220450 Pte. Thomas Henry Brown British Army 1/4th Btn Essex Regiment from:Southend-on-Sea (d.11th Oct 1918) Born in 1896, Thomas Brown immediately enlisted into the Middlesex Regiment (Regulars) upon the outbreak of war. He received a medical discharge as unfit for military service.
He then joined the 1/4th Battalion, Essex Regiment (Territorial Force) and sailed for the Mediterranean in July 1815. The Btn arrives at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on the 12th August where they are immediately involved in the engagements at Suvla Bay and the trench warfare to follow.
On the 4th December the Btn is evacuated to Mudros, Egypt arriving on the 17th. The Bn remain in Egypt/Palestine until the end of the war. At some time Thomas is posted to join the 2nd Btn in France, his Regimental number is changed to: 202456.
It is understood that he served during the battles of; Messines, Langemarck, Cambrai, Bourlon Wood, Quentin, Somme, Rosieres, Messines, Kenmel Ridge, Ypres, Courtrai, and Osteghen. In late 1918 he was evacuated to England with influenza from which he died, in service on the 11th October 1918 at Rusthall VAD centre, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Thomas is buried at the CWGC site at Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend-on-Sea. His name is recorded on an oak panel at Southchurch Church and on the Roll of Honour at the Great Hall, Prittlewell Priory together with his brother; Frederick Norman who also fell.
|