Pte Godfrey Brown

Godfrey was born on 13th April 1891, his gravestone incorrectly says he was 29 when he died in 1918, which would make him born in 1889. He was born in Stonewall, Manitoba, to Godfrey Magnus and Hanna Catherine Brown. After leaving school, he worked as a car mechanic.

On October 18th 1917 he underwent medical examination so that he could serve in the first world war. On November 23rd 1917 he married Leda Mae Warner Alguire in Ottawa. In the new year, on January 22nd 1918, Godfrey was conscripted into active service, joining the 2nd Depot Battalion Eastern Ontario Regiment. And on February 12th 1918 Godfrey embarked on the HMS Lapland from Halifax, Nova Scotia, bound for Europe. He arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, on February 25th 1918 and proceeded to Seaford, England, where he joined the 6th Reserve Battalion.

In June 1918, he was transferred to the 21st Battalion and subsequently arrived at the Canadian Infantry Base Depot in Etaples, France. He then moved to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp at Aubin St Vaast before joining the 21st Battalion in Divisional Reserve at Betencourt on June 23rd 1918.

In the autumn of 1918 he was on the front line, and on the night of 11th/12th October he sustained a shrapnel wound to his right leg. He was initially treated at the No. 9 Canadian Field Ambulance before being transferred to the No. 33 Casualty Clearing Station. His condition required further care, leading to his transfer to the No. 2 Australian General Hospital in Boulogne, and later evacuation to England aboard the Hospital Ship Pieter de Coninck.

Upon arrival in England, he was posted to the Eastern Ontario Regimental Depot while receiving treatment at the General Military Hospital in Colchester. Sadly, his condition worsened, and on November 7th 1918 he was transferred to the Coombe Lodge Volunteer Aid Detachment Hospital in Great Warley where he was declared to be dangerously ill. Godfrey Brown passed away later that day due to shock and loss of blood.

He was laid to rest in Lorne Road Cemetery. After the war he was granted the British War Medal and Victory Medal, his Dead Man’s Penny, Scroll, and Memorial Cross were sent to his widow, Leda M. Brown, residing at Farran’s Point, Ontario. Leda later remarried and moved to Alburgh, Vermont, in the Unites States.