Sir Arthur Whitten Brown (1886-1948) was, as a Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force together with Captain John Alcock, the navigator of the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight, from St Johns, Newfoundland to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland which took place on 14 June 1919 departing St Johns' at 1.45 p.m. local time, and landing in Derrygimla bog 16 hours and 12 minutes later after flying 1980 miles. The flight was made in a modified Vickers Vimy bomber, and won a £10,000 prize offered by London's Daily Mail newspaper for the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

A few days after the flight both Alcock and Brown were knighted by King George V.