Brown, Jacob Lavern: Service no. 124733

Digitized Service Records

Canadian Great War Project

Source:

@ebd_edwards Jacob Lavern Brown Reg 124733 http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/image.aspx?Image=265688a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fdata2.archives.ca%2fcef%2fgpc001%2f265688a.gif&Ecopy=265688a …

Find-A-Grave: note this soldier is listed here as Jacob LEVERN Brown.

Brother of John Sidney Brown, 124740. Lavern Jacob Brown served with his brother in the 18th Battalion and fought at the Battle of Fler-Courcelette. After the battle Jacob Lavern Brown had the sad duty of searching the battlefield and aid stations for his brother John. His brother was never found and is memorialized at Vimy.

“Vern, his brother searched for him at aid stations and around the battlefield hoping to find him alive but nothing was ever found of him after the morning of the 15 Sept, 1916. He was first listed as missing, then listed as killed in action a short time later. Official records list him KIA.  “

Possible Roots Web Entry pertaining to Jacob Lavern Brown:

007663/15 (Lambton Co) Harry Young WILLIAMS, 29, farmer, Warwick, Warwick, s/o John Young WILLIAMS & Martha PHILLIPS, married Rosa Melinda BROWN, 24, Watford, Watford, d/o Jacob BROWN & Christina SMITH, witn: William A. WILLIAMS of Arkona Ont. & Sadie M. LOGAN of Watford Ont., 3 November 1915, Watford

Jacob Lavern Brown survived the war.

Summary of Service[i] for Private Jacob Lavern Brown, reg. no. 124733

Date	Event	Remarks
April 28, 1895	Born	Born at Watford, Ontario to Mr. Jacob and Mrs. Brown.
April 5, 1916	Enlists	Enlists at London, Ontario with the 70th Battalion. He is 21-years old and stands 5’6.5” tall. With a chest of 34” with a 5” expansion. He weighs 123 lbs. He is a machinist and has no prior military experience. He has a fair complexion, gray eyes, and light brown hair. He practices the Baptist or Congregationalist faith and has designated his father as his next-of-kin. Present address is 503 Christena Street, Sarnia, Ontario. He is assigned to “C” Company.
May 1, 1916	Assigns Pay	Assigns $15.00 per month to his mother.
April 24, 1916	Units Sales
May 5, 1916	Arrives England	Arrives England aboard the SS Lapland.
July 6, 1916	Transferred	Transferred and TOS to the 39th Battalion at West Sandling.
July 28, 1916	SOS and Transferred	SOS and Transferred to the 18th Battalion.
July 29, 1916	Arrives 18th Battalion	Arrives “in the field”. The Battalion is in the line.
September 15, 1916	Brother KIA and Promoted Corporal	His brother, Private John Sidney Brown, is killed while serving with the 18th Battalion.
April 25, 1917	Admitted	Admitted to 4th CFA due to a debility. Transferred same day to 13 FA Imperial.
June 4, 1917	Medical Board	Diagnosed with DHA.
June 11, 1917	Classified by Medical Board	Classified PB.
July 6, 1917	Temporary Attached	Temporarily attached to No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot.
August 27, 1917	Transferred	Transferred to No. 13 FA, Imperial.
October 19, 1917	Re-Classified	Re-classified from PB to A.
December 19, 1917	Transferred	Transferred to No. 12 CFA.
December 22, 1917	Transferred	Transferred to No. 10 CCS.
March 12, 1918	Proceeded to Escort Duty	Proceeded to escort duty with 29th Battalion.
March 19, 1918	Classified	Classified by Medical Board B2.
March 24, 1918	SOS and Transferred	SOS 18th Battalion and TOS to No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot.
March 25, 1918	Appointed Sergeant	Appointed Sergeant with pay. A card indicates an address in Sarnia at 222 Front Street North.
April 20, 1918	Relinquishes Appointment	Reverts to the ranks as a Private.
April 21, 1918	Arrives	No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot.
May 9, 1918	TOS	TOS with 23rd Company, CFC.
May 12, 1918	Arrives	Arrives 23rd Company, CFC.
August 21, 1918	Granted Leave	Granted 14-days leave to England.
September 9, 1918	Returns from Leave
December 12, 1918	To Hospital
January 5, 1919	Returned from Hospital
January 15, 1919	Transferred	Transferred to 34th Company, CFC.
January 31, 1919	SOS for Demobilization	SOS for demobilization to the CFC Field Depot, Sunningdall.
February 1, 1919	SOS	SOS from 34th Company, CFC to BDCFC.
February 21, 1919	Diagnosed	Diagnosed with DAH.
February 21, 1919	Dental Examination
February 24, 1919	Medical Exam	Issue relating to cardio-vascular health. Reported as appearing “emaciated”.
March 1, 1919	SOS	SOS to CCC at Kinmel Park, Seaford, England.
March 3, 1919	Embarks	Embarks SS Celtic at Liverpool.
March 13, 1919	SOS to Canada
May 14, 1919	Medical Exam	Cough and expectorant in the morning. Tires easily.
May 27, 1919	Discharged	Discharged at London, Ontario. His proposed residence is at Watford, Ontario.
June 26, 1920	Marries	Marries Hilda Spittlehouse.
1971	Dies	Dies and is buried at Carling Cemetery, Carling, Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.

Acronyms

AWL	Absent Without Leave: Generally, a soldier would be deducted 1-days pay for every day absent. In some cases, the soldier would be confined to barracks. Sometimes it was a combination of both.
A Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. A1, A2, A3 and A4 were assigned to different units with the expectation that these men would be able to serve with active combat units. See this link for more information.
B Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. B1, B2, and B3 were assigned to different service units such as railway and forestry corps. See this link for more information.
D Classification	See this link for more information.
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CB	Confined to Barracks: a punishment for minor infractions.
CCD	Casualty Convalescent Depot: a depot at a base where men, in their final stages of convalescing, would be prepared for duty depending on their rating.
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CCRC	Canadian Corps Reserve Camp
CCS	Casualty Clearing Station: this facility was attached to rail transportation from the front to hospitals on the coast of France
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance
DHA	Disorderly Action of the Heart
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
In the Field	This term relates to a soldier arriving at an active-duty unit after transporting from England, to France, and then to his duty assignment. The routing varied from soldier to soldier and could take 2-3 days to several months.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin: This was a term used for any illness that could not clearly be identified and typically was related to influenza symptoms.
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength

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[i] The Summary of Service for this soldier is meant as just that, a summary of his service. It is not intended to be an exhaustive biographical relation of his life or his war service. Some information may be deliberately suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to the soldier. Readers are encouraged to reference the actual service records available at the Library and Archives Canada in PDF format if they wish to learn more about this soldier. Such additional information (i.e. hyperlinks etc.) are for informational purpose only and no claim to verification or accuracy is made by the author of this summary.