Ernest Brown

Private Ernest Brown enlisted at Nottingham, he served with the 1st battalion Cheshire Regiment Ernest had served in South Africa during the Boar War. He was killed on 22 October 1914 during the attempt to take La Bassee Canal. Over 220 men were killed, wounded or captured; 53 men were killed. Ernest has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, France (Panel 13). CWGC - History of the Le Touret Memorial (extract): the Memorial is at the east end of Le Touret Military Cemetery. 'The Le Touret Memorial commemorates over 13,400 British soldiers who were killed in this sector of the Western Front from the beginning of October 1914 to the eve of the Battle of Loos in late September 1915 and who have no known grave ... Almost all of the men commemorated on the Memorial served with regular or territorial regiments from across the United Kingdom and were killed in actions that took place along a section of the front line that stretched from Estaires in the north to Grenay in the south. This part of the Western Front was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the first year of the war, including the battles of La Bassée (10 October – 2 November 1914) [others 1915 onward]. (www.cwgc.org)

CWGC additional information: 'Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. H. Brown, of 8, Hope St., Mansfield, Notts. Served in the South African Campaign.' Mansfield Reporter, 26 November 1915 (extract): ‘Free Churches And The Valiant Dead. Memorial Service at Bridge Street. Laurel Wreaths for Heroic Men. The memorial service for the sixteen gallant men who have given their lives for the nation, and who were connected with the Free Churches of Mansfield, was a most impressive and touching occasion. It was held in the Bridge-street Wesleyan Methodist Church on Sunday evening at 7.45, an hour fixed so as to allow worshippers in other churches to attend in order to do honour to the memory of the heroes. The congregation was a notable one, for it filled every part of the building, and scores of people had to stand. A civic touch was given to the service by the presence of the Mayor (Councillor T Smith) wearing his chain and he was accompanied by [names of aldermen, councillors and council officials]. Three ministers, the Revs. CF Gill (Primitive Methodist), CM Wright (Old Meeting House), and WJ Mackness (Skerry Hill Reform) occupied seats in front of the rostrum [Note: Rev FJ McAdam, Congregational, opened the service] and the relatives of the brave men who fought for their country, were in the pews facing them … It was a happy idea which led the promoters of the service to introduce a laurel wreath for each of the men for whom the service was being held, and these sixteen symbols of victory were hung from the pillars of the building and the choir stalls. Attached to each wreath was a white card, bearing the borough arms, and the name of the soldier. The tributes were afterwards handed to the mourners … The Roll Call … Brown, Ernest, 1st Cheshire Regiment. Butler, Harry, RM Light Infantry. Fletcher, John Wim, 2nd York & Lancs, Foster, Harold, 8th Sherwood Foresters. Hall, Samuel, 2nd Sherwood Foresters. Hayes, Geo. Edwin, Royal Engineers. Hinton, Geo., 8th Sherwood Foresters. Houfton, Chas M., 8th Sherwood Foresters. May, Percy, 8th Sherwood Foresters. Mayman, Thos. H., 8th Sherwood Foresters. Mayman, Thos. H., 8th Sherwood Foresters. Millband, Ernest, 8th Sherwood Foresters. Penson, Reginald, 2nd London Rgt RF. Radford, William, 8th Sherwood Foresters. Short, Gladstone, 1st East Surrey Regt. Sipson, Charles, 1st Sherwood Foresters. Townroe, John Geo. 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars.’ The report included the address by the Rev. J Leonard Webber. (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)