Pte
Thomas Charles Brown
Information about birth
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Year of birth: 1893 |
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Place of birth: St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom |
General information
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Profession: Milkman |
Army information
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Country: England, United Kingdom |
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Force: British Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Private |
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Service number: 203377 |
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Enlistment place: Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom |
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Units: — Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1/5th Bn. (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 22/08/1917 |
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Place of death: Winnipeg Farm, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 24 |
Memorial
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Tyne Cot Memorial Panel: 25 |
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Private Tomas Charles Brown served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1st/5th Battalion, of the 143rd Brigade, of the 48th Division. He advanced with his Battalion on the 22nd of August 1917. The 48th Division was in the front lines between the hamlet of Keerselare and Hillock Farm. It attacked with two brigades, the 144th Brigade on the left and the 143rd Brigade on the right.
The 143rd advanced at zero hour, 4.45 a.m. with one single Battalion, the 1st/5th Royal Warwicks. They were to capture the German strongpoints at Winnipeg and Springfield. While “C” Company of the 1st/5th Royal Warwicks succeeded in capturing several gunpits at C.12.d.7.3, West of Winnipeg, the rest Battalion of the Battalion was unable to get a foothold at Winnipeg and Springfield. Ample artillery support, the shell logged terrain and heavy machine gun fire, coming from the German concrete defences, made each push forward neigh to impossible.
The 144th Brigade on the left managed to gain its objective without serious opposition, owing to the tank support. However the tanks were unable to leave the Keerselare-Saint-Julien road, due to the muddy terrain and the main objective couldn’t be reached. As the 1st/5th Warwicks were held up, the right flank of the 144th Brigade was up in the air. Making them vulnerable for enfilade machine gun fire coming from the right flank.
Once the attack had been checked along the divisional front the Germans launched several counter-attacks. The gunpits fell at about 9 a.m. to a German counterattack and drove the Battalion back to the principal positions, though “C” company recaptured them later that day.
25-year-old Private Tomas Charles Brown was killed in action on the 22nd of August 1917. He fell during the attack on Winnipeg and Springfield. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
The 143rd advanced at zero hour, 4.45 a.m. with one single Battalion, the 1st/5th Royal Warwicks. They were to capture the German strongpoints at Winnipeg and Springfield. While “C” Company of the 1st/5th Royal Warwicks succeeded in capturing several gunpits at C.12.d.7.3, West of Winnipeg, the rest Battalion of the Battalion was unable to get a foothold at Winnipeg and Springfield. Ample artillery support, the shell logged terrain and heavy machine gun fire, coming from the German concrete defences, made each push forward neigh to impossible.
The 144th Brigade on the left managed to gain its objective without serious opposition, owing to the tank support. However the tanks were unable to leave the Keerselare-Saint-Julien road, due to the muddy terrain and the main objective couldn’t be reached. As the 1st/5th Warwicks were held up, the right flank of the 144th Brigade was up in the air. Making them vulnerable for enfilade machine gun fire coming from the right flank.
Once the attack had been checked along the divisional front the Germans launched several counter-attacks. The gunpits fell at about 9 a.m. to a German counterattack and drove the Battalion back to the principal positions, though “C” company recaptured them later that day.
25-year-old Private Tomas Charles Brown was killed in action on the 22nd of August 1917. He fell during the attack on Winnipeg and Springfield. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Sources 2
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1/5 Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment , (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2755/1). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Further reference |
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McCarthy C., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Uniform, 2018), pg. 62-63. Sources used |
More information 3
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/843378 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=aea602a1-64e9-4485-920b-fa4f9c0f0bd8 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/558259 |