StefanH

Hi Arthur It´s been a year since I´ve read this topic about Peter Brown. We are still struggling trying to find his correct identity. I´ve read the book Moorosi by Graham Fysh. He had two details there that was new to me. The first was that Peter Browns name was "Brun", and the second one was that he got to South Africa with his parents. When I asked him to give me the details of his sources he could not do so, so I´m still not to sure if it´s fact or fiction what´s stated in the book. However, reading your comment again one thing struck me. If Peter Brown the VC holder and Peter Brown the liquor retailer are the same person it would be interesting to know if there is more personal information available in the archives about Peter Brown the liquor retailer. Could you help me to find out more about this ?? best regards Stefan Hallberg

Hi Mervyn Yes it´s very sad that the only Swede ever awarded this medal shouldn´t have a stone on his grave. Do you know if there are any funds or something like to correct this. I´ve read articles about Victoria Cross holders having their graves restored. Stefan

Dear Sirs I do have some new information regarding the grave of Peter Brown. The grave number given in David Harveys book is correct. A check with the City Council Department in Cape Town has given this result. Peter Brown, having no money at his death, was buried in a public grave with grave number 81594A. Two babies was buried at the top of him. Their names were Steenkamp and Williams. There was no stone to mark Peter Browns grave. Where David Harvey got the information about the Abrahamses beeing buried on top of Peter Brown is a mystery, as is the photo in the book. Stefan Hallberg

You could be correct there Mervyn. We do have the same procedure in Sweden. But is doesn´t explain why the photo of the grave of the Abrahamses are in David Harveys book, cause it´s definitly not in the place of Peter Browns grave. Hopefully Graham Lloyd can help us out here and find the place for the Abrahamses. Maybe that will explain matters.

Dear Sirs I would lika to add another part to the mystery of Peter Brown VC. According to Graham Lloyd, the researcher in South Africa who helps me, the grave number given in David Harveys book, 81594A, leads to a place in the middle of nowhere. There is no sign of a grave whatsoever at that place, and there is absolutly no reuse by any Abrahamses as stated in the book. I had a short mailexchange with David Harvey about this, but before he had the possibility to check this, he passed away. Is there anybody who would lika to comment on this. regards Stefan Hallberg

To Kim You are right. Now I remember. We did have a mailexchange regarding Peter Brown. It´s this thing with age. Your memory seems to slip. To Peter Good point there. Your hypoteses i probably correct, but if it is, somebody must have known that he was just born in Sweden. It must be a person who know Peter Brown very well. Cant see who that could be. best regards Stefan Hallberg

Peter Brown Dear Sirs My name is Stefan Hallberg and I´m the person mentioned in Kim Johanssons mail. As stated there, we have been trying to solve this mystery since 2002. Over the years about 40 persons have been engaged in the research, but we have not been able to solve this mystery so far. Among the people involved I can mention Doug Arman, Ian Uys and Graham Lloyd. The latter a researcher from Cape Town who helped us a lot. Scanning all archives in Cape Town, specially those regarding CMR. We did manage to track down a collegue of Peter Brown, Nicolas Frederic Bergqvist, from the city of Mora here in Sweden. Bergqvist entered service at about the same time as Brown retired. A clue to solving the mystery of Peter Brown is the expression “the swedish born”. It´s always stated that way and nobody has been able to explain to me the origin of this expression. I´ve read many books, the old ones as well, but I havent found any explenation. There are however 2 “stones” left to be turned in South Africa: - If any of you is living close to Johannesburg I would be much grateful if he or she could take a look at the material archived there att the military museum by Ian Uys. I could contain some information that could be of help. I´ve had a mail exchange with Ian Uys about his material but he could not remember any details. - The second thing is that Peter Brown is called Peder Bruun in a mail from Lt Col Cumming OBE tol Lt Col C C Calbertyn. If any of you know any of this persons, it would be interesting to get a clearification to the nam Peder Bruun. I think those two persons live in Cape Town and are”were connected to CMR. As far as I can recall I´ve never been in contact with Kim. Please feel free to mail me at stefan.hallberg1@tele2.se. There is a lot more to tell you about the research but I´ll save that for later. Best regards Stefan Hallberg