Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Brown Henry George Thomas was born on the 12th of March 1882 in Kent, England and was the son of John Henry Brown and Eliza Ann Brown. He had five brothers and one sister who were also all born in Kent. In 1891, from what is known, he lived his childhood at Holly Mt., Chestnut Road, Plumsted with his family. Henry moved to a new home when he was 19 and worked as a Machinist fuse worker. Then just 3 years before the war he moved back to his old street Chestnut Road. In 1912 he married Jenny (Hutchings) Brown in Adelaide. Although it is unknown who their children were, it is confirmed that they did have children before the war started.

When World War 1 began he chose to become a soldier so that he would be able to support his family with money back home in Australia. Henry was deemed fit for service being 5’6 and 142lbs. He enlisted in the army on the ninth of September 1914 at age 32. He left his children and wife for 4 years while serving in the army. Henry was trained at Morphettville Camp in South Australia and was then sent out into the war. His time at the camp, from what has been said by others, was extremely hard. Recruits would spend hours training for duty at the front lines. The training was physically and mentally demanding. Many of Henry’s friends were injured during the training. Also, during his time at the camp, there was not much time to contact family, although there were planned periods where Henry was permitted to call his family. Through training, they would have learnt how to prevent injuries be physically fit and shoot firearms. At the end of the training, they would be assessed and if they passed, sent out to the war.

Henry joined the 10th Battalion's 1st reinforcements after training. After several months went by the Battalion was sent on a steamship called the Ionian to the island of Lemnos. After the consolidation of the island of Lemnos, they were sent to fight in Gallipoli. They travelled on the ship HMS Prince of Wales to the southern point of the peninsula at Cape Helles to suppress the Turkish defences guarding the Dardanelles. The HMS Prince of Wales was a ship owned by the British and was built in 1902. This ship carried many soldiers during World War 1 including the 10th Battalion. While Henry was at war his wife Jennie, sent many letters asking about the war and when her husband would be coming back as well as notifying officers about numerous changes to her address.

Henry was hospitalised a few times during his service. In August 1915 his service record states he was treated for something to do with his teeth and enteric issues (intestines). After surviving Gallipoli, Henry ws sent to fight on the Western Front on the 15th August 1916. His service record shows that he took leave in September 1917 to go to the UK. In January of 1918 he was sent to signal school in the UK. He got into trouble in February of 1918 for being AWL on the 11th February, absent from his billet without permission and he was admonished by the C.O of the 10th Battalion. He rejoined his Battlalion from the school on the 3rd August 1918. His service record then shows that he took leave to return to Australia 'submarine guard duty' arriving back on the 11th October 1918. He was formally discharged from service on the 12th December 1918 after the war had ended. His wife wrote to the Army in April of 1918 stating that she was going to return to England to care for her mother who was a cripple explaining that her mother had no-one else to look after her and as she had no connections in Adelaide she was keen to return to England. She acknowledged that she understood the risks involved with travel at the time. She wanted to confirm whether her husband was going to be given leave to return to Australia as she did not want to leave if there was a chance that she would miss him. There's another letter from his wife in August 1918 inquiring about whether her husband had been granted leave to return to Australia. A return letter confirmed that he was to return to Australia. His wife Jennie had also returned to the UK in 1916 for a short while.

After the war Henry and his wife Jennie moved back to England. He went on to live his life at 69 Durham Road, Woolwich, England with his wife until she died in 1939. Henry then went on to live in the same home for 11 more years until he died in 1951 from old age. Following his death, he was buried in Plumsted cemetery with many others from his family.