Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Unit:

RCAMC attached to The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian In (RCAMC attached to The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian In)

Recommendation:
This Officer, the Regimental Medical Officer landed with Battalion Headquarters and the reserve Coys of the Battalion at St. Aubin-sur-Mer on 6 June 1944.
His work under fire was exemplary. As long as the Regimental Stretcher Bearers were available to ‘nest’ or carry injured men, he went from ‘nest’ to ‘nest’, administering all the aid within his resources in a cool and capable manner without any apparent regard for the shelling, mortaring and small arms fire falling around him. When the Stretcher Bearers themselves became very reduced in numbers, he attempted to reach each individual until Battalion Headquarters and the Regimental Aid Post were moved inland. Here he carried on for the next thirty-six hours without respite despite persistent sniping and shelling.
Finally, an instance of his conduct under fire was the occasion when he walked deliberately into a concentration of medium artillery fire to render assistance to the wounded in the vicinity of the church at Cairon.
Due to the very faithful and courageous manner in which Captain Patterson performed his work, the number of lives lost amongst those wounded was very much lower than might easily have been the case.


Supplement to the London Gazette, 31 August, 1944.