Patterson, John
119 Private John Alfred Patterson - 3rd Division Cyclist Company & 15th Company AASC
John Alfred Patterson was born in Morwell Victoria on the 12th October 1886. He was the oldest of twelve children, five of whom were born in Victoria and the remainder in Fremantle when the family came to Western Australia in 1897.
The family lived on the corner of Forrest and Onslow street East Fremantle and James was working as a coachbuilder.
In 1910 James married Mary Caporalette and a son Walter was born in 1913. The family then moved to 174 king street East Fremantle (now 94 King St), moving a few years later to 180 Marmion Street Fremantle (now 120 Marmion) then later being at 107 Marmion street East Fremantle.
On the 1st March 1916 John Patterson went into Fremantle and enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 inches tall;
Weight - 158lbs;
Chest Measurement - 36-38 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Ginger.
John was then sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.60 Training Depot. He was taken through the basics of infantry training at this depot camp. On the 1st April 1916 he was transferred into the Cyclist Company Reinforcements. He was then sent to Sydney with the other WA members of the Cycling reinforcements and were added to the brand new unit, the 3rd Australian Division Cyclist Battalion.
On the 18th May 1916 John and his unit embarked from Sydney Harbour on the transport ship HMAT Demosthenes. The ship then sailed for England and on arriving in England in July 1916, John and his group were disembarked and sent to the Australian Cycling Training Battalion. On the 31st August 1916 John was transferred to the Australian Army Service Corps Camp at Parkhouse and underwent further training here.
On the 2nd November 1916 John was transferred to France and arriving at Etaples was marched into the Australian Divisional Base Depot. However shortly after arriving in camp John came down ill and was diagnosed with mumps. He was initially sent to the 24th General Hospital at Etaples but was then transferred to the 14th Stationary Hospital at Boulogne.
On the 24th November 1916 John was sent to No.1 Convalescent Depot and after a few days there was transferred to the Divisional Base Depot Camp. On the 18th December 1916 John was sent to the 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion. On the 29th December John fell ill with bronchitis and was sent to the 26th General Hospital. He returned to his unit on the 7th February 1917.
John remained with the 1st Anzac Training Battalion until the 7th July 1917 when he was transferred to the 2nd Australian Division Train. The Divisional Trains were logistic support and supply units under Command of the Division. They brought supplies up to the various divisional units. John was assigned to the 15th Company Australian Army Service Corps, which was part of the 2nd Division Train.
John served with the 15th Company AASC through to the 17th November 1917 when he was granted a two week furlough to England. Previously he had had served with his unit through the Third Battle of Ypres.
John returned to his unit on the 27th November 1917. From December 1917 to March 1918 the 2nd Australian Division were serving on the southern Belgian front between Messines and Ypres.
On March 21st 1918 the Germans broke through the British line further south and the Australian Divisions were sent south to the Somme to help stop the German advance. The 2nd Australian Division moved south to the Ville-sur-Ancre and Morlancourt sector of the Somme. John's unit would have been kept busy supplying the Divisional units when they were heading for their new positions.
Once the German advance was stopped in this sector, the front line settled down for a few months but in August 1918 when the Australian advance commenced from the Villers-Bretonneux front, the 2nd Division were constantly on the move forward. From Villers-Bretonneux on August 8th, the 2nd Australian Division were at Peronne by the end of the month, when they captured this French city and Mont St Quentin.
The 2nd Division continued in the front line up until the 4th October 1918 when they fought their last action at Montbrehain. John and the 15th Company AASC were kept busy during this time supplying the front line units.
The 2nd Australian Division were then sent for a rest period and they were still away from the front when the Armistice was declared on the 11th November 1918.
After the Germans withdrew to their own borders after the Armistice, the Australians then went into what had been German occupied parts of France and Belgium. The 2nd Division went to Charleroi in Belgium.
On the 14th February 1919 John returned to England on a furlough. While on leave he came down ill with influenza and was sent to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary hospital in Dartford.
After being released from hospital he was sent to No.1 Command Depot Camp to await being assigned a berth on a troopship home.
On the 21st June 1919 John went aboard the transport ship Kongin Louise and set sail for Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 2nd August 1919.
John was then discharged from the AIF on the 17th September 1919.
After his return home to Marmion Street East Fremantle, John resumed his coach building trade and they had two more children, Dorothea in 1921, and Leonard in 1923.
John lived in Marmion Street East Fremantle for the remainder of his life
John Patterson died on the 18th June 1964 aged 77. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery.