Pte. Howard Patterson 3058870

 

Pte. Howard Patterson

1^st Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment

Regimental Number 3058870

Howard Archibald Patterson was born on March 4^th, 1897 in Warsaw, Ontario. He was the son of Archie and Martha Patterson.   The family farmed on lot 4 on the 4^th Concession of Dummer Township.

Howard was living in Warsaw and employed in farming when he was called to report to Peterborough under the Military Service Act on October 26^th, 1917.  He was 20 years old, and stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall.  Howard was described as having a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair.  Doctors noted that he had a brown birth mark above his left shoulder.  He was single, a Methodist, and had no previous military experience.  He listed his father Archie of R.R. #1 Warsaw, as his next of kin.

Though he was considered fit for service, Howard did not immediately enter service; he was called to report to the Canadian Forces base at Barriefield, Ontario for military training on May 9^th 1918.  There he learned the basics of soldiering before being transferred overseas on June 28^th 1918.  Howard boarded the troopship “City of Vienna” in Halifax and steamed for England.  The ship was just passing by the Atlantic coast when it run aground in the mist.  The entire ship was evacuated using yachts which pulled up alongside and let the soldiers and crew crawl down rope ladders.  About thirty minutes after the last men were taken off the ship, it sank.

Patterson and his comrades would make their second attempt at crossing the Atlantic on July 11^th 1918 aboard the H.M.T. Thongwa.  After an eleven day trip across the Atlantic, Pte. Patterson arrived safely in London.  He was immediately placed in the 6^th Canadian Reserve Battalion at Seaford Camp to await assignment to a fighting battalion at the front. 

Pte. Patterson remained in reserve camp in England until the fall of 1918. He fell ill with influenza and scarlet fever and was admitted to the No.14 Canadian General Hospital at Eastbourne on October 12^th 1918 for over a month before being transferred to another hospital at Bexhill on December 2^nd.  By the time he recovered sufficiently to be discharged, the war was over.

Howard Patterson returned to Canada on June 23^rd 1919.  He was formally discharged on July 4^th and returned to Norwood, Ontario.

Sources

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Year: 1901; Census Place: Dummer, Peterborough (East/est), Ontario; Page: 5; Family No: 39.
Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Year: 1911; Census Place: 21 - Dummer, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page: 5; Family No: 46
Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: RG 31; Folder Number: 81; Census Place: 81, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page Number: 3
Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 686
Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Deaths, 1944; Collection: Registrations of Deaths, 1944
Canada. "Military Service File of Howard Archibald Patterson." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 7641 - 41. Item Number 565568.