William Patterson was the son of Robert William and Elizabeth Jane Patterson and was born on 28th November 1895. He was killed on 17th August 1916. He was just 20 years old.
William was a Private in the 9th Company, Machine Gun Corps (service number: 10590). The 9th Coy MGC was formed on the 8th February 1916 and took its number from the Brigade it was attached to (9th Brigade, part of 3 Division). This division was on the Western front throughout the First World War and took part in some of its major actions. William originally enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers (Regimental No. 2079) at Hounslow, Middlesex and disembarked in France on 1st July 1915 as part of 8th Battalion. 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers were part of 36th Brigade, 12th Division. We do not know how he came to be a member of the MGC. The 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) were also part of 9 Brigade. Was William part of that Battalion having transferred from 8th Battalion and then joined the 9th Company MGC when this was formed out of the machine gun sections of the regiments attached to 9 Brigade in February 1916 or did he join the MGC back in England and was posted to 9 Company MGC?
William was killed
in action at the Battle of Delville Wood, one of the actions fought in the
1st Battle of the Somme.War Grave Commeroration This action was fiercely
fought during July and August 1916. It was said that at the end of the war
only a single tree of the original wood was left alive. The Battle of Delville
Wood was horrendous. Thousands on both sides lost their lives. Most of the
dead lay where they fell, some for weeks. It was a very hot August; the
stench was unbearable. One of the defenders of the wood wrote: "I
never remember having seen so many dead in so small a stretch of ground;
in one of the rides they lay five and six deep. In that August heat in Delville
Wood the first signs of decay showed themselves within four or five hours
of the fatal blow; and as many unburied dead had been littering the place
for days or even weeks, the air was poisoned with the odour of death. Under
such conditions it was possible to hold the wood only by short spells of
service in its so-called trenches" (extracted from
the book Delville Wood by Nigel Cave published by Leo Cooper, Pen &
Sword Books Ltd).
The War Diary 
of
the 9th Company MGC for the 17th August 1916 states:
"Artillery Bombardment resumed. Shells of ours fell short in front line trench putting 2 guns out of action, killing 6 men & wounding 12. The Infantry and Guns had to be withdrawn to Communication Links & Supports. Otherwise quiet."
One of the field reports from the 2nd Lieutenant in command of No. 4 Section of 9th Coy MGC is very detailed. He had been ordered up to the front lines to support the 13th King's Liverpool Regiment on the 15th August 1917. His section was deployed in the front lines in trenches known as T and Harrison Trenches (Ref: S.30.d.7.5). At about 12noon on 17th August he reports "one of my Vickers' Guns in the front line was blown up by our own Artillery fire which killed 1 man of the gun team & wounded 2 others". Was this casualty William Patterson? We will never know for sure.
Click on the minature trench map to enlarge.
From this it seems that William was a victim of friendly fire. The shell fire was part of the preparation for a big push the next day which on 20th August finally claimed victory for the British forces in the Battle of Delville Wood.
However there is one mystery. The database of war dead of the War Grave Commission was searched. Although there were 6 men of the MGC who died on 17th August 1916 none of the others were attached to the 9th Company MGC.
William has no known grave. His name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial, France (location: Pier and Face 5C and 12C). He was just one of over 700,000 British soldiers killed in the Great War.
The Machine Gun Corps was formed in 1915 and disbanded in 1922. The following is taken from the "boy David" memorial to the Machine Gun Corps in Hyde Park Corner.
"The Machine Gun Corps, of which His Majesty King George V was Colonel - in - Chief, was formed by Royal Warrant dated 14th day of October 1915.
The Corps served in France, Flanders, Russia, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Salonica, India, Afganistan, and East India.
The last unit of the Corps to be disbanded was the Depot at Shorncliffe on the 15th day of July 1922. The total number who served in the Corps was some 11,500 officers and 159,000 other ranks, of whom 1,120 officers and 12,671 other ranks were killed and 2,881 officers and 45,377 other ranks were wounded, missing or prisoners of war."
Inscribed on the bottom of the memorial are the words
This is no doubt a reference to the superior killing power of the machine gun compared with the rifle of the ordinary soldier.
William was just one of the millions killed in the Great War; each one a personal tragedy to their family and friends.
In the film Waterloo the Duke of Wellington rides through the carnage of the aftermarth of battle and says
Surely this also is very true of the First World War!