Raymond Brownell

First World War Australian Imperial Force On 12 September 1914, Brownell transferred to the Australian Imperial Force for service during the First World War. Allotted to the 9th Battery, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade with the rank of gunner, Brownell embarked from Hobart aboard HMAT Geelong on 20 October, bound for Egypt.

During July 1915, Brownell was shipped to Gallipoli and rejoined the 9th Battery. Brownell was subsequently recommended for the Military Medal.

Royal Flying Corps In October 1916, Brownell applied for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps. One of 5,000 applicants, Brownell was accepted on 1 January 1917 along with a further 200 Australians. Posted for pilot training, he proceeded to England and was posted to No. 3 School of Military Aeronautics at Exeter College, Oxford, from 26 January.

Allotted to No. 45 Squadron RFC flying Sopwith Camels, Brownell moved to France for operational service over the Western Front during September 1917. On 10 September, he took part in his first patrol, during which he shot down a two-seater German aircraft. During aerial engagements against Central aircraft over the Italian front, he was accredited with the destruction of a further seven aircraft, bringing his total to 12 plus nine probables. Brownell's aerial victories were composed of five aircraft and one shared destroyed, two and one shared out of control, one shared captured, and one balloon. For his success in bringing six of these aircraft down over a three-month period, Brownell was awarded the Military Cross. The announcement of the decoration was published in a supplement of The London Gazette on 4 March 1918, with the citation for the award being published in a later issue on 16 August 1918, reading: Embarking for Tasmania, he arrived during September. Once the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was formed, Brownell was commissioned as a flying officer on 12 September 1921 and posted to RAAF Point Cook in Victoria, training Air Force cadets.

In August 1940, Brownell was ordered to Singapore to establish and command an RAAF station on the island, as well as administer the RAAF squadrons located in Malaya. Embarking aboard the SS Strathallan in mid-August, Brownell and his staff formed the RAAF station within two weeks of arrival at Sembawang. Under the control of RAF Far East Command, the station was established as RAF Sembawang. For his service as Air Officer Commanding Western Area, Brownell was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1945 New Years Honours.

Relinquishing command of Western Area in July 1945, Brownell was appointed commander of the recently formed No. 11 Group. Brownell was present at the Japanese surrenders in Manila, Tokyo, and on Morotai.

Later life Returning to Western Australia after the war, On 24 March that year, Brownell retired from the RAAF on medical grounds.

Following his retirement from the Air Force, Brownell was made a partner of S. G. Brearley & Co., a stockbroking firm located in Perth. In 1951, he became chairman of the associated sporting committee of the National Fitness Council of Western Australia; he served in this role until 1967. Aged 79, Brownell died at Subiaco, Western Australia, on 12 April 1974 and was accorded a funeral with full Air Force honours. Brownell's autobiography, From Khaki to Blue, was posthumously published by the Military Historical Society of Australia in 1978.