Walter Leslie Brown | |
---|---|
Born |
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | August 13, 1910
Died | June 6, 1944 near
Caen, Normandy, France | (aged 33)
Occupation(s) | Anglican Minister and later Chaplain in the Canadian Army |
The Reverend Walter Leslie Brown (13 August 1910 – 6 June 1944) was a Canadian military chaplain who was attached to the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade during Operation Overlord. He was murdered by Waffen-SS soldiers after he had surrendered. At the time of his capture he had been wearing the uniform of a Canadian army chaplain.
Walter Brown was born in Peterborough, Ontario on 13 August 1910, [1] to English-born parents George Carmichael Brown and Florence May Brown (née Peters), although the family later settled in Orillia, Ontario. [2] He had two brothers. [3]
An alumnus of Huron University College, he was already an ordained and practising minister of the Anglican Church in Canada, [4] before he volunteered for service in the Canadian Army as part of the Canadian Chaplain Service [5] on 1 April 1941 in Toronto, Ontario. He was eventually attached to an armoured regiment (the 27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment)) slated to land early on D-Day [6] and he was therefore one of the first Canadian Military Chaplains to land in Normandy on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944. [7] Walter Brown was murdered (by bayonetting), [8] after surrendering to members of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend on 6 June. [9] He was the only allied military chaplain to suffer this fate, although several were killed and wounded in action in World War II. [10] [11] The Hitlerjugend Waffen SS were notoriously brutal [12] and murdered several Canadian Prisoners of War in the early stages of the Normandy Campaign. [13]
His body was eventually recovered on 11 July 1944 and he was buried along with other Canadian servicemen in the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in Normandy, France. [14] Walter Brown was awarded the following medals posthumously: the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the War Medal, the Defence Medal and the France and Germany Star. The medals were passed to his parents. [15]
Walter Leslie Brown | |
---|---|
Born |
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | August 13, 1910
Died | June 6, 1944 near
Caen, Normandy, France | (aged 33)
Occupation(s) | Anglican Minister and later Chaplain in the Canadian Army |
The Reverend Walter Leslie Brown (13 August 1910 – 6 June 1944) was a Canadian military chaplain who was attached to the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade during Operation Overlord. He was murdered by Waffen-SS soldiers after he had surrendered. At the time of his capture he had been wearing the uniform of a Canadian army chaplain.
Walter Brown was born in Peterborough, Ontario on 13 August 1910, [1] to English-born parents George Carmichael Brown and Florence May Brown (née Peters), although the family later settled in Orillia, Ontario. [2] He had two brothers. [3]
An alumnus of Huron University College, he was already an ordained and practising minister of the Anglican Church in Canada, [4] before he volunteered for service in the Canadian Army as part of the Canadian Chaplain Service [5] on 1 April 1941 in Toronto, Ontario. He was eventually attached to an armoured regiment (the 27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment)) slated to land early on D-Day [6] and he was therefore one of the first Canadian Military Chaplains to land in Normandy on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944. [7] Walter Brown was murdered (by bayonetting), [8] after surrendering to members of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend on 6 June. [9] He was the only allied military chaplain to suffer this fate, although several were killed and wounded in action in World War II. [10] [11] The Hitlerjugend Waffen SS were notoriously brutal [12] and murdered several Canadian Prisoners of War in the early stages of the Normandy Campaign. [13]
His body was eventually recovered on 11 July 1944 and he was buried along with other Canadian servicemen in the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in Normandy, France. [14] Walter Brown was awarded the following medals posthumously: the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the War Medal, the Defence Medal and the France and Germany Star. The medals were passed to his parents. [15]