Sergeant Walter E. Brown VC DCM, or Lieutenant Brown?
A chance discovery of his forgotten commissioned service
Walter E. Brown VC DCM
Every now and then when wading through archival material and newspapers, unexpected snippets and gems emerge that have been somewhat overlooked while in plain sight. Here is one such recent discovery relating to Victoria Cross recipient, Walter Ernest Brown who was killed in 1942.
Walter Brown had served on the Western front with the 20th Battalion, AIF and was first awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1917 and then, in July 1918, the Victoria Cross. The many published biographies, as well as his military service dossiers, all state that at the outbreak of the Second World War, he served as a gunner in the 2nd/15th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery and in the wake of the Japanese trust through Malaya to Singapore he was listed as being killed on 28 February 1942. Late in 1918, he held the rank of sergeant, but there is no mention of him ever holding commissioned rank.
So, while flicking through a regimental officers list for the 1920s, I was surprised to see that a Lieutenant W.E. Brown VC DCM was serving with ‘D’ (Forrest Lodge) Company, 55th Battalion, a militia unit of the Australian Military Forces. The Commonwealth Gazette confirmed that this was indeed the very same Walter Ernest Brown, having been provisionally commissioned on 1 August 1921 and resigning on 15 February 1923.
It would seem that his commissioned service slipped through the administrative net, possibly because there was no requirement to update his Great War dossier and while attesting in 1940, he dramatically lowered his age and failed to declare his previous military service in order not to draw attention to himself. His 1920s militia dossier presumably has also not survived; however, the Commonwealth Gazette and Staff and Regimental Lists do confirm that Walter did in fact hold a militia commission briefly during the 1920s – a commission, nevertheless.
Extracts from the Commonwealth Gazette and Staff and Regimental List confirming Lieutenant W.E. Brown VC DCM’s commissioned service with the 55th Battalion
My imagination suggests that he wanted to recreate those bonds forged in the Great War and he was happy to put everything behind to do it. Then again, he might have been escaping a mundane life.....
Thanks for the post Cam.