BROWN, Frederick
| Service Numbers: | 3491, 3491A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company) |
| Born: | Trentham, Victoria, Australia, 20 July 1891 |
| Home Town: | Newbury, Moorabool, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Garlick's Lead State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 15 August 1968, aged 77 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 3491, Mining Corps | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1916: | Involvement Sapper, 3491, Mining Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 16 Aug 1916: | Embarked Sapper, 3491, Mining Corps, RMS Orontes, Melbourne | |
| 25 Mar 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 10 Jul 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 3491A, 2nd Tunnelling Company (inc. 5th Tunnelling Company) | |
| 11 Jul 1917: | Imprisoned |
Help us honour Frederick Brown's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Frederick Brown was one of four brothers who served in the AIF, all sons of Thomas Bertram and Emma Amelia Brown of Trentham, Victoria. Two of the brothers died and Frederick was made a prisoner of war, all in the period from 1916 and 1917.
His eldest brother, 1025 Pte. George Brown 6th Battalion AIF died of wounds during the Pozieres battle on 16 August 1916, aged 29. His youngest brother, 5056 Pte. Clarence Walter Brown 46th Battalion AIF, died of wounds inflicted at the Battle of Messines on 14 June 1917, aged 19.
Frederick, who was a miner, left Australia with Mining Corps reinforcements and was eventually sent to the 2nd Tunnelling Company.
On the 10 July 1917, the 2nd Tunnelling Company was attached to British units operating right up against the Belgian coast at Nieuport. The British front at one point was 600 yards east of the River Yser. The front line was connected to the Reserve lines by three temporary bridges. The Germans fiercely bombarded the river area, causing the destruction of the bridges, and as a consequence the forces east of the river were trapped there. The Germans launched a considerable assault against the beleagured force, which resulted in the capture of a couple of British battalions, as well as 47 members of the Australian 2nd Tunnelling Company, one of whom was Frederick Brown.
Mrs. Brown wrote a letter to Base Records on 20 August 1917.
"Dear Sir,
I take the liberty of writing these few lines hoping you will make some enquiries for me about my son that is missing since the 10th July No 3491 Sapper Fred Brown No.2 Tunnelling Coy. AIF France.
I would be so much obliged to you if you could tell me something, his poor hart broken mother, Mrs. T. Brown.
There is four of my sons went to the front and two are dead, the eldest and the youngest. The oldest was 1025 Pte G. Brown 6th Battalion AIF and the other one was the youngest 5056 Pte C.W. Brown 46th Battalion AIF, he died on the 13th June 1917 of this year only two months and my son that is missing was only last month on the 10th July. We have still one boy there I wish I could get him home now that he is all we have left and we are only two old people. Yours respectfully, Mrs. T. Brown."
Frederick was repatriated to England on 30 December 1918, six weeks after the Armistice. He was given some leave in England and returned to Australia during March 1919, where he was soon discharged.
Another surviving brother, 1385 William John Brown 12th Field Artillery Brigade, was returned to Australia in 1918, on the orders of the Defence Department, after two of his brothers had died and one was a POW.