Army Service Corps
Hubert Emmanuel Browning was born at Longney, Gloucestershire in 1888. His parents were Adolphus Browning (1855-1934), a mariner who skippered vessels plying the coastal trade in the Bristol Channel and along the South Wales coast and his wife Sarah Ann (née Apperley: 1853- 1939). According to the 1911 Census, the couple had seven children, of whom only three were living at the time of the census.
In 1901, when aged 12, Hubert was living with his mother and brother Charlie in Epney. An elder brother, Tom, then aged 19, had left home. Charlie (16) went on to serve in the Royal Naval Reserve in the Great War.
Hubert was still living in Epney in 1911, with his mother and the census notes his occupation as being an agricultural worker. His father was away at sea on the date the census was taken.
On 27 June 1914 Hubert married Beata Emmeline James at Cheltenham. The couple had one child, a daughter, Mildred Florence, born on 14 July 1915.
Very little documentary evidence of Private Browning’s military service has survived. It is not known when Hubert joined the Army. Indications are that he served less than a year and the absence of a Medal Index Card points to no service abroad. He was posted to the Motor Transport (MT) section of the Army Service Corps (ASC) and the ‘M2’ prefix to his number could indicate that he served as an electrician or fitter, at an ASC Depot.
One item of Hubert’s Army Pension Record has survived, in which his wife gives a declaration in respect of their marriage, presumably for the purposes of being granted a pension. A recently released Pension Record Card states that Hubert died from pleurisy and pulmonary tuberculosis, contracted whilst on active service.
He died on 12 May 1916, aged 27, at home at Melbourne Cottage, Epney. A death notice placed in the Gloucester Journal of 20 May places ‘Jim’ after his name, which may have been the name by which he was known.
Hubert is buried in the churchyard of St. Lawrence, Epney, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
His widow (born in 1891) never re-married and died in Cheltenham in 1988.
Researched by Graham Adams 17 December 2020