228014 Pte. James Brown British Army 1st Battalion North Staffordshire Private James Brown, 1 North Staffordshire Regiment and His Dog Prince Who Found His Way to the Front.
In 1913, while serving with the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, in Buttervant, Co. Cork, Private James Brown, did what many of us have done in the past. He fell in love with a puppy, which he called Prince (after the regimental name Prince of Wales's); and the Irish Terrier puppy became devoted to him. A devotion that would literally know no bounds.
Even during these early days, 'Prince' was well known within the Regiment, in 1923 an article about "their old pal" appeared in the Regimental Journal.
"...There are still one or two of us left who remember his [Prince] travels during the time the battalion was stationed at Buttervant in Ireland. We remember well how he would run alongside the column on the march; first across one side of the road into the corn, and
then across to the other to explore the furrows of a ploughed field. We still remember how fresh he would arrive at the end of the march, although he must have traveled four times the distance, whilst our shoulders ached and our feet felt heavy. We didn't realize, at that time, that his fondness for the sight of khaki clad figures would make him famous..."
[F.B.T. The China Dragon (North Staffordshire Regimental magazine)Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.]
The Story of ‘Prince’ finding his master in the trenches, first appeared, under the headline, "Dog Goes To Front To Seek His Master", on the 27th November 1914, in the ‘Evening Telegraph and Post’, only two months after ‘Prince’ had disappeared from London.
The Evening Telegraph And Post Friday, November 27,1914
"The Story of a dramatic meeting at the front between a Hammersmith soldier and his dog is told in a letter received by Mrs Brown. Of 1 Airedale Cottages, Hammersmith from her husband, a private of the 1st Northamptonshire Regiment.
Private Brown went with his Regiment to the Continent in August, and on
September 27 Mrs Brown missed the dog – a shaggy haired Irish Terrier named Prince - from her home at Hammersmith, and on the following day reported her loss at Hammersmith Police Station. She heard nothing more of the animal until yesterday morning, when she received a letter from her husband, in which occurs the following passage:-
“I am sorry you have not found Prince, and you are never likely to while he is over here with me. It is a very strange thing I should have got him. A man brought him to me from the front trenches. I could not believe my eyes until I got off my horse, and he made a big fuss of me. I believe he came across with some other troops. Just fancy him coming here and finding me. He is quite settled down with me, and I have made him a coat out of some of our old great- coats, which will keep him warm. He
is the pet of the Regiment.â€
Note: The Regiment in the report should have read 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, but the paper miss reported it.
By Saturday 28th November 1914, the story of ‘Prince’ miraculous journey appeared in local newspapers right across the country, from The Cornishman in the South, to The Newcastle Journal in the North, eventually also getting picked up by the Nationals. Several of the papers added extra information (as well as correctly identifying James’ regiment). In the report, "A Dog’s Devotion", in the Newcastle Journal, a further extract from James' letter appeared, which helps explain how the story made the papers so quickly.
“… I believe Colonel De Falbe is going to report the circumstances to the papers; in fact, they may already have it as the dog has been with me five days,â€....
[Pte Browns letter in THE NEWCASTLE JOURNAL, Saturday, November 28, 1914 p.6]
All of the media coverage, brought the story to the attention of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), who thoroughly investigated Prince's miraculous appearance in Flanders and were able to establish its authenticity beyond doubt. But how did 'Prince' manage to travel almost 200 miles from Hammersmith to Armentieres, in France, on his own? The men of the 1st North Staffordshire's had an answer.
"At first we looked upon his [Prince's] arrival in the battalion in Flanders as something approaching impossible... ...The problem was eventually solved.
The Queen's Westminsters had marched through Hammersmith on the way to
the station for entraining for a port of embarkation during the month of
November, and all the old memories of the times in Ireland must have come
flooding back to 'Prince', for it was then that he said to himself "I will go on this march." The march, however, was a short one, and the ride long, for he stuck to his newly-found khaki clad acquaintances until there arrival at Erquinghem not far from the scene of operations and well within the sound of the guns. Here the unexpected happened for on that day Prince's old master, also passing through and seeing a dog that looked very much like his own, called to him and was quickly assured that it was none other than the old friend of the Battalion."
[F.B.T. The China Dragon Vol XV Xmas 1923 No 5 Page 163.]
News of Prince’s arrival at Armentieres spread through the regiment like wildfire, the next morning Private Brown had orders to parade with his pet before the Commanding Officer for examination and verification of the story. The regiment adopted Prince as mascot and he stayed in France, with Private Brown where he soon settled down as an old campaigner. He was provided with a British Warm made from an old khaki tunic and he used to wear his master's identification disc and soon settled down to life in the front line. James wrote, “Whenever a heavy shell came over, he never failed to take cover†[Evening Telegraph and Post, p.7 October 29th 1919]. Later, as they were awarded, he wore his master's medals too; the 1914-15 Star, the Victory Medal, and the British War Medal.
James and ‘Prince’ remained together in Flanders throughout the four years of fighting, until the Armistice in November 1918, both surviving some of the most infamous battles, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, Messines, Cambrai, as well as their frequent travels through the aptly named “Hellfire Cornerâ€.
Prince was repatriated to Britain in 1919, and quarantined in Shoreham, which was paid for by public donations, then returned to Mr and Mrs Brown. However, the four years at the front seemed to have taken their toll on him and on July 21st 1921 aged only 8 years old, Prince sadly died.
Prince’s finale appearance in the news seems to be 30th September 1921 in The Mercury, which ran a story about the presentation of a portrait of Prince, painted by Mrs Georgina Shaw Baker, to the Browns. The drawing “Prince, an Irish Terrier, Mascot of the Staffordshire Regiment in the Trenches in France†is now held by the Council of the National Army Museum, London.
James Brown was a driver at HQ
|