James Samuel Brown, known as Jimmie, was born in the village on 26th October 1895. His father, John, was a farm labourer who despite being born in Chester le Street, Durham, came from Norfolk farm labouring stock and his family returned to the area shortly afterwards. John married Alice (nee Briggs) from Carleton Rode in 1890. By 1901 the family were living in Rectory Cottages on Church Road in the village and John was the Parish Clerk. Jimmie was baptised in the Church in October 1896 just short of his first birthday. He was the oldest of eight children; Walter Lemmon (Leman), Dorothy, Mildred, (John – who died at five days), Harry, Mabel and George.
All the children attended Carleton Rode school and both James and Walter received certificates for ‘regularity’; the younger children suffered various ailments – Mildred lost an eye, Harry was ‘too delicate’ to attend school for some time and scarlet fever kept them off school for many months during 1906.
By 1911, Jimmie was a farm labourer and his brother Walter was a bricklayer’s assistant. Jimmie was one of the first volunteers from Carleton Rode to join Kitchener’s New Army. He was posted overseas in August 1915 as part of the Norfolk 9th Battalion.
He fought in the Battle of the Somme and went missing on the 15th September 1916. This was the day when the British Army re-launched their assault on German lines using their new secret weapon; the tank. The Norfolk 9th Battalion came under ‘friendly fire’ from one of their own tanks; a total of 431 were either wounded or killed that day.
It was nearly a year before James Brown was declared dead and as his body was never found, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.
This was also the day that Leonard Foster from Carleton Rode (also in the 9th Battalion) died.
There was a service of remembrance for Jimmie in Carleton Rode Church on Sunday evening, 12th August 1917.
His brother Walter also served in France and Mesopotamia as part of the Norfolk Regiment, then the Essex Regiment and finally transferred to the Suffolks.