1890 - 8th October 1915 (age 25)
Private 74244
28th Bn. Canadian Infantry (Saskatchewan Regiment)
Thomas William Brown was born in Thirsk, the second of five children of
William Brown an agricultural machine fitter and his wife Mary Jane (nee
Thomson). The family lived at Rising Sun Yard, St.James' Green. Sadly,
Mary Jane died in 1903 aged 38, William married again and by 1911 he had
moved to Sowerby with his second wife Frances and the three youngest of his
children.
In 1913, Thomas emigrated to Canada sailing from Liverpool to Quebec on
the Laurentic and he settled in Saskatchewan. He did not remain there
long however before war was declared, and he enlisted into the infantry
and travelled to France. His battalion war diary for the 8th October 1915
states that two of the enemy's mines exploded in the salient in trenches
commanded by "D" Company and the Battalion Bombing Section. Casualties
as a result of the explosion were 19 killed, 30 wounded and seven missing.
The explosion was followed by heavy artillery and rifle fire and a bombing
attack. The Battalion held its original line and denied the crater to
the enemy. Thomas Brown was one of those killed and he is remembered on
the Menin Gate Memorial panels 18-26-28.
The information on this page was compiled by Steve Billings.
Information about Thomas William Brown on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Information about Thomas William Brown on the War Graves Photographic Project website