Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, was a British military officer and aviator who flew as navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight with pilot John Alcock in June 1919.
Arthur Whitten Brown
Brown (left) with John Alcock in 1919
Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown
John Alcock and Arthur Brown were British aviators who, in 1919, made the first non-stop transatlantic flight. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in "less than 72 consecutive hours". A small amount of mail was carried on the flight, making it the first transatlantic airmail flight. The two aviators were awarded the honour of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by King George V at Windsor Castle a week later.
Alcock and Brown taking on mail
Statue of Alcock and Brown at London Heathrow Airport (now located at Brooklands Museum)
Captain John Alcock stowing provisions aboard Vickers Vimy aircraft before trans-Atlantic flight 14 Jun 1919
The Alcock and Brown Vimy after take-off from Newfoundland
