BROWN, Thomas
| Service Number: | NX25410 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 October 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, 30 August 1918 |
| Home Town: | Bogan Gate, Parkes, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Kumawa, New Guinea, 9 October 1943, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lae War Cemetery Cemetery/memorial reference: CC. B. 4., Lae War Cemetery, Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Parkes & District Cenotaph |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX25410 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct 1939: | Enlisted Merchant Navy | |
| 7 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Private, NX25410, 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion | |
| 7 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX25410, 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Apr 1941: | Involvement Private, 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion, Siege of Tobruk | |
| 23 Oct 1942: | Involvement 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion, El Alamein | |
| 9 Oct 1943: | Involvement Private, 2nd/17th Infantry Battalion, New Guinea - Huon Peninsula / Markham and Ramu Valley /Finisterre Ranges Campaigns, KIA |
Help us honour Thomas Brown's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Jeffrey Crisdale
Pte Thomas Brown was a veteran of the Tobruk, Tel el Eisa, El Alamein & Lae campaigns before being KIA at Kumawa, New Guinea.
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was Chief Engineer Officer [Australian Merchant Navy] on the Nankin, a 6,853 GRT steam Passenger/ cargo ship that was attacked on 10 May 1942 by German raider Thor. The Captain of Nankin ordered the ship to be abandoned and an attempt was made to scuttle her but this was not successful and a boarding party managed to repair her. She was taken as a prize and renamed Leuthen and travelled to Japanese-held ports. She was blown up with two other ships on 30 November 1942 whilst in Yokohama harbour during a bunkering operation - possibly sabotage.
The widely varying dates of deaths of the six Australian Merchant Navy casualties suggests they died whilst POW’s.
Age 58. Husband of Mary Brown of St. Leonards New South Wales Australia.
Biography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
He was Chief Engineer Officer [Australian Merchant Navy] on the Nankin. He was 58 and the husband of Mary Brown of St. Leonards New South Wales Australia.
The S.S. Nankin was a 6,853 GRT steam Passenger/ cargo ship that was attacked on 10 May 1942 by German raider Thor. The Captain of Nankin ordered the ship to be abandoned and an attempt was made to scuttle her but this was not successful and a boarding party managed to repair her. She was taken as a prize and renamed Leuthen and travelled to Japanese-held ports. She was blown up with two other ships on 30 November 1942 whilst in Yokohama harbour during a bunkering operation - possibly sabotage.
He was one of eight Australian Prisoners of War from this ship who died in captivity at Fukushima [former French-Canadian convent]
His name also appears on the Merchant Navy memorial at Tower Hill, London.
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