James David BROWN, PRIVATE 5/1430
* Born: 1894 at West Hartlepool
* Son of: David and Jessie Brown
* Local Address: 36 Bartlett Street, Darlington
* Father's Occupation: Tailor
* Siblings: Three sisters, position in family 3
* Pre-War Occupation: Apprentice engine fitter, Robert Stephenson Works, Springfield, Darlington
* Enlisted: 26 February 1912 at Darlington
* Regiment: 1st/5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (DLI)
* Died: Of wounds on Friday 9 July 1915
* Age: 20
* Buried: Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, France
James David Brown was born in 1894 in West Hartlepool, the only son of David Brown, a tailor, and his wife Jessie. Both David and Jessie had been born in Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland, as were David’s elder sisters Elizabeth and Jessie, but by the time of David’s birth the family had moved south to West Hartlepool. David’s younger sister Isabella was also born in West Hartlepool in 1898 but when the 1901 census was taken, the family lived in Barnard Castle. David occupation was described as a tailor’s cutter.
In 1911, David and Jessie lived in a three-roomed house at 108 Beaconsfield Street in Darlington. James David Brown, 17, was employed as an apprentice engine fitter at Robert Stephenson’s new works at Springfield, Darlington.
On 26 February 1912, James David enlisted at Darlington with the Territorial Force, to serve with 5/DLI for four years. He was given the regimental number 1430. In the spring of 1912, three others of our Haughton men enlisted with 5/DLI – Allan Raine, Norman Green and George White – so it is almost certain that they would all have known each other. George White and James David Brown were both employed at Robert Stephenson’s locomotive works. On his enlistment in 1912 James Brown described himself as a qualified turner - no longer an apprentice. As was usual, he was medically examined on the day he attested. He was 5ft 3¼in tall, with a chest measured at 33in, expandable by 3in. James must have only just met the physical requirements, which at the start of the war were minimum 5ft 3in tall with at least a 34in unexpanded chest measurement. However the examinations were often cursor - certainly later in the war - and many men were accepted who did not meet the requirements. James David’s vision was good and his physical development was said to be fair. Nevertheless, he was confirmed as fit to join the Territorial Force.
James David Brown’s service record shows that he attended the annual summer camp at Scarborough between 7 and 21 July 1912, but there is no mention of him attending the following year’s camp which was held at Redcar in July 1913. It is likely that he was there, as the summer camp was a major annual event in the life of a part-time territorial soldier. The 1913 camp was attended by over 3,000 people from various north-east England battalions including 5/DLI.
The men of 5/DLI were embodied on 5 August 1914, the day after war was declared. This meant that the days of James Brown’s part-time soldiering were over and from that date he was a full-time infantryman. Territorial soldiers signed an agreement at attestation to serve only in the United Kingdom. However, soldiers were of course needed on the Western Front and David Brown’s service record shows that on 18 September 1914 he signed a further agreement to serve outside the United Kingdom in the event of a national emergency.
The men trained at Hummersknott, Darlington and in Northumberland before leaving for France on 16 April 1915. The battalion fought in the Second Battle of Ypres between 22 April and 25 May 1915.
A more detailed description of the activities and movements of 5/DLI during the period from August 1914 to May 1915 can be found in Allan Raine’s story. The Second Battle of Ypres resullted in the battalion suffering 154 casualties, two of whom were the Haughton-le-Skerne boys Allan Raine and George White, both killed in action. James Brown had survived so far, but sadly not for much longer.
The Battalion War Diary goes on to record that between 9 and 23 June 1915, two companies of 5/DLI were in action in trenches in Sanctuary Wood, 3-4km to the south-east of Ypres. The other two companies in the battalion were held in reserve. At 01:00 on 23 June, the battalion was relieved by the Sherwood Foresters, and returned to camp at Vlamertinge, 3-4km to the west of Ypres.
During the period from 25 May to 23 June, 10 men of the battalion were killed and 25 wounded. There then followed a few days of rest, recuperation and training before returning to trenches at Messines, south of Ypres, on 28 June. The battalion remained in trenches until 2 July and during that time the men were inspected in trenches by General The Earl of Cavan who two days earlier had been given command of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division (of which 5/DLI were part).
Having been relieved by 5/Yorkshire Regiment on 2 July, the men returned to a nearby camp at Dranoutre. The battalion was under fire while in the trenches, the Battalion War Diary recording that two men were killed and one wounded between 28 June and 2July. As a result of the significant losses sustained by the battalion in recent weeks, on 4 July, 5/DLI was reinforced by 75 men arriving from England.
On 6 July, after early morning parade, the battalion returned to the same trenches they had occupied between 28 June and 2 July. On that day the Battalion War Diary records that Captain P Wood was awarded the DSO which he had won on 23 May while fighting at Sanctuary Wood. The medal citation was ‘for Conspicuous Gallantry’. Nothing further is reported in the diary until 9 July, although during that time James David Brown sustained the injury that led to his death.
James Brown’s service record shows that he died at 10:15 on 9 July in 1st Northumberland Field Ambulance, Neuve Eglise from injuries sustained the previous day. He had suffered a ‘GSW’ (gunshot wound) to the head. James David Brown’s service record states that he was buried the same day at T.20.C. 3-2. Map 28, which would have represented coordinates on a military map of the time. This was probably a nearby cemetery although his gravestone can now be found at Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck. Trois Arbres Cemetery was not created until a year after James Brown’s death. After the armistice over 700 graves were brought into the new cemetery from the battlefields of Steenwerck, Nieppe, Bailleul and Neuve-Eglise, and this will have been what happened to James David Brown.
Notification of James’s death was sent to his next of kin at 108 Beaconsfield Street, Darlington but returned by the Post Office marked ‘Gone Away’. The Colonel in charge of Territorial Force Records at York then wrote to the commanding officer of 5/DLI asking for James Brown’s current address. The colonel received a reply on 24 August 1915 – almost six weeks after James Brown had died - with the information that the current address was 26 Bartlett Street, Darlington. No doubt immediate information was sent to Bartlett Street but one wonders whether this was the first David and Jessie Brown had heard of the loss of their only son. Bartlett Street is only five streets away from Beaconsfield Street.
As was the administrative requirement of the Army, a soldier’s next of kin was required to complete a declaration confirming details of nearest relatives, countersigned as a true record by a minister or magistrate. The relatives are recorded as David and Jessie Brown (James’ parents), his sisters Elizabeth Brown, 32, with the British Expeditionary Force in France, Jessie Brown, 28, living at Earl Street, Grimsby and Bond Brown (Isabella) at home with her parents. The declaration was signed by P White, Wesleyan Minister. He was probably the minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (now demolished), in Corporation Road, Darlington, very close to both Bartlett Street and Beaconsfield Street.
James David Brown’s Medal Index Card shows that he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His name was commemorated at the War Memorial Hospital, Darlington, in the Book of Remembrance for 5/DLI at St Thomas’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees, on a plaque (whereabouts unknown) at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Corporation Road, Darlington, and on a family headstone in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Church, Haughton-le-Skerne.
The headstone is inscribed with the words:
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
DAVID
BELOVED HUSBAND OF
JESSIE BROWN
DIED 17TH DECEMBER 1935
AGED 76 YEARS
ALSO THE ABOVE
JESSIE BROWN
DIED 7TH JANUARY 1937
AGED 86 YEARS
ALSO OF THEIR ONLY SON
JAMES DAVID BROWN 5TH D.L.I.
KILLED IN ACTION 9TH JULY 1915
AGED 21 YEARS