Brown, James Bruce: Service no. 54149

Digitized Service Record

Source: Referenced in letter re. Lt. William Ormiston Brown death during grenade training accident. He was later discharged after being witnessing Lt. Brown’s death; being shot in the hand; then buried by a shell blast for “Category “E” [unfit for service in all categories] as he is a case of marked nervous disability, and will improve faster in civilian life.”

Find-A-Grave

Acting Corporal J.B. Brown, Regimental no. 54149 attached to the Sub-Staff, Divisional School stated –

Mr. Brown of the 18th Battalion came to me in the office about 9.40 a.m. and said that he had some new men whom he had brought for Grenade work. He arranged to practice throwing dummies sometime after 10.00 a.m. and in the meantime wished to instruct the men in different kinds of grenades and asked me to give him grenades for that purpose. I told him I had none that were unloaded, he said that did not make any difference, that he would take the loaded ones. He accompanied me into the magazine, where I gave him the grenades, (Mills No. 5, G.S. No. 1, Newtown Pippin Rifle Grenade, and No. 19 Grenade) these Grenades he asked for by name. I examined the condition of the grenades before giving them to him, they were loaded and in good working order, but had no detonators in them. These he took away but returned a few minutes later and asked me for detonators. I told him I had no dummie [SIC] detonators, so he said the live detonators would do as well. I gave him one detonator for each of the No. 5, Mills, No. 1 G.S. and the Newton Pippin Rifle Grenade. He said he would turn these in before he started throwing. The No. 1, Hand Grenade (General Service) came from a box marked; – “10 – Grenades Hand – No. 1, M.K. III – W, 18-4-1916.”

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