MY WAR DEAD

BROWN, Alfred Frederick - died 14th March 1917.

Alfred Frederick Brown was bron in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 29th June 1891, being the eldest son of George Brown, a carpenter, and his wife who was born Sophia Palmer. Before the First World War, Alfred worked as a market gardener in Soham and he married, as Frederic Alfred Brown, in Soham in September 1911; his bride was Rebecca Deborah Drayton. Alfred and Rebecca had a son, Frederic Charles, who was born on 30th September 1912.

Alfred's service record has not survived but he is known to have served as a Private with the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. Information derived from the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (C.WG.C.), the database of UK soldiers who died in the Great War and the Soham War memorial, indicates that Alfred had enlisted at Bury St Edmunds, being a resident of Newmarket, and was the husband of Mrs R D Brown, then of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. It is not known when he first saw active service but his medal record indicates that it was not before 1st January 1916. Alfred died of wounds received on 14th March 1917, aged 25, and was buried in Gorre British & Indian Cemetery in the Pas de Calais, France.

The Regimental Diary for 14th March 1917 records that the German artillery was exceptionally active on that day, the battalion losing 3 men killed and 5 being wounded during the morning. C.W.G.C. records confirm that 2 other men from the Regiment were buried in the Gorre cemetery, having died on the same day.

Alfred was survived by his parents, his wife and his son; his younger brother, Edward, died a few months later in Belgium, although full details of his death are lacking. Alfred's wife remarried in 1921 but his son died unmarried in Wisbech in 1931, aged only 19. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Alfred Frederick Brown was my 2nd cousin, twice removed.

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