Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Horace Herbert Brown was born in 1893 in Norwood, South Australia. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion. He grew up on Sheldon Street in Norwood with his mother, Mrs. Maude Brown. Horace was raised as an Anglican and became a cook after his school years.

Horace was 22 when the First World War started and did not initially sign up when it first began. Two years into the war and he showed the great courage and bravery for his country and signed up at the age of 24, being single at the time on the 10/8/16. He was quite small, standing only 171cm (5’6”) and weighing only 65kg (144lbs), thus showing great courage in signing up. He showed great ANZAC spirit in doing this. 

Horace was ranked a private and was enlisted in the 48th Battalion. He was given the service number 2390 and he trained and stayed in Mitcham, South Australia until he left Adelaide for England on the 28/8/16. The ship he went on was HMAT A68 “Anchises”. 

Horace arrived in Plymouth, England on the 11/10/16 and trained and stayed there for about a month. He was declared absent without leave from midnight on the 6/11/16 until 9:30 am on the 8/11/16. We understand now, why he might have got scared as it was a common thing for soldiers to get spooked and run away during the war as it was such a scary time for these young men. 

Horace served 7 days in military prison for this  incident. He was taken to Folkestone, England and boarded the “Princess Clementine” to France on the 28/12/16. Horace stayed in France for 2 months. It is unclear what the exact time was when he was transported to the Western Front but it is presumably around early February in 1917. Horace would have shown great teamwork and spirit in the trenches in the time that he may have been there. He would’ve shown great ANZAC spirit and attitude toward the war and his teammates. 

Horace would have stayed on the Western Front until 2/5/17 which was when he contracted Nephritis. Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys. It would have been such a horrible sickness to contract during the war but at least it got him out of the line of fire in the trenches. 

On the day that Horace got Nephritis, he was transported back to England from France and then was in a war hospital in Exeter, England the next day.

Horace recovered in hospital for nearly 5 months and then returned home to Australia after this. He disembarked from England on his way to Australia on the 27/9/17 and the boat he travelled back on was "Ember A29". Back in Australia, he was discharged on 4/1/18. He was awarded a British War Medal and a Victory Medal for his services. 

Horace lived in the Norwood district and joined the RSL St Peter's branch and remained a member until 1938.  He died on the 15/2/1939. Horace died without any records of children or a wife and is buried in the AIF Cemetery (Row 1B, Grave No. 8W) West Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. 

Horace showed great ANZAC spirit in signing up to defend his country and people as you would have to be brave and positive to enter a war with no way of knowing whether you will return alive. He would have shown great ANZAC spirit in trench warfare on the Western Front as he would have needed to keep a positive mindset and encourage the others around him to keep going and that they are doing this for Australia. It would have been hard to be positive in the trenches as it was such a dark time and you were constantly surrounded by death and hatred for the enemy. So, in risking his life for Australia and even contracting a horrible disease while fighting for his country, he showed great ANZAC spirit in doing this.

Bibliography

The AIF Project n.d., accessed 6 March 2018, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/>.

National Archives Record Search - https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1798014