Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
Farm hand Leslie Carlisle Brown had tried to enlist earlier in the war, but was rejected as too young. When he enlisted in Sydney on 5 June 1917, he stated his age as 18 years. Depending on his actual date of birth, Brown could still have been 18 when he was killed in action on 30 March 1918.
Brown had embarked on the Port Melbourne on 16 July 1917, arriving in Liverpool, United Kingdom, exactly two months later. A bout of mumps, plus possibly his young age, kept him in Britain for four months. Brown crossed to France and marched into the 33rd Battalion of the 3rd Australian Division on 23 January 1918, in the middle of the freezing, quiet winter period.
When the Germans launched their 1918 spring offensive, the 3rd was the first Australian division to be brought down from Belgium to the Somme to defend the city of Amiens. Coincidentally, Monash and his 3rd Division arrived in the French town of Doullens on 26 March 1918, the same day the allies were meeting in the local town hall and setting up a unified command under the supreme command of French general Marshal Foch.
Within days, the 33rd Battalion was in action against the enemy and Brown was killed in action on 30 March 1918. He was buried 'in the churchyard at Cachy', but after the war, the Imperial War Graves Commission was unable to find his grave, therefore his name was inscribed on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
Once the authorities were confirmed Brown's parents and grandparents were deceased, and that his father was an only child, Brown's medals were allocated to his next-of-kin, Mrs Maggie Melrose of 9 Harrow Road, Auburn.
Brown L C and Brown W S on the Auburn War Memorial were not related.
Leslie Brown is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal
- 1914-20 Victory Medal
