Name
Nolan Tweeddale Patterson
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
01/06/1916
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lieutenant
Canadian Field Artillery
3rd Brigade
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY
VI. A. 5.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not listed on any Bushey memorial, Not on the Watford memorials (*1)
Pre War
Born in Snaresbrook in Essex on 5 March 1896 and baptised on 17 May 1896 at St Mary’s, Rougham in Suffolk, Nolan Tweeddale Patterson was the son of Arthur Henry and Nellie Tweeddale (nee Slack) Patterson. His parents were married on 2 January 1889 at St Mary the Virgin Church in Leyton, Essex.
The family is illusive on the 1901 UK Census and there is entry for Nolan, aged 7, on the Outbound Passenger Lists for 3 February 1904 aboard the Celtic, departing from Liverpool and bound for New York. Also listed are his father, a draper, his mother and his two siblings, 9-year-old Dorothy and 1 year old Arthur.
It is likely that his father travelled between Canada and England for business as there are entries for A H Patterson, a merchant, and N T Patterson, aged 14, on the Incoming Passenger Lists from Montreal to Liverpool for 31 May 1910.
On the 1911 Canadian Census, he was aged 15 and lived in Point Clair, Quebec, with his parents and two siblings. He became a student at McGill University in Canada in 1912, where he studied Arts.
Nellie returned to England, aged 52, aboard the ship ‘Metagama’ of the Canadian Shipping Line, which departed from Montreal and arrived at Liverpool on 25 July 1921.
Wartime Service
Nolan served with the Canadian Field Artillery and was appointed Lieutenant on 17 November 1915 in the 31st Battery and later transferred to the 10th Battery of the 3rd Brigade. He died, aged 20, on 1st June 1916 at No. 10 Casualty Clearing Station from wounds received in action at the Battle of St. Eloi. He was buried in Plot VI, Row A, Grave 5 at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
The Battle of St. Eloi, a village located about 5km south of Ypres, was fought from 27 March to 16 April 1916 and was the first major engagement for the 2nd Canadian Division. It was a disaster for the Canadians and the Allies. It ended with the Germans in control of the battlefield as they had been at the start.
British forces had previously blown a series of underground mines to destroy the sector's German defences, and quickly captured three craters and the German front line. The effort had left massive craters which had reshaped the landscape, with four mines blowing up so close that the craters formed an impassable lake that was 15m deep and 55m across, making soldiers confused about their location.
When the Canadians relieved British troops at 3am on the 4th of April, they found few actual trenches in which to take cover, and most of those were waist-deep in water. The entire front was also under observation and incessant fire from the Germans. Two weeks of hard, confused fighting followed. Most soldiers dug in under heavy fire and, divided by the shell-pocked terrain, could supply their commanders with little accurate information on the progress of the battle. After aerial photography helped reveal the true German and Canadian positions, the battle ground to a halt on 16 April, with enemy forces holding most of the key points. The Canadians suffered 1,373 casualties during the confused fighting at St. Eloi.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission database gives details of the personal gravestone inscription, which reads: "McGILL O.T.C. MONTREAL BORN 1896 HIS FAITH IN GOD WAS SURE" and the inscription request gives the address for his parents as 3 Oxhey Road, Watford.
Additional Information
*1 Recorded as son of Arthur H. and Nellie T. Patterson, of 3, Oxhey Rd., Watford. This address was given at the time his death, so it is possible that he has no direct direct connection to Watford. More research is required. Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild, Sue Carter (Research) and Watford Museum (ROH on line via www.ourwatfordhistory.org.uk).
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild, www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-100.01-e.php
