La Chaudière Cemetery, 1989
There are 638 Canadians buried here on the north side of Vimy Ridge.
In the foreground are five graves from Calgary's 50th Battalion. They are
McIlvenna, Hall, Hornebrook, MM, Pattison, VC, and Parslow. The fourth marker
from the left is the gravestone of Private John Pattison who won the Victorial
Cross on April 10th, 1917, at Vimy Ridge. He eliminated an entire enemy
machine-gun crew that was holding up the attack. While Pattison survived
the Battle of Vimy Ridge he was subsequently killed June 3, 1917, in fighting
at nearby Lens.
In Calgary there is a bridge across the Elbow river near Lindsay Park that
is named after Pattison. While thousands cross that bridge daily I suspect
that few know the name of the bridge or the significance of John Pattison,
VC and his comrades from the 50th Battalion.
Following are emails from Steve Harwood.......Steve's great uncle was killed in the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 9Apr1917:
Let me commend you for your tribute to Canadian heritage by displaying
pictures of Canadian WW1 Memorials on your website. I have a Great-Uncle
buried at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery and he died 9April1917 - morning
of the attack at Vimy Ridge.
Sincerely,
Steve Harwood
Thu, 21 Oct 1999 12:29:52 -0400
<SHarwood@karmax.com>
Here is a pic from La Chaudiere Military Cemetery near Lens circa 1917. It is with great pride I give it to you.
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