Durham Chronicle 24/09/1915 reports:
CROOK PRIVATE’S GALLANT END.
The death last weekend of Private E. Brown, of Crook, son of Mr Brown, chairman of the Auckland Board of Guardians, is conveyed in the following letter from his brother, who is also serving with the 6th Durhams in France. Private Nat Brown says: – “I know how you all feel about it. Poor old father and mother will fret an awful lot, I know. I’ve not the heart to write to them. Poor old Ned was hit with a shell, and it blew one of his legs off. I was working not far off him at the time, but I did not know till they had taken him to the hospital. They told me how brave he was, cheerful and in every respect a gallant fellow, as I knew he would be if the time came to prove it. We had such a jolly night together the night before he was hit.”
According to the CWGC website, 366 Pte Edward Brown, 6th DLI, aged 25, was killed on 10th Sept 1915 and is buried in France. In the 1911 census he was living with his parents, Edward and Mary Ann Brown at 13 Tennyson Terrace, Crook. His father’s occupation is given as Coal Miner (Hewer) as is the occupation of Edward and also his older brother Nathan – who in 1911 was married and living nearby in Grahamsley with his wife and 3 children. From the Medal Roll it is likely that Nathan survived the War, rising to the rank of Sergeant.
Acknowledgments: Tony Young
Edward is remembered on the plaque at Crook on C121.03 and at Billy Row on B159.01