Cecil Brown
War Correspondent
Survived, and documented the sinking of HMS Repulse
14th September 1907 - 25th October 1987

Cecil Brown was a U.S. war correspondent 
Cecil wrote the book 'Suez to Singapore', it tells the story of Cecil, who was an American CBS News correspondent and he was aboard the HMS Repulse when it and the HMS Prince of Wales were torpedoed off the coast of Malaya.

Suez to Singapore Cecil Brown's Story. Halcyon House/Garden City, NY 1943. 545 pages. 

Grim warfare in the desert and the Malayan jungles. The sinking of the Repulse and the Prince of Wales. The fall of Singapore. The last days of the Indies. Australia today. By the man whose on-the-spot broadcasts from these vital fronts have made history. Cecil Brown is the winner of the Overseas Press Club's prize for outstanding radio reporting; the George Foster Peabody award, the Pulitzer Prize of Radio; the National Headliners' Club award for radio reporting; the Council for National Education by Radio prize; and Sigma Delta Chi's award for the best radio news reporting of 1941.

Cecil's account of the sinking of HMS Repulse is in our 'Sailors Tales' section.

Cecil taught for many years in Social Sciences here at Cal Poly, was named the university's outstanding professor of the year in 1980, and died in 1987.
On the day of final exams, Cecil would always tell the story of the Repulse and Prince of Wales to his class rather than giving an exam. One time his class was in the room next to mine, with a paper-thin wall, and his loud, clear voice came through into my exam room, relating that tragic event.
One by one my students put down their pens and simply listened!

Ralph E. Shaffer
Professor Emeritus, History
California State Polytechnic University
Pomona CA

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Andy Wade (Webmaster)

Information provided by Ralph E. Shaffer
Professor Emeritus, History
California State Polytechnic University
Pomona CA