Lieutenant Arthur Henry Brown (wallet; telegram; drawing)
Item
Title
Lieutenant Arthur Henry Brown (wallet; telegram; drawing)
Who?
Lieutenant Arthur Henry Brown
Item(s)
- His royal commission, given to new officers, bearing his name and new title.
- A small wallet of sorts, engraved with a bird he seems to have drawn himself.
- A telegram from August 1918 announcing his Paris furlough to a relative.
- A drawing of French houses sent as a birthday greeting card. “Dear [?] I wish you Many Happy Returns of the Day and heaps of love. From your [?nnie]. France May 1918″
- A small wallet of sorts, engraved with a bird he seems to have drawn himself.
- A telegram from August 1918 announcing his Paris furlough to a relative.
- A drawing of French houses sent as a birthday greeting card. “Dear [?] I wish you Many Happy Returns of the Day and heaps of love. From your [?nnie]. France May 1918″
Story
Here can be seen a few items belonging to Lieutenant Arthur Henry Brown; at the time, he was a 24-year-old Second Lieutenant.
Arthur Henry Brown was born in Sussex, on the 27th of May 1894. His civilian occupiation was that of a bookseller assistant. He enlisted in the Territorial Force in 1911 for a four-year contract in the 5th Sussex Battery, Royal Field Artillery, aged 17, with the rank of Driver (Private - in the RFA, the one leading the horses pulling the gun). He had already been in the cadet corps of the Church Lads Brigade.
In 1914 he signed an agreement to be sent overseas for war purposes. He seems to have been stationed in England and India for most of the war. He was promoted Bombardier (Lance Corporal), then Corporal, then Orderly Room Sergeant (a temporary commission) and finally Sergeant in his final days in India. In 1917, bearing that latter rank, he re-enlisted after the end of his contract.
From June 1917 to February 1918, he served at home; but the reason for that is that the British army needing more officers due to the more experienced ones dying at the front. This experienced Sergeant was required to follow cadet officer training in Exeter, where he met his future wife.
Promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in February 1918, he was sent to France for the last - and vital - fights of the war. (That is the period concerned by those documents). He kept serving until September 1919, when he resigned his commission on medical grounds. Nonetheless, he had been promoted without his knowledge to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in August of that year, and was allowed to retain this rank.
He was awarded the Interallied Medal, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Territorial Force War Medal.
Arthur Henry Brown was born in Sussex, on the 27th of May 1894. His civilian occupiation was that of a bookseller assistant. He enlisted in the Territorial Force in 1911 for a four-year contract in the 5th Sussex Battery, Royal Field Artillery, aged 17, with the rank of Driver (Private - in the RFA, the one leading the horses pulling the gun). He had already been in the cadet corps of the Church Lads Brigade.
In 1914 he signed an agreement to be sent overseas for war purposes. He seems to have been stationed in England and India for most of the war. He was promoted Bombardier (Lance Corporal), then Corporal, then Orderly Room Sergeant (a temporary commission) and finally Sergeant in his final days in India. In 1917, bearing that latter rank, he re-enlisted after the end of his contract.
From June 1917 to February 1918, he served at home; but the reason for that is that the British army needing more officers due to the more experienced ones dying at the front. This experienced Sergeant was required to follow cadet officer training in Exeter, where he met his future wife.
Promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in February 1918, he was sent to France for the last - and vital - fights of the war. (That is the period concerned by those documents). He kept serving until September 1919, when he resigned his commission on medical grounds. Nonetheless, he had been promoted without his knowledge to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in August of that year, and was allowed to retain this rank.
He was awarded the Interallied Medal, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Territorial Force War Medal.
When?
May/August 1918
Where?
Northern France
Contributor
Edward Ashworth
This item was submitted on February 5, 2019