Peter Brown

A packed St Clement Danes – the Central Church of the RAF – for Flight Sergeant Peter Brown WW2 Veteran Royal Air Force.
Friends, neighbours, family and others believed to be family members, were among hundreds of mourners to join a final farewell to one of the last aircrews of the Caribbean in WW2 at a moving RAF church ceremony.
Flight Sergeant Peter Brown, originally from Jamaica, died before Christmas aged 96 at the home he had lived at in Warrington Crescent, Maida Vale, for 50 years.

The full military send-off, in St Clement Danes Church, had to be booked after a council-funded crematorium service in Mortlake was judged too small to hold the crowds.

Peter, who died alone at his home, was due to be given a so-called “pauper’s funeral” without full military honours. Many individuals and the Media followed up on the story leading to prime minister Rishi Sunak calling for a fitting service, given his wartime heroism.

Peter was a very quiet and unassuming gentleman. He is believed to be one of the last surviving Caribbean aircrew who served in the Second World War. The story of his death and circumstances certainly made national news, which by all accounts would have been quite the opposite to what he would have wanted.

It was indeed an honour to have been involved in helping to organise his funeral, and of course to be one of over 600 members of the public, local, national and international who attended his funeral.