Born on 6th November 1891 at Enfield, son of William Henry (Builder, later Stationer) and Agnes Sophia Patman. He was Baptised at St Andrew’s Church Enfield on 28th February 1892. 1901: With his family at “Fernbank” Essex Road, Enfield. 1911: An Auctioneer still with his family at 8 Essex Road, Enfield. This was the address given in his Probate.
He joined 26 Royal Fusiliers, “The Bankers” Battalion. They arrived on the Somme towards the end of August 1916, deploying firstly to Fricourt on 7th September 1916, before taking over trenches to the north east of Delville Wood in the middle of the month. They attacked Switch and Flers trenches on 15th September. After several other moves they took over trenches at Gird Lines near Gueudecourt on 5th October.
On 7th October from these positions they were part of the attack on Bayonet Trench near Gueudecourt. They managed to capture more ground, but at the cost of heavy casualties during intense fighting. Almost as soon as they began to advance men began falling victim to heavy machine gun fire. They held their gains however until relieved on 9th October, and did not see action again during the battle.
Reginald Patman was among those Killed in Action but not recovered from the battlefield.
It is unclear whether he was connected to Woodford in life, and how his name came to be added to this memorial.
Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian
Sources:
Ancestry.com