Patrick John Finn

War Service

Precisely when Patrick John enlisted is not known, however one record suggests he enlisted at Wakefield and joined the 7th (Service) Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Even the scant official information relating to Patrick John is unclear. Information obtained from the British War Medal and Victory Medal List, date-stamped 3 July 1920 confirms “Finn, Patrick John 47461” of the 7th (Service) Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry landed in Boulogne and became part of the 20th Division 61st Brigade.
Throughout 1916 and 1917 the 20th division took part in a number of actions in the Ypres Salient in Belgium and the Somme area in France including: the Battle of Mount Sorrel, Delville Wood, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval and the Battle of Le Transloy. Then in 1917 the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Langemarck, Menin Road Ridge, the Battle of Polygon Wood and the Cambrai Operations.
We cannot be sure if Patrick John was with his battalion during the whole of this time. On 20 February 1918 the 7th (Service) Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was disbanded and Patrick John was transferred to the 7th Battalion Kings Royal Rifles.
Patrick John would not remain with the new battalion long. After enduring the horrors of the trenches, the filth, the stench of the dead, rats, gas attacks and having to withstand the constant fear that the next shell could be the last, Patrick John lost his life two days after joining his new regiment.
The entry in United Kingdom Commonwealth War Graves Commission records state:
“Finn, Pte Patrick John, 7th Bn. 47461 King’s Own Yorkshire Light Inf., attd 7th Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps. 2nd April 1918. Age 42. Son of Austin Finn of Ireland; husband of Minnie Finn, of 25 East St., Silkstone Buildings, Altofts, Normanton, Yorks.”
Extracts from an entry in the War Diary of the 7th Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps. provides a glimpse of the state of mind of the writer and the acceptable normality, after nearly four years of war:
“1 April After an uneventful tour of 24 hour during which 7 other ranks were killed and two wounded. The battalion was relieved by the French.”
Patrick is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial in France, one of over 14,000 names engraved on the wall panels which have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.

Family Life

Patrick John was born near Roscommon, Ireland, however it has been difficult to trace his records, as sometimes he was known as Patrick John or just Patrick or John.
Patrick John, as a young man, came to Yorkshire where he met Minnie Dawson. Minnie was born in Bradford but lived in Altofts. Patrick John and Minnie were married in 1910. The following year their first child Austin, who was probably named after his granddad in Ireland, was born. The family then lived at 9, Hollings Yard, Normanton. John (as he was known at the time) was a bricklayer’s labourer at a local colliery. Later there were further additions to the family: Patrick John (junior) in January 1913 and Arthur in 1916.

Pozieres Memorial