Born in Wellington on October 20, 1919, Stanley Franklin Browne studied medicine before joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force in March 1941. After receiving his pilot’s license, he was sent to England. There, in early 1942, he joined the 485th Fighter (New Zealand) Squadron.
On May 31, as part of his unit, he participated in an aerial battle over Abbeville, northern France. He was shot down in a skirmish with an Fw-190 but managed to parachute to safety. German pilots located the New Zealander’s landing site, and a search party was dispatched to find him.
Initially, he received no help from the French peasants, but they promised that if he could hide until nightfall, they would shelter him. After several hours spent in the field, night fell. The French peasants returned and arranged for him to stay overnight in one of their homes.
The very next morning, he left to avoid endangering his hospitable hosts. He spent the next night in Arnières, where he stopped to obtain false documents. Here, fate brought him together with another British pilot. With him, he then traveled by rail south to cross the border of occupied France.
However, they were unlucky at one of the checkpoints and ended up in a camp on the southern coast. Here, Stanley met his squadron mate, Harry Barnett. In early September, they managed to escape and reach Marseille.
Together with another 80 such refugees, they were helped to reach Gibraltar on a small fishing vessel. Browne arrived in Britain on October 1 aboard the cruiser “Malaya.” Both pilots were offered to return home, but they decided to continue their war as part of the 485th Squadron.
Combat Tour in North Africa and Malta
In late January 1943, Browne was sent to the 93rd Squadron, based in North Africa, specifically in Tunisia. In April, he shot down two Me-109s and claimed damage to two more. By June 1943, he was in Malta.
In July, during the Allied invasion of Sicily, the New Zealander shot down two Ju-88s that were attacking disembarking infantrymen. However, having become engrossed in the attack on the bombers, he was shot down by escort fighters. Naturally, he was forced to make an emergency landing. He returned to combat two days later when he shot down an Me-109 near Augusta.
From early September, the squadron switched to supporting ground troops. Browne was able to add two more Me-109s to his tally.
Decorations and Command
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He returned for rest in England in early 1944. At the end of the year, he returned to the front, and in June 1945, he became commander of the 93rd Squadron.
There is no information available on his post-war fate.