Albert Brown was born to Henry and Elizabeth Brown on 28 June 1913 in Oxbridge, Onario. His father was a farmer who was quite senior and who died in August 1944 at age 83 while Albert was overseas. His mother died about 20 years before he enlisted. Albert had an older sister Charlotte but her whereabouts appeared to be unknown.
Albert left school at age 14 after Grade 8. He was living in Pontypool, ON and had been working at J. C. Wood Lumber Company in Peterborough, Ont as a Sawyer for eight years when he enlisted. Albert enlisted on 15 September 1940 in Petawawa, Ont at a recruiting detachment of No 3 District Depot from Kingston, Ont. He was 27 years old and single at the time and had two years previous service in the Prince of Wales Canadian Dragoons with the Non-Permanent Active Militia. Albert had joined the Prince of Wales Regiment in Peterborough in July 1940.
During his enlistment interview, Albert indicated that he would like to work in a machine shop. He named his father Henry as his sole beneficiary but, later, when his elderly father was ailing, he changed his Next of Kin in February 1944 to Ms. Mae Highland whom he identified as his fiance. Upon the death of his father, Albert inherited the family house and property in Uxbridge.
Albert was posted to No 32 Canadian Army Basic Training Center in Peterborough on 10 July 1941 to undergo his Basic Training. He was then reallocated from General Service to the Royal Canadian Engineers on 21 December 1942 and given the rank of Sapper. Albert arrived at A-5 Canadian Engineer Training Center in Camp Petawawa in February 1943 to begin his sapper training and he completed this basic sapper training on 18 October 1943. He had also qualified as a Blacksmith Group “B” on 9 August 1943 during this training period.
Albert embarked for the United Kingdom on 23 October 1943 as an individual reinforcement and was taken on strength No 1 Canadian Engineer Reinforcement Unit on 31 October 1943 upon his arrival. He was transferred to 11th Field Company on 24 February 1944 when the unit was in its final preparations for its part role in the upcoming Invasion of the Continent.
Albert embarked for France with his unit on 5 July and, four days later, disembarked on 9 July with elements of 11th Field Company. The company soon started obstacle clearance and bridge construction in the Caen area. After Caen, the company supported the Allied advance in France and then through Belgium, Holland, and eventually into Germany. Among its operations, the company participated in the Battle of Falaise, The Scheldt, The Rhineland, and The Rhine. By the end of February 1944, the unit had arrived in Germany as the Allied forces continued to push back the enemy.
On 16 March, the 11th Field Company began to check a stretch of ground near Cleve, Germany for mines in order to make the area safe for the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. By the next evening, the mine-clearing parties had found many German Riegelmine 43 anti-tank mines that they safely lifted and stored in two dumps. At 1300 hrs the next day, Sapper Brown was part of Lieutenant O. H. Taylor’s party of nine that set out to destroy the mines in the two dumps. A half-hour later, something went terribly wrong. There was a terrific explosion and all were killed. No evidence was ever found to indicate why the tragedy had occurred.
Sapper Albert Brown was Killed in Action at age 31 on 18 March 1945. He was given a temporary burial the Canadian Military Cemetery at Bedberg Germany. He was moved to his permanent grave in the Nijmegen Canadian Military Cemetery that is now named the Groesbeek Canadian Military Cemetery.
