Wing Commander Frank Arthur Brock RNAS

Regulus · 23 March 2006, 01:14 PM

Hi,

A man who has kept me fascinated for a very long time is Wing Commander Brock, who was KIA at Zeebrugge during the raid on Saint George's Day 1918.

Matrose Künne of the Marinekorps Flandern states that he had a fight with a British officer who was armed with a revolver and a cutlass. Deborah Lake (The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids 1918) and I developped even a theory that Kunne had a fight with Wing Commander Brock, and not with Harrison (as it went down in history but which doesn't comply with British participants of the raid their stories), as Harrison couldn't have been near the location where the fight happened (near a bunker on the Mole which was used as the fire control for the Friedrichsort battery, one in which Brock was especially interested to study it and which was his 'excuse' to be able to join the landing team).
So there's in this case a very big possibility that he's one of the unknown officers burried at Zeebrugge.

As I'm rewriting my first book Marinekorps Flandern now in an english version I would like to find out as much as possible on this man, his flares that were used against the u-boats,... So I'm looking especially for information as place and date of birth, his youth, his technical genius and the Royal Naval Experimental Station which he commanded.

Thanks and best from Johan

MikeW · 23 March 2006, 03:52 PM

Hi Johan,

Brock worked for the Royal Naval Air Department, N3 Section ( previously known as G Section of the Air Department of the Admiralty)

Sorry, I don't have a clue what this section did. By July 1917, he certainly wasn't in charge - he may have been promoted later, again I don't know.

Don't have any of the other information but can get it for you if you can wait a month or so.

Mike

MattyBoy · 23 March 2006, 04:14 PM

Only the following websites that I can find, Regulus:

http://www.victoriacross.co.uk/zeebrugge%20items.html

http://www.silentcities.co.uk/cemete...Vlaanderen.htm

http://www.mckenzie.uk.com/zeebrugge...t_mckenzi.html

I expect you have already seen all the above....

Graeme · 24 March 2006, 12:02 AM

There's also http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...r&GRid=9428373

Graeme

MikeW · 24 March 2006, 08:19 AM

Johan,

don't write up the stuff about the secret RNAS experimental station at Stratford (mentioned in Graham's "Find a grave" link) just yet. The RNAS facility at Stratford was a gas factory for manufacturing hydrogen for the RNAS airships. I also suspect that the statement about Brock founding, organising and leading it is not true either.

Looking at the European Patent Office website I can only find several patents held by Brock relating to a rocket propelled life saving apparatus, one of which is linked below:

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=E...B191409977&F=0

Of course, he may not have patented some of his other "nastier" pyrotechnic inventions or they might not be in his name.

Mike

Regulus · 24 March 2006, 10:39 AM

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your kind help and answers, these links are indeed familiar to me.

I would like to write a bio on Brock, that shows the man which is not generally mentioned in books on Zeebrugge and Oostende.

So Mike, I have all the time, I'm still busy for over a year in writing and translating...

Thanks and best from Johan