BROWN, RALPH AUSTIN
BROWN, RALPH AUSTIN
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Text on stone:
Grave Reference:
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Corporal
4544935
25/09/1944
31
Monmouthshire Regiment 2nd Bn.
I. A. 11.
Always in our thoughts
Additional Information:
Son of Charles and Donna Teresa Brown, of Woodesford, Yorkshire; husband of Winifred Mary Brown, of Woodesford.
Ralph was born in the 4th quarter of 1912 in Yorkshire, U.K. He was mortally wounded at the battle around Voorheide, Belgium. He died of his woonds in the field hospital at Meerveldhoven, the Netherlands. He was buried there before being transfered to the Valkenswaard War Cemetery.
Original gravesite at Meerveldhoven.
From the service records of Ralph Austin Brown, the following account can be reconstructed.
Ralph Austin Brown was born on 10 November 1912 in Woodlesford, Leeds, Yorkshire. Before the war he worked as a cooper. He was described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, with brown eyes and dark brown hair.
He enlisted in the British Army on 24 July 1940 and initially served with the West Yorkshire Regiment. On 26 December 1939, shortly before his enlistment, he married Winifred Webster in Woodlesford.
During his service, Ralph was posted overseas to the Falkland Islands, where he served from 14 June 1942 until 16 March 1944. After returning, he was transferred on 10 April 1944 to the South Staffordshire Regiment.
Following the Allied landings in North-West Europe, Ralph continued to be reassigned as the campaign progressed. On 14 August 1944 he was transferred to the Royal Norfolk Regiment, and on 26 August 1944 to the Monmouthshire Regiment.
Ralph Austin Brown was wounded on 25 September 1944. He died of his wounds on the same day.
His death marked the end of a service career that had taken him from Yorkshire to the South Atlantic and finally to the battlefields of North-West Europe.
Yorkshire Evening Post 25 September 1946
Yorkshire Evening Post 25 September 1948
Yorkshire Evening Post 25 September 1953
