Cecil Brown

Cecil Brown was the author of the book Suez to Singapore, which describes the sinking of HMS Repulse in December 1941. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6410 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to radio. He was a war correspondent who worked closely with Edward R. Murrow during WWII.

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1929 Brown left the United States for the Mediterranean and Black Seas where he worked as a seaman. He eventually returned to the United States where he worked as a journalist at several small newspapers. By 1937 he was back in Europe working as a freelancer.

CBS hired Brown in 1940 as their correspondent in Rome where he openly criticized the regime of Benito Mussolini. In 1941 the Italian government had had enough of Brown's rhetoric and expelled him from the country. After his expulsion from Italy CBS sent Brown to Singapore. Dec. 1941, while Brown was in Singapore he was invited to go out on a mission on the British cruiser HMS Repulse. The Repulse and the "Prince of Wales" were attacked by land based Japanese bomber aircraft and sunk. Brown narrowly escaped with his life. His experiences in his long journey and dealings with Italian, British and other censorship authorities led him to write Suez to Singapore which was published in 1942. His criticism of the British in Singapore caused him to have his "war corresponent's" credentials revoked and made him a persona non-grata. He narrowly escaped from Singapore before its fall to the Japanese. He was part of a larger group of reporters known as Murrow's Boys.

In 1942 Brown resigned from CBS but continued to cover the war.