Final salute to Swanage D-Day veteran

Swanage man Clifford Brown who served his country during World War Two will be given a suitably fitting send off following his death at the age of 98.

His funeral will take place at 11 am on Thursday 6th February 2025 at St Mary’s Church in Swanage, Dorset, and his family are extending an open invitation to all in the local community who would like to pay their respects.

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Clifford Brown D day veteran
Timothy Crabb

Clifford Brown regularly attended the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Swanage war memorial

“He so loved Swanage”

Clifford Brown’s son, Clive said:

“Everyone who wants to, is welcome to come along to dad’s funeral at St Mary’s on Thursday. He so loved Swanage and never really wanted to go anywhere else.

“He and Margaret, his wife and my mum, did go away on holiday at times to places like Greece, but he was always happy to come home to Swanage!”

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Brown family

Cliff at sweet seventeen

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Brown family

In the engine room of a minesweeper during World War Two

Lied about his age

Clifford Brown or Cliff to his family and friends, was born and bred in Swanage but at the age of 17 in 1943, he lied about his age and signed up for the Royal Navy to help with the war effort.

This led to him being part of D-Day, one of the most remembered moments in recent military history, when the Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France on 6th June 1944.

The year before in 1943, following a successful medical and basic training he was selected for the Royal Navy Minesweeping Squadron. He was initially based at Lowestoft in Suffolk but was then sent to Texas in America to train with the US Navy.

Speaking in 2020 on the 75th anniversary of VE day, he said:

“It was like a holiday, we visited New Orleans and Charleston. It really was a holiday, with what was to come.”

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Timothy Crabb

Over the decades Clifford (centre right) would attend services at the war memorial, at times representing the Swanage branch of the Royal British Legion

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Timothy Crabb

Remembering those who died at war

Heading towards Utah and Omaha beaches

Clifford returned to the UK and in March 1944 he was back in Dorset, based in Weymouth, in readiness for the invasion of Normandy in France.

Two days before D-Day, Clifford was part of the crew on a minesweeper which sailed to Normandy to clear a safe path for the big day. And then on D-Day itself, under the cover of darkness, his minesweeper led the British minesweepers out of Weymouth, providing cover for the US vessels heading towards Utah and Omaha beaches.

Despite shelling and heavy fire Clifford’s vessel only sustained shrapnel damage. But another boat had broken down, so Clifford and another stoker were transferred to the other vessel to fix it. That’s when the landing craft was hit and Clifford found himself in the sea. Speaking in 2020, he said:

“I never imagined myself being part of the forces which were actually landing on the beaches. It was not a nice thing – not a nice thing at all. It was carnage.”

Clifford Brown D day veteran with wife Margaret
Timothy Crabb

Clifford Brown at the Swanage war memorial with his wife Margaret who sadly died in 2024

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Andrew Pm Wright

In May 2014, Clifford and Margaret were invited to be guests of the Swanage Railway at an event to honour D-Day veterans

Pulled from the wreckage

As soon as he was able, he got back on a ship which later docked in Portland, but he was soon heading out again to France on his minesweeper. For weeks they cleared mines along The Channel until one evening in October, when Clifford’s boat was hit.

The last thing he remembers, before being pulled from the wreckage, was being in the engine room at 10.30 pm. He had concussion and spent one week in hospital before being sent out to sea again.

In 1945 he sailed to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and then onto the Far East and Pacific Islands, dropping off troops to take control of the Japanese POW camps.

Before being demobbed in 1946 aged just 20, he visited Singapore, Hong Kong, Malta and also worked out of Scotland’s Dumbarton and South Queensferry ports.

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Timothy Crabb

Clifford’s medals

Clifford Brown D day veteran
Timothy Crabb

Enjoying the attention at Swanage Railway on Armed Forces Day

“You are a family”

Clifford recollected that his time in the Navy was special:

“You are a family; brothers. You give each other support and encouragement. You will fight and argue but you will joke, love and defend each other to the hilt. It’s like having a brother that you will fight with but ‘cos he’s your brother, nobody else can touch him.”

By the end of his naval career Clifford had received badges and medals including the 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, France and Germany Clasp war medal and a consistent character rating of ‘Very Good’ from every captain he served under.

In 2014, he, along with other D-Day veterans, received the Legion d‘Honneur – the highest order of merit from the French Government.

Returning to Swanage after the war, Clifford worked as a railway signalman at Worgret Junction but by the late 60s and with the threat of closure of the Swanage branch line looming, he took a job at Swanworth Quarry at Worth Matravers – aptly in charge of explosives!

Brown family

Margaret and Clifford at Durlston Castle – they married in 1956 after a chance meeting when she visited Swanage on holiday

“Wanted to be in the thick of it!”

His son Clive added:

“Dad never had to join the Navy, not only was he underage but he was working as an engineer, so could have continued contributing to the war effort in that role. I think he just wanted to be in the thick of it!

“Back in Swanage, he devoted a lot of time to the Royal British Legion, joining the committee in Swanage. After the funeral, we think it’s only appropriate to remember him by raising a glass to him down the Legion.”

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