Alfred Pateman was one of three Chailey brothers who served during the First World War.  A fourth brother, Ernest Pateman, attested under the Derby Scheme but was medically unfit and did not serve.

 

Alfred Pateman was born at Chailey in 1889, his birth registered at Lewes in the June quarter of that year.  By the time the 1891 census was taken, the family was living at North Common, Chailey and comprised Charles Pateman (head, aged 39, working as a traction engine driver), his wife Susannah (aged 35) and their six children: Charles junior (aged 14, working as a farm labourer),  Thomas Pateman MM (aged 12, also working as a farm labourer), Elizabeth A Pateman (aged nine), Emily A Pateman, aged six, Alfred Pateman (aged two) and Ernest Pateman (aged one).

 

The 1901 census shows the family still living at North Common.  Charles Pateman senior (now aged 48) is listed as a thrashing engine driver.  His wife Susannah is aged 45 and their sons, Charles junior (aged 24), Alfred (aged 12) and Ernest (aged 11), are all still living at home.  Charles junior, like his father, is working on heavy machinery and noted as a steam roller driver.  Elizabeth Pateman was working as a cook for a domestic household in Hove, Sussex while her sister Emily was working as a kitchen maid in Brighton.

 

Mick Pateman remembers that his uncle Alf was in the 4th Hussars and that he was promoted during the war.  His 1914 Star lists 5506 Corporal A Pateman, 4th Hussars, 5506 while his British War and Victory medals show his rank as sergeant.  An undated photo, almost certainly pre-1914 and taken by a Lewes photographer, shows him standing in dress uniform with two others in front of bell tents.

 

Chailey Parish Magazine first notes Alfred Pateman in October 1914 when it notes that he is serving his King and Country.  In October 1915 it notes, Pateman, Sergt A, 4th Queen’s Hussars, France.  This information is then repeated up to November 1917.  The following month he appears as Corporal A Pateman serving with the 47th Machine Gun Corps and by March 1918 he has been promoted to sergeant again. 

 

In November 1918, the parish magazine notes that Sergeant A Pateman has been wounded and this information is then repeated up to and including the final published roll in July 1919.

 

Alf Pateman's medal index card (MIC) at the National Archives in Kew shows two army numbers: 5506 (with the rank of corporal with the Hussars) and 105490 (with the rank of sergeant with the Machine Gun Corps).  It also notes that he was transferred (to the Machine Gun Corps) on 10th May 1917. 

 

Alf must have joined up in April 1910 and I've written about this on the Chailey 1914-1918 blog: Alf Pateman - when did he join up? I've also published his MIC on that post. 

 

Alf arrived in France on 15th August 1914 and he would have been entitled to the clasp and roses although it appears from his MIC that he never applied for these. Nevertheless, he was certainly an Old Contemptible.

 

Mick Pateman thinks that Alfred Pateman died shortly after the war ended. He is buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Chailey.

 

Alfred Pateman’s cousins, Percy and Walter Pateman, also served their King and Country during the First World War. 

 

Sources and Acknowledgements

 

• 1891 Census of England and Wales
• 1901 Census of England and Wales
• England and Wales Civil Registration Index 1837-1983
• Chailey Parish Magazine
• The National Archives’ on-line medal information card index
• Interview with Mick Pateman in 2003