Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sergeant Thomas Charles Frederick Patten was born on July 10th 1880 in London, England. The son of Thomas B. Patten and Mary A. ODE, Thomas was a citizen of Britain. He grew up in London attending London County Council School, which held a high reputation at the time.

Patten served in the South African War with the British army.  After that war, Thomas migrated from London to Adelaide, Australia where he married to Mrs. Elizabeth Patten, who was also his next of kin. They lived on Beulah Road, Kensington Extension, South Australia and together they followed the protestant faith[1]. Thomas was a house painter prior to his enlistment.

On the 2nd of February 1915, a year into WW1, Lance corporal Patten  enlisted at the age of 34 with his friend W.J. Cody to the Australian Imperial Force. Patten was allotted to the 27th Battalion in the 1st Reinforcements, with the service number was 160. Their commander Lieutenant Colonel Walter created the Battalion in March 1915 and it was known as “Unley’s Own” because majority of the men were from the area. They marched down Unley road and were enthusiastically acknowledged by the citizens prior to their embarkation to the Western Front.

On the 31st of May 1915 the Battalion departed on the HMAT (His Majesty’s Australian Transports) heading to Egypt for further training. Following this they landed in Gallipoli staying there until their December evacuation. The Battalions poor hygiene and sanitation become a issue with diseases such as typhoid. Their evacuation was one of the most successful in the entire campaign and they did so without detection by the enemy.

Once the “Doubling of the AIF” stage was completed[2], in April 1916 they were sent to the Western front to the battlefield of Somme. On the 4th of August 1916 the 27th Battalion captured the heights above Pozieres and this was considered was a great feat for the soldiers. They held the position against many counter attacks.

During this battle Sergeant Patten was reported wounded and missing. This issue was compounded by the fact that Patten’s commanding officer didn’t know if he had been wounded then escaped, wounded then died or wounded without a trace. The AIF investigation included communicating through letters to anyone who had known Patten in the field.

Patten wrote a letter to his mother on the 3rd, the night before the attack. Expressing concerns about a solider his mother knew as well, perhaps a cousin, uncle or friend. In the letter he stated, “I’m feeling a little better this morning”, it was from this the AIF concluded that he had fully recovered from his previous injury. The letter would be the last letter he would ever write.

The whereabouts of Patten’s body was still unknown. Sergeant Eldridge had stated he’d seen Patten in England after the attack, but later informed them that he was mistaken. Private Davies said he had seen him wounded badly the night of the 4th and assumed he was going to be taken to the Dressing Station.  He said, “I cannot swear to this but I heard he was delivered at the Dressing Station but I haven’t heard of him since”.

Sergeant, Wyatt; said he saw him the night of the 4th “He was wounded in the head. He had managed to walk in from no mans land. He was too badly injured to carry on”.

While this investigation was being carried out Patten’s wife Elizabeth became concerned as she didn’t know whether her husband was alive. Eventually, the Red Cross Commission addressed a letter to Elizabeth. Informing her of their “slip ups”, the letter contained all the information/letters that had gathered so far. “We regret that this is the only information we have been able to gather concerning your husband, but in the event of any later news coming to hand we will again communicate with you”. This letter would have been extremely hard for Elizabeth to read especially because she still had no idea about the state of her husband. Finally, private W.J Cody addressed information to the AIF and Mrs Patten, that cleared their assumptions. The letter itself is very touching and shows the spirit and hardships that Patten and many other Australians involved in the war had to go through.The letter is attatched to the photos section.

After the AIF was informed of this letter they reported Sergeant Thomas Patten Killed In Action August 4th, 1916 at Pozieres, Somme Sector aged 36.  His body is located in the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France. In his life time Patten Served in Eygpt, Gallipoli, the Western Front and Africa. He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Throughout his life Patten showed great bravery and should be highly commended

[1] Definition of Protestant religion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism
[2] The process in Egypt in which many 27th Battalion men and new reinforcements were recruited then posted to many Brigade Divisional