Matteo La Boccia
Sr. Member
This is a press release about a our interesting finding:
Possibly we are in front of a new a new important development in the search for the identification of the remainings of the two english soldiers who have been found the first of march on the Giovi's Hills near Salerno, from the "associazione Salerno 1943".
That afternoon at the end of the winter the volunteers belonging to this fellowship from Salerno, Pierpaolo Irpino, Vincenzo Pellegrino e Matteo Pierro recovered human remains which supposedly belonged to two british soldiers, as it was possible to understand from the metallic equipment which was collected nearby the bones of the unfortunate victims.
After contacting the Police and the MOD Casualty Centre (JCCC), the office from the British Defense Ministery, with whom "Salerno 1943" cooperate, the researchers pointed their attention on the official report and on the personal diaries of the english soldiers who participated to the battle in Giovi.
From these searches has been found out that on these hills around Salerno, fought troops from the Hampshire, Leicestershire regiments and the Royal Marine Comandos. This led to understand that the remainings belonged to missing soldiers from these regiments. Now though, a new finding on the field will help to narrow the search for at least one of the missing in action soldiers.
As a matter of fact, at a distance of few meters from where were found the human remains, has been found a silver bracelet which has printend on it the following: “121662 R. Donald Brown Pres.” Matteo D’angella, member of Salerno 1943, explains: “It is a civilian silver bracelet, probably a gift to the owner from a family member. The British army to his soldiers provided little leather plates, which could easily be destroyed by the enemy fire or explosions in battle. Consequently some of the soldiers used to engrave their names and numbers on metal bracelets or pendant, so that in case of death their body could be identified “.
So who was the owner of the bracelets? Researches, thanks to the informations from the british archives, have found out that: Robert Donald Brown was born in 1914 in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, and was educated at St Mary's Preparatory School, Melrose, and at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. He matriculated into the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in May 1938 and had passed his First Year examination before leaving in July 1939 to join 165 Officer Cadet Training Unit at Dunbar. He was commissioned into The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) on 9 March 1940, and posted to the 9th Battalion. In May 1943 he was attached to the 2/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment in Tunisia. With that Battalion he took part in the landings at Salerno in Italy. Recently promoted to temporary Major, on 16 September 1943 while commanding a company of 2/5th Leicesters he was posted missing in action near Salerno. In the London Gazette dated 21.2.1946 he was awarded a posthumous D.S.O. in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field, the award backdated to the date of his death 16.9.1943, aged 28 years.
The citation which appeared in The Scotsman on 23 March 1946 reads: "In an attack near Salerno in September 1943, Captain Brown, alone and armed only with a pistol and grenades, held the summit of a hill against continued assaults, and was last seen being attacked on all sides, after he had killed a number of the enemy. Unsupported, he inspired his company to renewed efforts to reach him and to drive back the enemy." His body was not recovered. He is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial in Italy and on the Merchiston Castle School war memorial. His father, also KOSB, was killed in the First World War, and they are the only father and son on that school memorial. In 1946 Donald's widow, whom Donald aged 21 had married in 1935, married Donald's brother Charles, himself badly wounded in the war and a former Japanese POW.
Finding of the bracelet together with the human remains in march could finally give Donald a deserved worthy burial. About this, Salerno 1943 President, Luigi Fortunato added: "The bracelet has been found few meters away from the place where we found the human remains on the top of the hill where Donald was last saw. We do not want to feed fake hopes to the captain Brown's family, but it is obvious to think that when the germans took back the hill, they dispose of the officer's body throwing it by side of the hill , there where we found the poor remainings. We informed Sue Raftree from the MOD Casualty Centre about our finding and researches, so that they could focus their efforts on the families of the missing soldiers, efforts which were already started a few months before. We hope that dna exams will result in a positive answer. Anyhow we will happy to give back to the family of Donald the bracelet which belonged to him”.
For more informations:
Associazione Salerno 1943
Via Marino Paglia 14, Salerno
email: [email protected]
Benvenuti su 1943salerno.it !
Possibly we are in front of a new a new important development in the search for the identification of the remainings of the two english soldiers who have been found the first of march on the Giovi's Hills near Salerno, from the "associazione Salerno 1943".
That afternoon at the end of the winter the volunteers belonging to this fellowship from Salerno, Pierpaolo Irpino, Vincenzo Pellegrino e Matteo Pierro recovered human remains which supposedly belonged to two british soldiers, as it was possible to understand from the metallic equipment which was collected nearby the bones of the unfortunate victims.
After contacting the Police and the MOD Casualty Centre (JCCC), the office from the British Defense Ministery, with whom "Salerno 1943" cooperate, the researchers pointed their attention on the official report and on the personal diaries of the english soldiers who participated to the battle in Giovi.
From these searches has been found out that on these hills around Salerno, fought troops from the Hampshire, Leicestershire regiments and the Royal Marine Comandos. This led to understand that the remainings belonged to missing soldiers from these regiments. Now though, a new finding on the field will help to narrow the search for at least one of the missing in action soldiers.
As a matter of fact, at a distance of few meters from where were found the human remains, has been found a silver bracelet which has printend on it the following: “121662 R. Donald Brown Pres.” Matteo D’angella, member of Salerno 1943, explains: “It is a civilian silver bracelet, probably a gift to the owner from a family member. The British army to his soldiers provided little leather plates, which could easily be destroyed by the enemy fire or explosions in battle. Consequently some of the soldiers used to engrave their names and numbers on metal bracelets or pendant, so that in case of death their body could be identified “.
So who was the owner of the bracelets? Researches, thanks to the informations from the british archives, have found out that: Robert Donald Brown was born in 1914 in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, and was educated at St Mary's Preparatory School, Melrose, and at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. He matriculated into the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in May 1938 and had passed his First Year examination before leaving in July 1939 to join 165 Officer Cadet Training Unit at Dunbar. He was commissioned into The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) on 9 March 1940, and posted to the 9th Battalion. In May 1943 he was attached to the 2/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment in Tunisia. With that Battalion he took part in the landings at Salerno in Italy. Recently promoted to temporary Major, on 16 September 1943 while commanding a company of 2/5th Leicesters he was posted missing in action near Salerno. In the London Gazette dated 21.2.1946 he was awarded a posthumous D.S.O. in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field, the award backdated to the date of his death 16.9.1943, aged 28 years.
The citation which appeared in The Scotsman on 23 March 1946 reads: "In an attack near Salerno in September 1943, Captain Brown, alone and armed only with a pistol and grenades, held the summit of a hill against continued assaults, and was last seen being attacked on all sides, after he had killed a number of the enemy. Unsupported, he inspired his company to renewed efforts to reach him and to drive back the enemy." His body was not recovered. He is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial in Italy and on the Merchiston Castle School war memorial. His father, also KOSB, was killed in the First World War, and they are the only father and son on that school memorial. In 1946 Donald's widow, whom Donald aged 21 had married in 1935, married Donald's brother Charles, himself badly wounded in the war and a former Japanese POW.
Finding of the bracelet together with the human remains in march could finally give Donald a deserved worthy burial. About this, Salerno 1943 President, Luigi Fortunato added: "The bracelet has been found few meters away from the place where we found the human remains on the top of the hill where Donald was last saw. We do not want to feed fake hopes to the captain Brown's family, but it is obvious to think that when the germans took back the hill, they dispose of the officer's body throwing it by side of the hill , there where we found the poor remainings. We informed Sue Raftree from the MOD Casualty Centre about our finding and researches, so that they could focus their efforts on the families of the missing soldiers, efforts which were already started a few months before. We hope that dna exams will result in a positive answer. Anyhow we will happy to give back to the family of Donald the bracelet which belonged to him”.
For more informations:
Associazione Salerno 1943
Via Marino Paglia 14, Salerno
email: [email protected]
Benvenuti su 1943salerno.it !
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