Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War M.M. group of three awarded to Sergeant T. L. Brown, Hampshire Regiment, who was killed on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme

Military Medal, G.V.R. (6930 Sjt: T. L. Brown. 1/Hants: R.); British War and Victory Medals (6930 Sjt. T. L. Brown. Hamps. R.) mounted court style together with an unnamed 1914 Star with clasp, good very fine (4) £900-1100

M.M. London Gazette 19 February 1917: ‘His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the under-mentioned Non-commissioned officers and men, since deceased, who have been killed in action or died of wounds or disease subsequent to the date of the award of the Military Medal to them by the Commander-in-Chief in the Field.’

Thomas Luke Brown was born in Winchester, lived in New Brompton, London, and some time before the Great War he enlisted into the Hampshire Regiment. In 1914 he was serving in the 1st Battalion, stationed at Colchester. The battalion formed part of the 4th Division, 11th Brigade. On the outbreak of war the Division was deployed on Home Defence duties and, when this role was taken over by the Special Reserve, the Division was able to follow the rest of the B.E.F. to France. The 1st Hampshires proceeded to Southampton and, on the night of 21-22 August, embarked in the ships Braemar Castle and Cestrian. The battalion disembarked at Le Havre on the 22nd and travelled by train to Le Cateau, detraining at 4am on the 24th.

The B.E.F. had had its first serious engagement with the Germans, the Battle of Mons, on the previous day, and were retreating south. On the 26th the Hampshires were engaged in the Battle of Le Cateau in which the units involved covered the retreat of the B.E.F., foiling a German attempt to outflank them. The Brigade’s wounded had to be abandoned and the Hampshires lost 200 in this battle. They then joined the B.E.F. in its gruelling retreat, and also participated in the Battle of the Aisne (12-15 September 1914). By the end of 1914 the battalion had only six officers and 366 other ranks left: the others had been killed (8 officers, 265 O.Rs), wounded (15 officers, 390 O.Rs) or were missing.

In February 1915 Brown’s name appeared in the Regimental Journal: he had sprained his left elbow and, on 7 January 1915, was admitted to hospital at Boulogne.

Between 24 April and 5 May 1915 the Hampshires were heavily involved in the fighting around St Julien, part of the Second Battle of Ypres. Brown, by this time promoted Sergeant, distinguished himself for the gallant command of his section and was recommended for some form of recognition. He was awarded the Military Medal but, by the time the award was published in the London Gazette, he had already been killed.

The 4th Division was one of those selected for the great offensive on the Somme which began on the 1st July 1916. It was allocated a length of the German line between Serre, to the north, and Beaumont Hamel to the south. This section included a strong-point protruding into the British lines which the Germans called the Heidenkopf; the British referred to it as the Quadrilateral.

At 7.30 am the first two battalions went over the top. They found the wire had been cut but No Man’s Land was dominated by two machine-guns on the Ridge Redoubt. German demolition charges in the Quadrilateral exploded prematurely, killing one of their own machine-gun teams, and the British were able to capture it. At 08.40 the second wave “went over the top”; the battalion on the left was able to reinforce the men holding the Quadrilateral and even capture some of the support trenches beyond but, on the right, the Hampshires were pinned down in No-Man’s-Land and took heavy casualties. The divisions on both flanks were unsuccessful; remnants of four battalions held the Quadrilateral but could not be reinforced and were killed or captured as their ammunition ran out. The survivors withdrew at 11.30 am the following day.

The 1st Hampshires suffered such heavy casualties that no-one could be found at the end of the day to describe, reliably, what had happened. Its War Diary entry for 1 July reads: “Our casualties in officers amounted to 100% and was also heavy in other ranks”. In fact, officer casualties amounted to 26, including the C.O., Lieutenant Colonel the Hon. L. C. W. Palk, who was killed, and 559 other ranks, a total of 585 – one of the heaviest of any battalion that day. Sergeant Brown was amongst the killed. His body was recovered and he was buried at the Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps.

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