John Lynn Pattinson was born on October 21st, 1883 to George and Mary Elizabeth Pattinson of Preston, Ontario. John’s father George was the former M.P.P of Preston. John attended Upper Canada College from 1898 to 1903, and then went on to study at Leeds University in England. He returned to Preston and was one of the most popular young men in town. John was the “president of the intermediate hockey team when they won the OHA intermediate championship” two years in a row. When war was declared in the summer of 1914, John was among the first men from the Waterloo Region to volunteer for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He listed his occupation as a Superintendent, though it was not specified where. John fought as a Private for the 1st Battalion in France.
On June 3rd, 1915 local newspapers reported that John had been killed in action. One week later, on John’s brother Franks’ wedding day, it was reported that John had not been killed, and in fact not even wounded and that John’s father George had received word of his son’s safety. Then, in a sad twist of fate only five days later, on June 15th, 1915, John was killed in action at the age of 31 during attacks at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée. Private John Lynn Pattinson is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial in France.
Service number: 7069
“Popular young Preston man killed at front,” The Waterloo Chronicle, June 3, 1915.
“Private John Lynn Pattinson ‘03,” UCC Remembers, accessed March 21, 2015, http://uccremembers.ca/old-boy/private-john-lynn-pattinson-03/
“PTE. Pattinson was not killed,” The Waterloo Chronicle, June 10, 1915.
*Newspapers refer to George Lynn although all formal documentation lists him as John Lynn.