The Story of William Charles Pinnegar Brown

William enlisted at Quorn in May of 1916 at that time his wife (Ester Ethel) was also living in Quorn, though she later moved to Parkside in Adelaide. William was born in Adelaide and was 30 years old. He had fair hair and skin as well as blue eyes and was working as a carpenter in Quorn. When he was younger he had done his five year apprenticeship in Unley.
William embarked on the HMAT Anchises on the 28th of August 1916 as part of the 20th reinforcements for the 10th Battalion. Fourteen days later he disembarked at Plymouth and a day later marched into the 3rd Training Battalion at Perham Downs.
He was in England for only two months and then traveled to France on board the “Golden Eagle” to enter Etaples one week before Christmas 1916.
On the first day of the new year William was taken on strength as part of 27 Battalion.
No other information is recorded about William until his death on 5 May. This was the same day that Miller Fergusson was also killed. The war diary entry for the first days of May are included in Miller’s story.

William left his wife and two daughters, Margaret and Olive.

William is thought to be buried in Queant Road Cemetery, but his actual grave is unknown and his name appears on a special memorial. The cemetery is near Buissy which was not reached by the allies until early September 1918. The cemetery was used by allied clearing stations in October and November. After the war Queant Road Cemetery was used to bring in graves from the surrounding areas. There are now almost 2400 Commonwealth soldiers buried or commemorated in this cemetery, 1,400 of the burials are unidentified. There are special memorials to 56 soldiers known or believed to be buried there, including William.