The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6219a) Private William Charles Pinnegar Brown, 27th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (6219a) Private William Charles Pinnegar Brown, 27th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6219a Private William Charles Pinnegar Brown, 27th Battalion, AIF
KIA 5 May 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Charles Pinneger Brown.

William Brown was born on 2 December 1885, the eldest son of Thomas and Ruth Brown of the Adelaide suburb of Parkside. He attended school in Parkside and went on to become a carpenter, later moving to Quorn, in South Australia’s mid-north, where he worked in the locomotive shops. In 1908 he married Esther Finn, and the couple had two daughters, Margaret and Olive.

William Brown enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in May 1916. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas with reinforcements to the 10th Battalion. Six days before he sailed, his younger brother Frank, also serving with the 10th Battalion, died in France after being wounded on Pozieres Ridge.

Private William Brown first went to England, where he continued training on the Salisbury Plain. Before travelling to France in December 1916 he was transferred to the 27th Battalion, joining his unit in the trenches during the bitterly cold conditions of early 1917.

In early May 1917 the 27th Battalion was in reserve trenches behind the front lines at Bullecourt. On 5 May, an artillery shell landed near Private Brown and killed him. He was buried near the village of Noreuil and a small cross was erected above his grave.

As the area around Bullecourt was the scene of heavy fighting over the next two years, after the war Brown’s grave could not be located. Today he is commemorated by a special memorial in Queant Road Cemetery in Buissy. He was 31 years old.

William’s widow, Esther, died in 1965. She never remarried.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William Charles Pinneger Brown, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section