This is a photograph of my father Benjamin Brown who enlisted in the DLI at the start of WW1 by claiming he was older than the required 18 years for the Army, I am sure many other men did the same – switch their ages to go off to war in what they thought would be a great adventure. Once they had sampled the trench warfare at battles such as Mons, Ypres, Passchendaele, and many others they would have realised war was not an adventure but a terrible experience for all involved.
My father would not talk about the war, like so many others but sometimes when he had had a few pints we learned snippets of some of his experiences which were very interesting, sometimes funny and sometimes tragic, as was the story about the time when they were watching this German as they thought in a forward position spying on them, they all lined him up and shot him. When they advanced later that day they looked for the Germans body only to find it was a British Officer who obviously had been spying on the German lines. The only consolation for Dad and his mates was that six or seven of the DLI had shot at about the same time so they did know who had fired the fatal shot. The DLI were famous as the fastest marching Regiment in the British Army, many of the Regiment were from Stockton and District.
Photograph and details courtesy of Ben Brown.
Another snippit from WW1 Dad once told me that when he was wounded and gassed he even asked an advancing German soldier finish him off but he only laughed at him and left him, his next recollection was he was in a large building in bed with a long line of hooded Monk like figures walking around the place chanting in some foriegn language. Dad thought he was in Heaven until the doctor told him he was in a Monestry and the Monks where taking care of the wounded.
I am 85 years old today July 6th 2020 and wonder at the life threatening situations my father Benjamin Brown found himself in before he was 21 years of age during the first World war it is a wonder I ever arrived in the first place. On the hospital ship taking the wounded back to England he was placed in the lowest level of the ship in the bowels as they say. Unable to walk or help himself they gave him a life jacket. What is this for asked Dad the reply to help you in the water if we get torpedoed. How am I going to get to the deck? asked Dad. You can stick it up where the Monkey sticks his nuts was Dads last reply. He eventually arrived safely in England and after medical advice he would be lucky to see his 21st Birthday, He managed to last until he was 74 years old and fathered five children, I think the moral of this is never give up as long as their is life their is hope.
Another of Benjamin Browns escapades as you may call them was when he wrote a letter to the Sunday Empire News I think was the name of the newspaper describing the terrible conditions that the British Soldier was encountering in the trenches on the Continent going into great detail about how the horses were floundering in the mud and drowning as they could not drag them out of the slime. and painting picture of Hell on Earth the British troops were enduring. This was printed in the Sunday Newspaper in England and Dad found himself on a charge of Giving information to the enemy and faced a Court Marshal. How ever he was eventually given a Reprimand and sent back to the front. I suppose he could have been shot for this error of judgment on his part, as many British Soldiers faced firing squads for doing the wrong thing…
Belated Birthday Wishes Ben for your 85th and all the best
Thanks Keith a bit late replying to you as it was my 86 last week thanks anyway. Still trying to keep going, but it gets harder after 80 years on this Earth.
Hi all, I’m trying to find out about a possible son of John William McIntosh, he joined the Durham Light Infantry 1904 in Stockton, he was killed in action 21st Sept 1914.
In 1912 John W McIntosh married Milly Emily Peacock, I believe they had a son and they named him after his father John William McIntosh, I think this JW McIntosh Jnr married Virginia Harbisher
in 1940,can anyone please help me with this?
I think the J.W.McIntosh Jnr lived in Daventry Avenue, Ragworth, & he had a son Lol & daughter Mavis, they had relations called Harbisher who lived round the Gasworks in Fenny Street.
Anon this is the same people, J W McIntosh and Virginia had 5 children all told,
I’m hoping some one can help me sort things out, if the J W McIntosh who married Virginia Harbisher is the son of J W McIntosh & Milly Emily McIntosh
his grandmother Margaret McIntosh is my maternal great grandmother.
Anon and all, yesterday I went to Stockton registry and purchased marriage certificate of John W McIntosh and Virginia Harbisher, this John give his age as 23
which means he must have been born 1917, the groom’s father also called John W McIntosh occupation Holder-up at shipyard, living at 101 Dundas st.
My John William McIntosh {Jnr} was born 1912 to parents John William McIntosh
and Milly McIntosh {formerly Peacock} married 1912.
John William McIntosh the father was killed in action 1914, the son just disapears,
Milly re-married 1915 in Halifax, no mention of the child, one of life’s mysteries i suppose unless some one know’s more than me, would love some help with this.
ps. Seems to be an awfull lot of McIntosh’s in Stockton and as far as i know none
related to the Hartlepool McIntosh’s.
Sad to say I can now discount this John W McIntosh and Virginia Harbisher as relatives, might just be my J W McIntosh Jnr went down to Halifax when his mother Milly McIntosh re-married {she formerly Peacock}
Still seaching!!!
Interesting Ben Brown, many of my relatives are also buried in Durham Road Cemetry
Very brave men as they all were.
You are correct Ben, the Durham Light Infantry were exactly that, you carried in my time basic needs mainly ammunition and food, we were always hungry, you speed marched which would be a double time run then normal march, rifles at the trail or shoulder, we did not slope arms, had our own drill in fact. The idea was to get you somewhere fast attack and hold until the heavy Infantry arrived in training this was often a 21 mile speed march then attack, straight in no messing about.
At Brancepeth we had the DLI and the Duke of Wellingtons they were heavy infantry and when our band marched on the square playing light infantry speed they fell into chaos, the speed marching was Ceremonial though we went everywhere at the double, automatically stood at ease after the halt without an order, that also put off other unit troops, they saw us smartly stand at ease and think they had missed the order.
I was transferred to REME when they were trying to build it into a Corps as were many tradesmen and we had to learn the normal arms drill slope arms etc. until we got the SLR rifle, a group of REME NCO’s were sent to Pirbrite Guards depot to learn the new drill, It turned out to be the shoulder arms drill I learned with the DLI so after the usual Guards banter about useless grease monkeys not knowing one end of a rifle from the other I ended up training one of the squads for them.
The Rifle Brigade now an amalgamation of all the light infantry Regiments still do the speed marching for ceremonial parades.
As to the DLI in the first world war they did a lot of the mining that went on at the time in the trench warfare as well as taking part in trench fighting.
Interesting, my great uncle was a sergeant in the DLI and his name was Norman Brown, he lived in Stockton I was wondering if Benjamin and my great uncle were related
Clasper – my father Benjamin Brown only had one brother Surtees Wilkinson who is buried in Durham Road Cemetrey after losing his life in a shipyard accident in the twenties. But there could be a connection through the cousins etc that I do not know of. I mentioned in my original posting that my father had had many interesting episodes during his time in the Belgium and France in WW1. One I recall was they were out on patrol and had no water left and they were all thirsty to the point they came across a Well marked POISONED WELL. They were so thirsty they decided that they would drink the water and lace the drinks with the content of a tin of Anderews Liver Salts one to the party had in his ruck sack Lucky for Dad and Lucky for me the Well was either not poisoned or Andrews Liver Salts are a marvelous product..