Benjamin A. Brew Biography-5
Benjamin Brew:
Killed in Practice Flight over Irish Sea July 23, 1944
From the Official Accident Report: 440723 BREW, BENJAMIN A P-47C 41-6234 NEVIN 1 MILE OFF SHORE, UK 495 STALL
2/Lt Benjamin A Brew crashed in the sea while attempting a roll at approx 700 ft in front of the bows of a ship. The aircraft was seen to disintegrate and sink.
".... In any event, on July 23, 1944 he took off from a field near Birmingham , England , with some others, and practiced dog-fighting, etc over the Irish Sea, off England . When they had completed their practice, late in the afternoon, on the way back, Ben decided to do a slow roll at low altitude….and his engine cut out. We heard about this from a girl named Penny, that he had met and was acquainted with (a couple of weeks), who wrote us what she had been told by his flight companions. So I read the data with great interest…" (Ben's step-brother recollection...)
Contacting Ben Brew's Nephew
Shortly after purchasing the Holux Watch, I found a blog post from David Von Rinteln, who was doing research on his uncle, Benjamin Brew:
P-47C Wreck 1 mile off shore Nefyn, Wales [Sitemap] - YD Scuba
www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-66886.html
Feb 5, 2008 - 5 posts - 3 authors
I am doing resarch on my Uncle that went MIA in WWII. ... 440723 BREW, BENJAMIN A P-47C 41-6234 NEVIN 1 MILE OFF SHORE, UK 495.
I am doing research on my Uncle that went MIA in WWII. If you have been to the wreck site I would like to hear from you.
I will spare you the personal details of my Uncle’s life, but here are some relevant facts of the event as I have been able to piece together in the last year. Lt. Benjamin Brew was based out of Atcham, Shropshire, near Shrewsbury, UK. He was an instructor pilot with the US Army 495th Fighter Training Group and was practicing dog fighting over the Irish Sea with some others from his base. They were heading back to base and he was doing a victory roll when the plane stalled and went down on July 23, 1944. He was too low to bail out. His flight did a search of the area and could not locate him.