Sergeant William James BROWNING, service no. 202629, 2nd/6th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment, killed in action 5 December 1917 aged 30.
William James Browning was the son of Frederick G. and Annie Browning of Winchester. According to the 1901 Census, William was a 15-year-old born in 1886 living with his parents at 42 North Walls, Winchester. His father was a coal merchant.
The 1911 census records William as a 26-year-old single person living at 48 West Street, Hereford working as a Shop Assistant. He married Ida E. Tonsley of 19, York Road, Northampton in between April and June 1915. She is cited as his next of kin on the CWGC certificate (above). Immediately following his marriage he enlisted in Birmingham in June 1915 and served on the Western Front. He was killed in Action 5 December 1917 at Cambrai and is commemorated at the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France (PR Panel 3-). He is also commemorated on a plaque at St John the Baptist church just down the hill from St Giles Hill Graveyard.
He is also remembered by an inscription on the gave of his parents in St Giles Hill Graveyard.
“In loving memory of Anne Browning died March 28th, 1919 also of William James BROWNING killed in France Dec 5th, 1917, Frederick George Browning died May 25th, 1938.”
William’s mother Annie died in 1919 but Frederick G Browning lived on until he was 86 years old. A poll book record suggests he lived a 42 North Walls at least until 1929.
The 2nd/6th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment was formed in Birmingham during 1914. The 6th battalion was an infantry regiment that participated in some of the bloodiest fighting on the Western Front. It was sent to Salisbury Plain in March 1916 prior to landing in France 21st of 1916.
The 6th battalion was at the battle of Cambrai in 1917 which started as a tank attack from the 20th to the 21st of November and the capture of Bourlon Wood (23rd-28th November). The Germans counter-attacked between 30th November and 3rd December. Sargent Browning may well have died as a result of the German attack. According to statistics British forces suffered 26,000 dead, missing, or captured. Whilst German forces suffered over 31,000 dead, missing, or captured.
Williams also had an older brother Walter F. Browning who served in France and Egypt in the Hampshire Yeomanry and survived the War.
The source of some of the above is the book “Debt of Honour (Winchester City’s First World War Dead)”, by Jen Best. See page 31.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Dave Stewart Email dave@stgileshill.org.uk if you have any questions, corrections, or additional information that could be added to this page.