BROWN, Lieutenant John Ranby. Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Enlisted: (Canadian over-seas Expeditionary Force) 11/03/1916, Ladysmith, Canada.
Age given: 36 years. (Born Harleston Suffolk 14/02/1880).
Occupation: Farmer.
Address / Next Of Kin, family details: RR #2 Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada.
Husband of Azeela Ellen Brown, father to 2 girls Diamond and Patricia. Although a resident of Ladysmith Azeela’s address on John’s enlistment is recorded as being Rose Cottage, Purton. Son of Edward Cyril and Isabel Brown, The Cottage, Church end Purton.
Extracts from: Service record (Canadian).
On enlistment declared previous Service in the Yeomanry in the rank of Corporal.
707120 103rd Battalion CEF.
23/07/1916 Embarked in Halifax, Nova Scotia for England.
31/07/1916 Arrived in Liverpool onboard the SS Olympic.
09/01/1917 Transferred to 16th Canadian Reserve Battalion.
12/04/1917 The Canadians take Vimy Ridge.
03/05/1917 Transferred for overseas Service with 102nd Battalion, 4th Canadian Division.
04/05/1917 to 05/05/1917 Canadian Base Detail (CBD).
09/05/1917 Joined unit in the field, part of a 16 man draft from Seaford.
11/05/1917 Wounded in action, gunshot wound (GSW), left buttock, admitted 11th Canadian Field Ambulance. The Battalion was in support lines, heavy shelling and numerous casualties were recorded in the Battalion War diary.
From the Battalion history: On May 6 (1917) we moved back still further to Canada Camp (to the West of Elvedinghe),
there remaining until the evening of the 10th, when the Battalion fell in and marched off to relieve the 47th Bn in support on the Vimy-Angres line with Headquarters in a commodious concrete dug-out in the railway embankment. One platoon per company was detailed to report to the 50th Battalion in the front line trenches which had been hastily constructed and were both shallow and exposed with the result that casualties were heavy. On the following night we relieved the 50th, a difficult operation as owing to some misunderstanding we had to find our own positions.
12/05/1917 to 16/05/1917 Admitted 6th Casualty Clearing Station.
03/07/1917 Azeela recorded as living in Purton with John’s parents.
30/01/1918 To England for Commission.
14/02/1918 Command Canadian Pioneer school, Seaford.
04/03/1918 Canadian Pioneer school, Command school of musketry Shorncliff.
06/04/1918 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion, Command CTS Bexhill pending Commission.
05/06/1918 Transferred to 8th Canadian Reserve Battalion on appointment of Commission.
06/06/1918 Witby, posted to 102nd Battalion as temporary Lieut, France. Azeela shown as living at 37 Collingham Place SW5.
23/08/1918 Arrived in France.
25/09/1918 The Battalion was in the Bullecourt area.
26/09/1918 The Battalion Diary records that they moved of to the assembly point prior to the most glorious Operation in its history, the capture of Bourlon Wood. The Battalion was in the Hindenburg support line; from there they advanced to the assembly point at Inchey-En-Artois. Zero Hour at 05:20 passed followed by an advance at 06:00 Hrs. Casualty returns reported 8 Officers and 44 other ranks killed, 8 Officers and 151 other ranks wounded. The Diary recorded that the day had been a “great success” with 157 Germans captured along with 15 guns and 18 machine guns.
Death / Burial / Memorial details.
Killed in action aged 38 on the 27th September 1918. Canadian archives record "Killed in action. At about 7pm on Saturday the 27th September 1918 when advancing his platoon along the South edge of Bourlon wood, this Officer was struck in the right side by fragments from an enemy shell and killed". John is buried in BOURLON WOOD CEMETERY, Grave Ref: I. A. 17. (Pas De Calais, France). Headstone inscription reads “PEACE PERFECT PEACE”. Canadian archives records the Cemetery at 57c.E.12.d.8.5.
Evidence for inclusion on the Purton Parish list: Purton War Memorial (Recorded as J.R.BROWN), Memorial Board in St Mary’s Church, name listed in the Memorial book in St Mary’s Church.
