839087 L/Cpl. William Stanley Brown was born on January 16th, 1890, in Sydenham Township, Ontario, to Adam and Agnes Brown.
Coming from a family of eight children, William was working as a farmer in Sydenham Township when hostilities broke out.
With the raising of the 147th (Grey) Battalion, William joined the cause, attesting to it in Owen Sound, on May 11th, 1916, just as the Battalion was mobilizing to depart for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the camp were wanting, the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June. In September the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain on November 14th, 1916, on the S.S. Olympic, a sister ship to the Titanic.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion, whose task it was to supply reinforcements to the 58th Battalion and the 4th C.M.R. William was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. on April 10th, 1917 and would have seen action at the Battle of Arras (April-May, 1917).
William served with the 4th C.M.R. through the remainder of the war, attaining the rank of Lance Corporal during his service. Whilst no specific details are available, it was reported on August 22nd, 1918, likely during the move from Warluzel, France, north to Lignereuil (some 9 miles / 15 km west of Arras), that William was accidently wounded.
Lance Corporal William Stanley Brown was struck off strength on March 29th, 1919. Living a full life, William passed away on September 28th, 1964 at the age of 74. He lies at rest in Owen Sound's Greenwood Cemetery.
Biography credit and thanks go to George Auer.