Profile

BROWN, Francis
(Service number 7/1701)

Aliases	Frank
First Rank	Corporal	Last Rank	Gunner

Birth

Date	26 January 1885	Place of Birth	Temuka

Enlistment Information

Date	12 July 1915	Age	30 years 6 months
Address at Enlistment	Ohape Post-office, Timaru
Occupation	Farmer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	John BROWN (father), Ohape Post-office, Timaru
Religion	Presbyterian
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 9½ inches. Weight 189 lbs. Chest measurement 37-39½ inches. Complexion fair. Eyes grey. Hair brown. Sight and hearing both good. Colour vision correct. Limbs well formed. Full and perfect movement of joints. Chest well formed. Heart and lungs normal. Teeth good. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Good bodily and mental health.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	7th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Date	9 October 1915
Transport	Aparimo or Navua or Warrimoo
Embarked From	Wellington	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Field Artillery

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals	1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date	30 November 1917	Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer

Death

Date	25 December 1960	Age	75 years
Place of Death	Christchurch
Cause
Notices	Timaru Herald, 27 December 1960
Memorial or Cemetery	Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch
Memorial Reference	Block PR30, Plot 26
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Francis BROWN was a son of John and Louisa (nee KIRBY) BROWN, of "Riverslea", Temuka. Frank was educated Milford and Temuka schools.

Corporal Frank (service no. 7/1701) embarked for the Suez on 9 October 1915 with the Seventh Reinforcement, Canterbury Mounted Rifles. He had previously enlisted with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Trentham on 25 August 1915, aged 30 years and 6 months. His attestation sheet shows that he was a self-employed farmer and his medical examination showed that he was healthy. Francis' service sheet shows that throughout his service he travelled through Suez, Cairo, Zeitoun, Alexandria, France, and Boulogne and had at various times held the ranking of Trooper, Corporal, and Gunner. Francis developed Pleurisy while serving in France in March 1917. He was transferred to a Hospital in Walton, England and was classified as unfit for service in April 1917. He spent some time convalescing at Hopechurch, England before returning to NZ in July 1917 aboard the SS Arawa. He was discharged from the army on 30 November 1917.

For his service Francis recieved the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His total period of service was 2 years, 98 days – comprised of 112 days in NZ and 1 year and 351 days overseas in Egypt and France. There is a War Memorial located next to Sutherlands District Hall on the Pleasant Point-Fairlie Highway which includes name of soldiers who served in the Great War. The name 'F. Brown' appears on memorial.

Francis died on 26 December 1960, aged 75 years 11 months.

Francis' brothers David and James BROWN also served in WWI.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 May 2014]; N Z Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5530 0018840) [20 August 2014]; Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch burial records (Christchurch City Council) [22 August 2014]; Headstone transcription Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch (South Canterbury Branch NZSG Cemetery Records microfiche) [22 August 2014]; Timaru Herald, 27 December 1960 (Timaru District Library) [22 August 2014]; Timaru Herald, 27 August 1915 (Papers Past) [22 August 2014]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [31 August 2014]; NZ BDM historical records iIndexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [22 August 2014]; SCRoll web submission by A Maze, 8 May 2020

External Links

Researched and Written by

Currently Assigned to

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.

Tell us more

Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!