BROWN, John
| Service Number: | 394 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Dalby, Queensland, Australia, 23 January 1890 |
| Home Town: | Philpott Creek, North Burnett, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 28 December 1917, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot II, Row C, Grave No. 26. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 394 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 394, 12th Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Commonwealth embarkation_ship_number: A73 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 394, 12th Machine Gun Company, HMAT Commonwealth, Melbourne | |
| 28 Dec 1917: | Involvement Private, 394, 7th Machine Gun Company, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 394 awm_unit: 7th Australian Machine Gun Company awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-12-28 | |
| 28 Dec 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 7th Machine Gun Company |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
John Brown was the eldest and the last of three brothers from Queensland to be killed during 1917.
His youngest brother, 6364 Pte. William Henry Brown 9th Battalion AIF, was killed in action in France on 5 January 1917, at only 18 years of age.
Another brother, 1725 Pte. George Brown 49th Battalion AIF, was killed in at action at Messines in Belgium on 7 June 1917, aged 21.
John did a lot of machine gun training after arriving in England in late 1916. He joined the 7th Machine Gun Company during September 1917. He was killed in action on the 28 December 1917, and his file says ‘result of enemy aircraft’. The unit diary for this day states that they had one casualty on this day, killed by the falling nose cap of an anti-aircraft shell. He was buried in the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Belgium.
John gave his nearest of kin as his sister, Lucy Laycock, of Petrie Terrace, Brisbane and she received his medals and other awards.
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