Max Brown (1923 - 1942)

Born 23 Feb 1923 in Homebush, New South Wales, Australia

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 19 in At Sea

Biography

Max Brown was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Max Brown died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Max Brown claimed he was born at Homebush, NSW in 1920 but was actually born in 1923, the son of Alfred Hume and Emily Gertrude Brown.

Prior to enlisting in the Australian Army for overseas service on 30 Jun 1941 at Paddington NSw as a Gunner (NX37550 allocated to the Royal Australian Artillery, Max had served in the Militia as N37592, firstly as a Cpl in the 4th Bn Infantry and then as a Sgt in the 4th Anti Tank Regt. At the time of enlisting in 1941 he was single, a salesman and was living with his mother at Homebush. He had brown hair and brown eyes.

He was 27th Anti Tank Coy in Sydney on 02 Jul 1941 and then was transferred to 17th Anti Tank Battery at Holsworthy, NSW on 09 Aug 1941. He embarked on the "Zealandia" at Sydney on 09 Sep 1941 for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea, disembarking there on 30 Sep 1941. His unit became part of "Lark Force" to defend the Territory.

At the end of Dec 1941 he spent about a week in hospital recovering from malaria.

After the Japanese invasion on 23 Jan 1942 he was captured on Keravat and became a Prisoner of War, initially held at Rabaul. Japanese records have him as a tank soldier, but there were no tanks in the Australian force.

He was among those who were able to write a carefully scripted letter to next of kin advising that he was a POW. The letters were dropped from a Japanese plane over Port Moresby, Papua.^[1]

He died on board the "Montevideo Maru" when it was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on 01 Jul 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan where he was destined for forced labour.

Sources

1. ↑ Red Cross POW Enquiry cards - https://gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au/imu/imu.php?request=multimedia&irn=30881

• Department of Justice, New South Wales, Registry of Birth, Deaths and Marriages: Birth. BROWN, WALTER MAX; 3394/1923 ALFRED HUME; EMILY GERTRUDE; BURWOOD. https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - BROWN MAX : Service Number - NX37550 : Date of birth - 23 Feb 1920 : Place of birth - HOMEBUSH NSW : Place of enlistment - PADDINGTON NSW : Next of Kin - BROWN EMILY - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=4886286

• On Active Service - Family Notices (1946, July 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 24. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29764894

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1693552

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2615432/brown,-max/

• Virtual War Memorial Australia: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/621387

• The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial https://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/prisoners-of-war/brown-max/