BROOKES, Langley
| Service Number: | 304 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | Queensland, Australia, 3 June 1881 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Rancher (USA) |
| Died: | Orinda, Contra Costa County, California, USA., 28 October 1957, aged 76 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Chapel of the Chimes Columbarium and Mausoleum, Oakland, Alameda County, California, USA |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 304, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Mar 1901: | Promoted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 151, notes promoted to Corporal 4 Mar 1901. | |
| 6 Mar 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 304, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 488 notes 5th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 6 Mar 1901 aboard Templemore arriving Port Elizabeth 1 Apr 1901. | |
| 9 Dec 1901: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 304, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 151, notes invalided returned to Australia aboard Damascus arriving Brisbane 2 Dec 1901, discharged 9 Dec 1901. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Langley Brookes enlisted in 1901 in the 5th QIB and his details were published in The Queenslander, 16 Mar 1901, he noted his N.O.K. as his father B. O. Brookes, Herschell St, Brisbane. In the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 151, it is noted he directed part of his pay to his mother Mrs. M. (Mary) Brookes.
Langley Brookes was born on 3 Jun 1881 in Queensland, a son to Benjamin Oakden Brookes and Mary Brookes (nee Langley). He married Ethel Valentine, it's assumed in the USA where they were living by 1906, and they had one child.
They were residing in Oakland, California, in April of 1906 when San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake and Langley sent cablegrams back to his parents in Brisbane to inform on the wellbeing of Australian expats living in San Francisco. He was a longtime rancher in California, firstly in the employ of others before obtaining his own property.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 499; National Archives Australia- B 5172 Nominal Roll 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent for service in South Africa, p. 5; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 151; various newspaper articles- see links).
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