Andrew Forbes Patterson

Rank:

Sergeant

Regimental number:

1713

Unit at enlistment:

Canadian Army Medical Corps, No. 5 Field Ambulance

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Yes

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Wentworth

Birth city:

Hamilton, Ontario

Next of kin address:

359 Victoria Street North, Hamilton, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Journalist

Religious denominations:

Presbyterian

Marital status:

Single

Age at enlistment:

Letters and documents

Letters home

BX November 27, 1915

Sergeant Jacob Ernest Mott With 5th Ambulance – Interesting Letter Received From Friend in Trenches

Notes of interest to many local friends are given in a letter from Staff Sergeant Andrew Forbes Patterson of the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance, in France, to R.S. Hope, Canadian Press operator here. The letter states that Staff Sergeant Jacob Ernest Mott formerly with the M.H. Robertson Drug Store here, is a member of that corps, and tells of the shrapnel explosion that snuffed out the lives of four Brantford men. The letter follows:

Somewheres.

Guess I am the last guy in the world you expected to get a letter from, eh? Well, you can thank Ollie for it. Yes, I had him for a visitor last evening. He sure is looking good – the picture of health – and to substantiate his appearance he said he never felt better.

He said you had told him to look me up. In strolling along the road he met one of our motor drivers, a fellow who worked for Blatchford at Hamilton. It was through him that he learned about me. Ollie’s outfit is camped only a short distance from us.

One of my first questions concerned you, as I had heard you were with the engineers. Of course he informed me differently. I am a staff sergeant in the 5th Field Ambulance. We are close to the firing line, but fortunately have not, as yet been the target for enemy guns. The weather recently has been fierce, raining and chilly nearly all the time. This you may guess makes life in the trenches a miserable existence.

We have had several Brantford men in the 19th through our hands. One of them, Col. Sergt.-Major Mack, died. A lad named Knott was brought in last week. He was the only one of five that survived an exploded shrapnel. Two of the four killed outright were Perc. and Vernon O’Neill, whom I met, but did not know intimately. Staff-Sergt. J.E. Mott, who is with us, was a close friend and the news upset him to a degree. Did you know any of these? As you undoubtedly know, there has been little activity so far along our front. At times a heavy artillery fire will rage for a few hours, and then the machine guns and rifles get busy. The majority of casualties have so far been the result of sniping.

Hope you are all enjoying good health. I have a fierce cold.

A.F. Patterson