William Henry Brown
Memorial: Hill - St Michael's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private (No.22631)
Parents: Joseph and Joyce (nee Chandler) Brown
Marital status: Single
Home address: Meadlands Hill, Near Falfield (1911 Census)
Pre-war occupation: Farm Worker
Date of birth: 1894
Place of birth: Clapton, Berkeley
Date of death: 26/09/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: No Known Grave – Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France
Age: 24
Further information:
William came from a large family, Joseph and Joyce had 12 children. His father Joseph was employed as a farm worker and the family seemed to have moved regularly in and around the Berkeley, Hill and Falfield area. By 1911 William was also employed as a farm worker and was working on a farm in Shepperdine.
The pension annuity card, record his mother Joyce as the beneficiary and she lived in Pedington near Berkeley. She was also recorded as living in the Hill parish on the 1921 Census.
The 12th (Bristol) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment were located in the Somme area from July 1916, and on 24/25th September the Batallion was part of an attack that captured the village of Morval. It is likely that William was killed as part of this attack.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 & 1911 Census etc), Volunteer Researcher John Davis.