8211; just a half mile from his home.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Futter says he tried to get the RAF to contact Flt Sgt Brown after he had suffered some falls last year, but the service said he would have to contact them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I contacted the RAF Benevolent Society about him last year after Peter had had a couple of falls,&#8217; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I said it would be nice if someone, preferably from his squadron, would contact him to see how he was or just talk to him, but they said they couldn&#8217;t do it unless they got a request from Peter himself.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There was no chance Peter would call them himself. No one from the RAF contacted him, sadly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But now they talk about him* I think it would&#8217;ve meant a lot to him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I suspect that would be the case for a number of veterans who have served their country; they are less likely to ask for help.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I think it&#8217;s more pertinent, Peter being one of the last of that extraordinary generation of West Indian people who came to this country to help make it what it is today.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Peter tipified that. Sadly, the word hero is so overused these days, but this is a man who put his life at risk for the service of the country.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The casualty rates for the bomber command were awful: something like 55,000 airmen died in bomber command during the Second World War.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Their lives could be measured in months or weeks. It was terribly dangerous work, and yet here&#8217;s a man who volunteered to serve in it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I never knew any of his family. To the best of my knowledge, I don&#8217;t think he was in touch with any of his family.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s good that people want to go to his funeral. It&#8217;s what we wanted for him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We wanted him to have a dignified service that would commemorate his life.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Flt Sgt Brown died peacefully on December 17 last year in his sleep, and his funeral later this month is now set to be thronged with those looking to pay their respects to the veteran.<\/p>\n<p>Even PM Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted their support for &#8216;selfless&#8217; Flt Sgt Brown&#8217;s service.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Sunak claimed he had arranged for an RAF trumpeter to attend the funeral &#8211; though neighbours say they had already organised for an RAF bugle player to play at the service.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Sunak wrote: &#8216;Flight Sergeant Brown is an example of the selfless contribution of all Commonwealth personnel who have served the RAF.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I hope that the nation gets behind this campaign.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We&#8217;ve also arranged for a RAF trumpeter to attend the funeral, alongside a senior RAF officer.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Sir Keir Starmer wrote: &#8216;Flt Sgt Brown&#8217;s exceptional and selfless service to our country will not be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Commonwealth personnel defended our freedom and kept us safe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;m pleased to see his service being recognised by his community.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the RAF added: &#8216;Flight Sergeant Brown is an example of the selfless contribution of all Commonwealth personnel who have served throughout the RAF&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We should never forget their sacrifices which have defended our freedom and kept us safe.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-11896253\/Video-link-set-funeral-Pilot-Caribbean.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Appeal to find mourners to attend funeral<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":172936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23056],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Video link set up for funeral of &amp;apos;Pilot of the Caribbean&amp;apos; 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