Walter Brown (VC)
Walter Ernest Brown VC, DCM (3 July 1885 – 28 February 1942) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth forces. He was born in Tasmania and worked as a grocer before enlisting in the Australian Army in 1915, following the outbreak of First World War. Initially he was sent to Egypt where he served in the Australian Service Corps before being transferred to the Western Front where he served in the infantry with the 20th Battalion. In July 1918, during the fighting at Villers-Bretonneux he single-handedly destroyed a German machine-gun post, taking a number of prisoners in the process. For this act he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was also later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for a previous act of bravery.
Following the war, Brown was repatriated to Australia and returned to civilian life. When the Second World War began, he lied about his age and previous experience in order to re-enlist in the Australian Army, this time serving in the Royal Australian Artillery. In 1942 Brown's unit was sent to Singapore following the Japanese attack on Malaya. He is believed to have been killed in action on 28 February 1942, although his body has never been recovered.
Read more about Walter Brown (VC): Early Life, First World War, Inter War Years, Second World War, Medals
Famous quotes containing the words walter and/or brown:
“Be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish.”
—Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618)
“His reversed body gracefully curved, his brown legs hoisted like a Tarentine sail, his joined ankles tacking, Van gripped with splayed hands the brow of gravity, and moved to and fro, veering and sidestepping, opening his mouth the wrong way, and blinking in the odd bilboquet fashion peculiar to eyelids in his abnormal position. Even more extraordinary than the variety and velocity of the movements he made in imitation of animal hind legs was the effortlessness of his stance.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)