Raymond William Brown

Story:
Raymond William Brown was born in 1898 at Sutton Waldron, Shaftesbury, Dorset, and baptised there on 12th June 1898. He was the son of William Brown, an agricultural labourer, and Love Brown (née Foot). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, a scholar and living in Sutton Waldron, Dorset. He enlisted at Sturminster Newton, Dorset, as a Private with the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 14922). He was originally sent to the Balkans on 31 Oct 1915 later transferring to France & Flanders and was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1915 Star. He was presumed killed in action on 26th September 1916 and his name appears on the Thiepval Memorial in France (Pier and Face 7 B). He is also remembered on the Sutton Waldron section of the War Memorial at Iwerne Minster, Dorset. His mother was in receipt of a dependent's pension. (NB. It is possible he entered military service before his 18th birthday and should have been rejected until a few months later.)