The Last Fighting Tommy: Private Henry John Patch

The last fighting Tommy

Pte. Henry John Patch (Harry)

C Company 7th D.C.L.I. [Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry]

17th June 1898-25th July 2009

Age 111

Fought in the battle of Passchendaele

During the 1914-1918 war

Freeman of the City of Wells

also representing all the brave young men

lost in The Great War. 

Harry Patch, 1898-2009
from Abroad in the Yard

Private Harry Patch was the last soldier who fought in the trenches of World War I to die. He suffered unimaginable horrors and carried many of the details into his late years, as told in an interview with The (London)Telegraph here.

He entered the war in June of 1917 and served as an assistant gunner in a Lewis Gun section, according to Lee Rimmer in Abroad in the Yard, and suffered injuries to the groin from shrapnel when a shell exploded killing three of his fellow soldiers.

This memorial is in beautiful Wells, England, in Somerset. In the photo below it is on the left side of the street on the left, just above the red car. You can read more about his life on his Wikipedia page, here.

Ruth Sieurin, WWI Army Nurse Corps Veteran

I went in pursuit of an answer as to why Ruth Sieurin was listed as a World War I veteran in the records of the First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Simple answer is that she was a nurse. I found an informative listing on the Arlington National Cemetery Website, under an entry for her husband, Willard Stewart Paul, a US Army Lieutenant General (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wspaul.htm : 21 November 2009).

The webmaster Michael Robert Patterson does not cite any sources (except for the gravestone photos), but he seems to have given careful consideration to ascertaining his facts. Willard S. Paul married Ruth M. Sieurin 14 April 1919. Ruth passed away 4 February 1953, and Willard married 2nd Luella Musselman. Willard passed away 21 March 1966. Luella passed away in 1978. Though she is not shown on the gravestone, Patterson says that Luella is also buried there.

PAUL, WILLARD S
LT. GEN. USA
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
DATE OF BIRTH: 02/28/1894
DATE OF DEATH: 03/21/1966
DATE OF INTERMENT: 03/29/1966
BURIED AT: SECTION 30  SITE 1074 RH
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
PAUL, RUTH M SIEURIN
RES NURSE ARMY NURSE CORPS USA
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
DATE OF BIRTH: 03/01/1893
DATE OF DEATH: 02/04/1953
DATE OF INTERMENT: 02/09/1953
BURIED AT: SECTION 30  SITE 1074


[Gravestone photo courtesy of Russell C. Jacobs, January 2006]

World War I Honor Roll, Shrewsbury, MA

The First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury has a "Book of Remembrance." It is a large volume that was created in 1956 and presented to the church by Elsie G. Cook. The occasion for this was a large building project, including the erection of a three-story addition which added a chapel, parlor, kitchen, offices and classrooms. The minister at that time was Rev. Robert Merrill Bartlett, D. D. Minister. Having just stumbled upon a transcription it that I did in 2004, I realized it's useless just sitting in my computer, hence my post. Mostly it's lists: of renovations to the church, of ministers, of legacies, of veterans of three wars, and of gifts, ranging from early gifts of silver up to gifts given in 1982.

One list is of soldiers who served in World War I from Shrewsbury. Though it is not an original source it is useful to use for comparison.  Since the Shrewsbury World War I memorial is now practically crumbling, the VFW and the Town have agreed to rebuild it, and are about to start solliciting donations. The memorial lists the eight men who died, whereas these are probably either all Shrewsbury men, or church members who served.  If I get a break with client work, I'll look into this, especially the one woman mentioned, Ruth Sieurin.

Honor Roll – World War I

• Edward S. Ross
• Raymond Stone*
• W. Steward Paul
• Henry O. Eaton
• R. Lisle Marston
• Robert E. Marston
• Oke Sieurin
• Albert J. Daniels
• Harold Daniels
• Herbert H. Gates
• Herbert M. Bartlett
• Carl F. Vaughan
• James Schouler
• Malcolm C. Midgley
• Harry E. Gray
• Harlow A. Shepard
• Everett E. Winch
• Irving E. Clapp
• John A. Boyce
• Alf E. Sieurin
• Ward G. Keegan
• Bernard N. Knowlton
• Bruno P. Haas
• Wells E. Daniels
• Bryon Stone*
• William L. Keddie
• Everett C. Woodard
• Ralph E. Christie
• Harris G. Field
• Rockwood F. Reed
• Ralph B. McKenzie
• Ruth Sieurin
• Ernest Bisson
• Philip H. Prouty
• Frederick L. Stone
• Jay R. A. Morton
• Clarence A. Crooker
• Clarence E. Dunn
• John MacDuff
• Charles F. Abbott
• Whitney Hastings
• F. Harold Holland
• Henry Vaughan
• Carlton R. Dean
• Harold W. Green

Rest in Peace, Soldiers.