Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of William Brooks, a brickyard labourer, born 3rd February 1865 in Hathern, Leicestershire (son of John Brooks, 1835-1898 and Margaret Marson, 1838-1918) and his wife Emily Brooks (nee Hunt, married on the 27th May 1890 in Loughborough, Leicestershire), a hosiery trade wool seamer, born 28th October 1867 in Hathern and baptised on the 8th March 1868 in Loughborough (daughter of William Tollington, 1851 and Catherine Hunt, 1851). John was born on the 6th March 1896 in Hathern, his siblings were, Elizabeth, born in the April quarter of 1898 and Maggie, born on the 14th February 1900, both his siblings were born in Hathern, in March 1901 the family home was at Church Street, Hathern. In April 1911 John was absent from the family home in Church Street, Hathern, residing there was his father, a brickyard labourer, his mother and siblings, Catherine Margaret, a hosiery trade worker, born 26th March 1893 in Hathern, Elizabeth, Margaret, a schoolgirl, Henry, a schoolboy, born on the 22nd March 1903, Evelyn, a schoolgirl, born on the 2nd August 1905 and Doris May, born on the 4th May 1908, the latter three siblings were all born in Hathern, meanwhile John was employed as a grocer’s assistant and was reding at 56, Wide Lane, Hathern, this being the family home of his widowed paternal grandmother, Margaret Brooks, born 1838 in Hathern and her children Elizabeth, a hosiery trade worker, born 1860 and Gertrude Annie, a hosiery trade worker, born 1879, both children were born in Hathern. John was the only child in the family to be officially registered at birth with the surname spelling of Brookes.
John’s army service enlistment documents do not survive, therefore the currently available information pertaining to his military service has been obtained from the following sources: - 1921 HMSO Publication, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914 - 1919, WW1 Service Medal and Award Rolls, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, Commonwealth War Graves Commission Registers.
All that is known of John’s military service is that he had enlisted/attested in Loughborough into the Leicestershire Regiment, and had been allotted the service number 32823. He is then recorded as serving as a Private with the 6th (Service) Battalion Leicestershire Regiment. With the exception of the War Diary entries, there is no information, relating to his movements during his military service, and as he was not awarded the 1914-15 Star, it is safe to assume that he first entered the theatre of war sometime after the 31st December 1915. Nothing further is known until he was officially reported as having died on the 27th April 1918 from wounds received in action, he was buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium. John was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
On the 16th December 1918, John’s paternal Aunt, Elizabeth Brooks was awarded a weekly Army Pension of five shillings and eleven pence to commence on the 26th November 1918 until the 25th November 1919.
On Friday May 31st 1918 The Loughborough Echo published the following article. – On Friday Mr. and Mrs. W. Brooks, of Church-street, Hathern received official news that their eldest son, Pte. John Brooks, of the Signal Section, Leicestershire Regt., had died of wounds on April 27th. Prior to joining up, the deceased was employed at the Hathern Co-operative Stores, and was 22 years of age.

Source: Leicestershire War Memorials Project.
Signal Section, Leicestershire regiment.
Employed prior to war service by the Hathern Cooperative Stores.
Information from M Linacre, 07/01/2022