See also
| Husband: | Herbert Wallace LE PATOUREL (1916-1979) | |
| Wife: | Babette Theresa BEATTIE (1925-2019) | |
| Children: | LIVING | |
| LIVING | ||
| Marriage | 26 Oct 1949 | St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Name: | Herbert Wallace LE PATOUREL | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Name Prefix: | Brigadier | |
| Name Suffix: | VC | |
| Father: | Herbert Augustus LE PATOUREL (1875-1934) | |
| Mother: | Mary Elizabeth DAW (1873-1956) | |
| Birth | 20 Jun 1916 | St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands |
| Census | 19 Jun 1921 (age 5 yrs 0 mns) | St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands1 |
| Kyrton, Fosse André | ||
| Census | 1946 (age 29-30) | Westminster, London, England2 |
| Junior United Service Club, 11 Charles II Street, Pall Mall | ||
| Sailed | 1 May 1958 (age 41) | Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| Travelling with his wife and two young daughters Cabin Class, on ticket no. 715271 on the Queen Mary. The family's UK address was given as the War Office, Room 602, Northumberland House. He was designated as an Army Officer and a NATO traveller. They were accompanied by their 21 year-old nurse, Mary Fletcher. | ||
| Disembarked | 6 May 1958 (age 41) | New York, New York, USA |
| Arrived on the Queen Mary, travelling with his wife and two young daughters Cabin Class. The family's intended USA address was given as the British Joint Seervices Mission, 188 K Street, Washington D.C. He was designated as an Army Officer and a NATO traveller. He was travelling on his Services ID Card No 125697. They were accompanied by their 21 year-old nurse, Mary Fletcher | ||
| Disembarked | 15 Jul 1960 (age 44) | Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| Nat Provincial Bank, PO Box 16, Guernsey, Channel Islands They arrived from New York on the Britannic. Herbert, Babette and the two daughters. They were going to Guernsey, with an onward destination of Ghana. |
||
| Sailed | 18 Aug 1960 (age 44) | Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| c/o NatWest Bank, PO Box 16, Guernsey Herbert, Babette and the chidren were sailing on the Apapa to Takoradi, Ghana, where he was taking up a post with the Ghanaian Army. |
||
| Death | 4 Sep 1979 (age 63) | Chewton Mendip, Somerset, England |
| Cause: Heart failure Address: Ford Farm, Litton |
||
| Cremation | 10 Sep 1979 | Bedminster Down, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England |
| South Bristol Crematorium, Bridgewater Road | ||
| Probate | 5 Dec 1979 | Winchester, Hampshire, England |
| Ford Farm, Litton, Chewton Mendip, Somerset Effects valued at £77974 |
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| Burial | 1979 | Chewton Mendip, Somerset, England |
| Ford Farm, Litton His ashes were interred in a field behind his farm. |
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| Name: | Babette Theresa BEATTIE | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | 22 Sep 1925 | Birmingham, Warwickshire, England |
| Sailed | 4 Jul 1930 (age 4) | Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| 42 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 Travelling Saloon Class on ticket no,172 aboard the Rangitiki to Wellington, New Zealand. She was accompanied by her parents |
||
| Disembarked | 1 Jun 1934 (age 8) | London, England |
| intended: 42 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 From Melbourne, Australia aboard the Strathaird. Accompanied by her parents. They travelled First Class |
||
| Flew | 10 Apr 1947 (age 21) | London, England |
| The Elms, Cambridge Park Road, St Peter Port, Guernsey She flew to New Yotk, arriving on 11 April. She indicated that she would reside permanently in the USA. She was staying with a fried Dr. R.D.Anderson, 465 High Street, Burlington, New Jersey. Passport issued in Guernsey in October 1946 |
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| Sailed | 1 May 1958 (age 32) | Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| Travelling with his wife and two young daughters Cabin Class, on ticket no. 715271 on the Queen Mary. The family's UK address was given as the War Office, Room 602, Northumberland House. He was designated as an Army Officer and a NATO traveller. They were accompanied by their 21 year-old nurse, Mary Fletcher. | ||
| Disembarked | 6 May 1958 (age 32) | New York, New York, USA |
| Arrived on the Queen Mary, travelling with his wife and two young daughters Cabin Class. The family's intended USA address was given as the British Joint Seervices Mission, 188 K Street, Washington D.C. He was designated as an Army Officer and a NATO traveller. He was travelling on his Services ID Card No 125697. They were accompanied by their 21 year-old nurse, Mary Fletcher | ||
| Sailed | 18 Aug 1960 (age 34) | Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| c/o NatWest Bank, PO Box 16, Guernsey Herbert, Babette and the chidren were sailing on the Apapa to Takoradi, Ghana, where he was taking up a post with the Ghanaian Army. |
||
| Census | 2006 (age 80-81) | Tonbridge, Kent, England3 |
| 4, Well Close, Leigh, TN11 8RQ | ||
| Death | 5 Jan 2019 (age 93) | Leigh, Kent, England |
| Name: | LIVING | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Name: | LIVING | |
| Sex: | Female | |
Herbert Wallace Le Patourel (1916-1979) was born on 20th June 1916 at Kyrton, Fosse André, St Peter Port, Guernsey, the younger of two sons of Herbert Augustus Le Patourel (1874–1934), advocate, and from 1929 to 1934 procureur (attorney-general), and his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Minnie), née Daw (1873–1956), daughter of John Henry and Mary Daw,tenant farmers from Devon. His elder brother, John Herbert Le Patourel (1909–1981), was an eminent medievalist.
Le Patourel (known as Wally in Guernsey and Pat in his regiment) was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and always wanted to be a soldier. During his last year at school his father died, and he was persuaded that it was his duty to stay in the island and look after his mother. So, in 1934 he became a bank clerk and satisfied his military aspirations in 1936 by joining the Royal Guernsey militia as a second lieutenant. His mother settled into widowhood and Le Patourel received a legacy of £500. This enabled him to prepare for the army entrance examination. In 1937 he transferred to the Hampshire regiment (supplementary reserve of officers) and in 1938 was granted a regular commission in the regiment.
Within a year the Hampshires went to France. In 1940 Le Patourel was evacuated from Dunkirk and was mentioned in dispatches. Two years in the UK followed but in November 1942 the 2nd battalion of the Hampshires sailed for Tunisia. Almost at once they were involved in the battle for the Tebourba Gap. Initial landings by the Allies in North Africa had secured Algeria and Morocco, leaving only Tunisia to be taken. The British 1st Army captured Medjez -El-Bab and Tebourba, but violent counter attacks from the enemy halted their advance and the Hampshires found themselves facing enemy counter-attacks. On the fourth day of a fierce battle, 3rd December 1942, Z company, commanded by Le Patourel, came under heavy fire from high ground. A brave attempt by an already depleted platoon from Z company failed to win it back. Then Le Patourel requested permission to make one last effort to dislodge the Germans.
He then personally led four volunteers under very heavy fire to the top in a last attempt to dislodge the enemy machine guns. Major Le Patourel rallied his men and engaged the enemy, silencing several machine gun posts. Finally, when the remainder of his party were killed or wounded, he went forward alone with a pistol and some grenades to attack the enemy machine guns at close quarters. From this action he did not return. He was believed to be dead, and his Victoria Cross was awarded 'posthumously'. In fact, he had been badly wounded and was taken prisoner, sent to hospital in Italy, and, as a seriously wounded prisoner, was repatriated in September 1943. Happily he recovered his health and was able to rejoin the service. In 1944 he landed in Normandy on D-day plus four as a senior staff officer, brigade major with the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, serving with them until the end of the war in Europe.
Le Patourel's subsequent career was varied and distinguished. From 1945 to 1947 he instructed in India at the Quetta Staff College. In 1948 he was appointed instructor at Warminster School of Infantry. On 26th October 1949 he married Babette Theresa Beattie (b. 1925) of Guernsey in the Town Church, where his father had been churchwarden; they had two daughters. The following year Le Patourel trained as a parachutist and was appointed second in command of the 2nd battalion of the Parachute regiment, serving in the Middle East. In 1953 there followed a staff appointment as a deputy assistant adjutant-general at the War Office. In 1954, now a lieutenant-colonel, he commanded the 14th battalion of the Parachute regiment and the 5th battalion of the Royal Hampshire regiment (TA) at Southampton. From 1957 to 1959 he was in Washington, DC, as general staff officer to the British joint services mission. In 1959, promoted to brigadier, he moved to Ghana as deputy commander of its army. While there he had a heart attack but was able to serve for two more years as deputy commander of 43 (Wessex) division district. In 1962 he retired.
Le Patourel's first three years as a civilian were spent as manager of the Fowey–Bodinnick ferry in Cornwall. Then in 1966 he joined Showerings Vine Products as executive assistant to the directors. In 1969 Showerings took over Harveys, the Bristol wine merchants, and Le Patourel became for the rest of his life a director of Harveys. During his Bristol years he lived in the county of Somerset and was appointed deputy lieutenant in 1974. He planned to spend his retirement raising Jacob's sheep and bought a farm in Chewton Mendip, but he died there of heart failure two years before his sixty-fifth birthday, on 4th September 1979, and this dream was never fulfilled. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at South Bristol Cemetery and Crematorium, Bedminster. Le Patourel's regimental obituary described him as a kind and conscientious officer who never spared himself and got the best out of those he commanded. He met adversity calmly. He had energy, endearing charm, and a lively sense of humour. His medals are held by the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum, Winchester, Hampshire.
From The Comprehensive Guide to the Victoria and George Cross
| 1 | Text From Source: Census England 1921 Address: Kyrton, Fosse André Place: St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands Name,Relation,Age,Sex,Marr/Orph'd,Birthplace,Nationality,Education,Occupation,Employment,Place of Work,Chd <16,Children's Ages Herbert Augustus Le Patourel,Head,46,M,Married,St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands,,,H.M. Solicitor General,Employer,Manor Place, Guernsey,2,5, 11 Mary Elizabeth Le Patourel,Wife,46y 5m,F,Married,Crediton, Devon, England,,,,,, John Herbert Le Patourel,Son,11y 10m,M,Both Alive,St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands,,Whole Time,,,,, Herbert Wallace Le Patourel,Son,5y 0m,M,Both Alive,St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands,,,,,,, There was a 17 year old servant living in - Violet May Fustie. |
| 2 | Text From Source: Electoral Register UK 1946 Address: Junior United Service Club, 11 Charles II Street, Pall Mall Place: Westminster, London, England Name of person,Address Le Patourel, Herbert Wallace,Junior United Service Club, 11 Charles II Street, Pall Mall |
| 3 | Text From Source: Electoral Register UK 2006 Address: 4, Well Close, Leigh, TN11 8RQ Place: Tonbridge, Kent, England Name of person,Address Le Patourel, Babette Theresa,4, Well Close |