BROWN, William Alder
| Service Number: | 683 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 September 1914, An original member of F Company 14th Bn |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 14th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Peckham, London, England, 1888 |
| Home Town: | Hamilton, Central Highlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Hutchins School, Hobart, Tasmania |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Killed in action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 2 May 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
Courtney’s and Steel's Post Cemetery Special Memorial, Grave 4 Headstone Inscription "BELOVED SON OF W.G. BROWN AND C.A.BROWN OF HAMILTON, TASMANIA" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Gretna War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 683, 14th Infantry Battalion, An original member of F Company 14th Bn | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 683, 14th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 683, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 2 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 683, 14th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, Killed in action |
Help us honour William Alder Brown's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Daryl Jones
Son of William George and Clara Alice BROWN, of Hamilton, Tasmania. Native of England.
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
William Alder Brown and his brother, Harold Baylie Brown, were both tragically killed on Gallipoli, their deaths being recorded on the same day, 2 May 1915, a week after the Anzac Landing. They were not in the same battalion, William having enlisted in Victoria, served with the 14th Battalion, Harold as a Tasmanian in the 15th Battalion.
They were the only sons of William George and Clara Alice Brown, of Hamilton, Tasmania. Their parents struggled deeply to come to terms with their loss. Their father wrote to the AIF, “They were my only sons, and my wife and I would ask if it were possible that the headstones for them might be erected side by side (the body of our younger son, Harold Baylie Brown, was never recovered.)
If the authorities can under the circumstances permit their headstones to be erected side by side it would be a great kindness and comfort to their mother and myself ….”
William Alder Brown had been born in England and came to Australia when he was four years of age. He was raised at Hamilton, Tasmania and attended Hutchins School in Hobart. William became a carpenter and served his apprenticeship with Gilham Bros. Builders in Hobart. His father said he was a builder at Coburg, Victoria when he enlisted in Melbourne, at about the same time as his brother enlisted in Tasmania.
William has a special memorial at Gallipoli as 160 of the burials in Courtney's and Steel's Post Cemetery are unidentified but there are special memorials to 58 casualties believed to be buried among them. Of these special memorials 43 belong to the 14th Battalion.
The bothers are commemorated in St Peter's Anglican Church, Hamilton, Tasmania. An inscription on tablet, referring to the two brothers, reads: 'In death as in life united'.
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