Thomas Benjamin Pattenden was born in Ballarat and was a Carpenter by trade when he enlisted in the 7th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement on 12 July 1915 at the age of 22. His unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 23 November 1915 and reached England in January 1916. In March of that year he joined the 58th Battalion and moved across to France in June. On July 14 he was wounded in a skirmish where he received mild shell shock but this may have saved him from being involved in the tragedy of Fromelles just five days later. On August 9th 1918 he was again wounded, this time suffering a gunshot wound to his left thigh/buttock. He was evacuated to England and was not to return to France. He left England on January 15th 1919 on the City of Exeter and disembarked at Melbourne on March 2nd.
Tree No. 1137