Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

18/08/1914

Date of Discharge

01/07/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

17/08/1893

Place of Birth

North Sydney NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

School(s) Attended

Fort Street School (Sydney)

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

D.J. Brown (father), Fremantle, Western Australia

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

4 Battalion AIF

Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.62, 19 April 1917, page 920, position 55)
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Gazette No.165, 24 October 1918, page 2056, position 97)

Brown entered the Royal Military College on 22 June 1911 in the first intake of cadets and was a member of the Honour Guard at the naming ceremony in Canberra on 12 March 1913. His class was graduated early on 14 August 1914 and Brown was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion Machine Gun Section. He landed on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and was wounded in the neck and shoulder at Johnston's Jolly in mid May. According to Bean, Brown was in the fourth wave of the 4th Battalion at the beginning of the Battle of Lone Pine on 6 August 1915. His gun was the only one of four to reach the Turkish trenches and he set it up at the end of Sasse's Sap where it could be fired down a communication trench packed with Turks. The presence of the machine gun encouraged the Australians in the Turkish trenches but it also attracted enemy fire. Shrapnel burst over the spot, disabling the machine gun and wounding Brown in the thigh. He was evacuated to England for treatment and promoted to Captain.

Brown rejoined the 4th Battalion in Egypt in early 1916 and arrived in France at the end of March 1916. Promoted to the rank of Major just before the Battle of the Somme, Brown commanded a Company of the 4th Battalion at Pozières, leading his men up K Trench, bombing towards the cemetery on 25 July 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross for his actions on 18-19 August 1916 at Mouquet Farm near Pozières when he and his men captured a German strongpoint known as Point 55. Despite counter attacks and the lack of bombs, Brown held his position. He was mentioned in despatches for his work during the period 22 September 1917 to 24 February 1918 when the 4th Battalion was involved in fighting near Ypres and Broodseinde. He was then appointed as Commanding Officer of the 1st Training Battalion in England for the remainder of the war.

He returned to Australia in April 1919 and his appointment was terminated in July 1919. He later trained as a doctor and served in World War 2 as a Lieutenant Colonel with the Australian Army Medical Corps. He died on 17 July 1956 in Sydney.

Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. II p.316n)
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
AWM Collections Record : P03302.001, REL22721, A04160
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Sydney Morning Herald - 19 July 1956
Sunday Times - 20 June 1915