Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

James Tait Brown was born in Granville, Parramatta, New South Wales in 1896 (1). He was born into the family as the youngest child, having two older brothers, an older sister, a mother and a father. His two brothers, named Andrew and Colin Brown, were older than him by 6 and 8 years respectively, with both of them also joining the war effort later on (2). He attended Sydney Technical High School in 1908, with mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, history, geography, carpentry and architecture as his subjects (3). He did well in school, scoring 18th in his year for examinations, with exceptional marks in carpentry, English and physics (4). After school he was employed at an Apprentice Engineer.

James Brown enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the 20th of July 1915 (5), with express permission from his father, writing a note which contained, “My son, James Tait Brown, has my permission to enlist in the expeditionary forces” - James B. Brown (6).

James Tait Brown joined the 30th Infantry Battalion Unit, ranked Private. His unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on board HMAT A72 Beltana to Devonport, England 4 months after Brown enlisted on board at age 19 years and 1 month (8). He fought in the Somme Offensive in France starting on the 21st of July 1916, where he was injured 4 times, consisting of injuries to the leg, knee, neck and head. In particular, the severe head injury caused him to be bedridden in a nearby hospital on the 24th of July 1916 (9), with him being discharged and rejoining the 30th Battalion on the 16th of January 1917; around a 5 month period of inactivity.

Four months later, on the 4th of May 1917, Brown transferred units from the 30th Infantry Battalion to the 29th unit of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) (10), which specialised in operating aircrafts to ambush opposing forces and potentially rescue injured soldiers. He stayed in the AFC for the remainder of the war, operating aircrafts to support the Triple Entente in Central Europe and remained largely uninjured during his time serving in the AFC.

While waiting for repatriation to Australia, he was granted 3 months of non-military employment to study aeronautics at the East London College from the 8th of May, 1919 to the 9th of  August, 1919 (11). He returned to Australia on the 6th of September 1919 (12); almost a 3 year period since he was last in Australia.

Then finally, after 4 years of military service, he was honourably discharged from the AIF on 1st February 1920 (13). It was in the same year that he found and married the love of his life, Majorie James, who he would spend the rest of his life with (14). He found work as an apprentice engineer in pool and steel to support his wife, who worked as a housewife (15).

In 1930, Brown and his wife moved to Oatley, Barton; the first change of residence in his life. In 1937, both his mother Majorie Black and father James B. Brown passed away at ages 82 and 81 respectively. They died of old age, and peacefully passed away in their sleep. He lived through WWII as well, not serving in the war, potentially saving his life. It was in 1954 and 1963 where his oldest brother Colin and older sister Elizabeth passed away, living the the ages of 66 and 72 years old respectively, with their cause of death was unspecified. Less than 10 years later, on the 2nd of September 1972, his wife Majorie James had passed away at age 75. He followed soon after, passing away on the 25th of March, 1974 at age 78 (16).

References:

1. Anonymous. James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. Virtual War Memorial Archive. 
2. UNSW, James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. AIF Project
3. Robert Devlin. James Tait Brown Documents 1896-1974. Google Drive. 
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Anonymous. James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. Discovering Anzacs. National Archives of Australia. 
8. Anonymous. HMAT A72 Beltana History. Birtwistle Wiki.
9. Anonymous. 30th Infantry Battalion Records 1914-1918. Australian War Memorial.
10. Robert Devlin. James Tait Brown Documents 1896-1974. Google Drive. 
11. Ibid
12. Ibid
13. Ibid
14. UNSW, James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. AIF Project
15. Ibid
16. Ibid

Bibliography:

Anonymous. James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. Discovering Anzacs. National Archives of Australia. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1798561&isAv=N

Anonymous. James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. Virtual War Memorial Archive. https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/287738

Robert Devlin. James Tait Brown Documents. Google Drive. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z77SWGFqRVRdpbR6og3Kg8F00D5TDiZ7

Anonymous. HMAT A72 Beltana History. Birtwistle Wiki. https://birtwistlewiki.com.au/wiki/HMAT_A72_Beltana

Anonymous. 30th Infantry Battalion Records 1914-1918. Australian War Memorial. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U51470

UNSW, James Tait Brown Records 1896-1974. AIF Project. https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=35420