London Gazette, No. 30130, dated 14th July, 1917, citation:-
"For most conspicuous bravery and determination in attack (south-east of High Wood, France, on September 15, 1916), when the company to which he belonged had suffered very heavy casualties in officers and men from machine gun fire. At great personal risk this N.C.O. advanced with a comrade and succeeded in reaching a point within 30 yds. of the enemy guns. Four of the gun crew were killed and the gun captured. The advance of the company was continued until it was again held up by machine gun fire. Again Sergeant. Brown and his comrade, with great gallantry, rushed the gun and killed the crew. After this second position had been won, the company came under very heavy shell fire, and the utter contempt for danger and coolness under fire of this N.C.O. did much to keep up the spirit of his men. On a subsequent occasion in attack, Sgt. Brown showed most conspicuous gallantry. He attacked, single handed, a machine gun which was holding up the attack, killed the gun crew, and captured the gun. Later, whilst sniping the retreating enemy, this very gallant soldier was killed."
" Donald Brown was born in Dunedin on 23 February 1890. He was named Donald Forrester after two family friends, Mrs Donald, a friend of Jessie Brown, and Thomas Forrester, an Oamaru architect and friend of Robert Brown. Donald moved to Oamaru with his family in the mid- 1890s where his father set up a successful drapery business and department store which was eventually named the Polytechnic.
Donald was schooled at Oamaru South School before heading to the prestigious Waitaki Boys High School. He became a keen rugby player and remained a student for approximately two years. When he made the decision to conclude his schooling, he moved on to farming. He purchased his own farm in Totara and farmed dairy cows, hens and grew potatoes.
When Donald enlisted for war service he gave his horse and dog away and sold his farm. As part of the North Otago Company, Second Battalion, he was sent to military camp at Trentham near Wellington. From his training in Trentham Donald Brown was posted to Egypt, arriving in January 1916. In April of that year Donald was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and embarked from Egypt to fight in France.
After arriving in France, Donald was sent to the area of intense fighting surrounding the River Somme. He fought courageously from the minute he arrived. In September he assisted Sergeant Jesse Rodgers, also of Oamaru, in disabling a machine gun by rushing the gun and immobilising its crew. The pair received much praise for this brave act and were considered heroes by their fellow soldiers. However, on 1 October 1916, when under heavy machine gun fire once again, Donald Brown single-handedly rushed the gun to disable its crew. He took over the gun but sadly was killed only 30 minutes later.
On 12 June 1917, seven months after the death of Donald Brown, his father Robert received news that his son had posthumously been awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘conspicuous bravery and determination in attack’. On 30 August, Robert Brown was presented with his sons V. C. during a large military presentation with thousands of onlookers.
In 1919 a decision was made by the president of the Oamaru beautifying society to plant an oak tree in memory of each North Otago serviceman lost in the Great War. This decision resulted in the planting of the ‘Memorial Oaks’. On 11 September 1919 Admiral Lord Jellicoe dedicated these oaks in a ceremony at the junction of Towey, Wansbeck and Severn Streets. The first tree planted was that dedicated to Donald Brown, and each memorial oak was planted along the streets using Donald’s tree as a centre point.
Donald Brown was only 26 years old when he tragically lost his life. He was initially buried in an isolated grave near Eaucourt l’Abbaye in France, but was eventually moved and laid to rest in Warlencourt New British Cemetery, South West of Bapaume. "
[Shanann Carr, Curator of Archives Waitaki Museum (abridged)]
