Name
William Brown
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
04/08/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
25287
East Surrey Regiment
12th Bn., attached to Trench Mortar Battery
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY
XX. J. 21A
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
At rest. Safe in the arms of Jesus. Fell at his country's call
UK & Other Memorials
St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin
Pre War
He was born in Hitchin and enlisted in July 1916 in Bedford. Prior to joining the army, he was employed by Hitchin Urban District Council.
His home was 1, Chapman's Yard,
Queen St. Hitchin and he had married Elizabeth Minnis of 4, Barnards Yard,
Hitchin on the 25th August 1913 and they had two children. He was the youngest
son of John Brown and his parents lived at 9, St. Andrew's Place, Hitchin
Wartime Service
At first he was given the Regimental Number 23889 and posted to the Middlesex Regiment. Later he was transferred to the 12th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment with the Number 25287. This Battalion was part of the 122nd Brigade of the 41st Division, XIX Corps in the 2nd Army. He was posted to France in September 1917 and was killed by shellfire in the Ypres Salient whilst serving with a Trench Mortar Battery.
He was buried in Plot 20, Row J, Grave 21A in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery near Poperinghe in Belgium. The cemetery contains memorials to over 7,000 soldiers from Britain and several thousand others from the Commonwealth and was used by a number of Casualty Clearing Stations in the area. A private inscription on his gravestone reads “At rest. Safe in the arms of Jesus. Fell at his country's call”.
Additional Information
His headstone inscription reads: "At rest. Safe in the arms of Jesus. Fell at his country's call". On the Hitchin War Memorial, he is referred to as ‘Wm Brown’. His brother Arthur was killed in action on the 29th May 1915.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
