Soldier Record

Patrick Emerson was born in the Liberties, Dublin in 1908 and joined the British Army in 1908. He left the army in January, 1914 but as a reservist he was called up again in August 1914. He eventually got to France in November, 1914 just in time for the First Battle of Ypres.

He served continually on the Western Front with the 5th Lancers taking part in all their major engagements including Hooge, Arras, Scarpe, Cambrai, Bourlon Wood, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, and in the Pursuit to Mons in November 1918. He miraculously avoided serious injury although he was present during the Germans' first recorded use of poison gas in 1915 when the regiment were based in trenches at Brielen. He was gassed and taken out of the line for a while. The effects of the gas stayed with him for the rest of his life. He eventually left the army in 1919.

After the war in 1922 he joined the newly formed Irish Free State army where he served as a company sergeant major in the Transport Corps fro four years, eventually leaving in 1926..

At the outbreak of World War Two he joined the Merchant Navy and served on the Atlantic Convoys for the duration of the war.

He had a son who was also named Patrick who served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. In September 1943 he was serving aboard the Class Destroyer HMS Escapade on escort duty in the North Atlantic when, during the pursuit of a U-boat an explosion on board killed him.