A life of concern and service to his family, friends and country ended on 21st February, 2002 when Patrick Lynn Purcell died at Warrawee, New South Wales, Australia.

Born in Bermuda on 16th March, 1918 he grew up in the Great Depression. He had completed his education and embarked on what was to be a distinguished career in journalism when Adolph Hitler plunged the world into the Hell of World War II.

Like so many of his generation, Pat knew instinctively what he had to do. Overnight, he became a civilian in uniform, serving with distinction in the British Army in Bermuda, England, West Africa, Holland and Germany.

One of a draft of 21 Bermudians to volunteer for service overseas, he left Bermuda to join the Lincolnshire Regiment in England on 23rd June, 1940. During his nearly seven years of military service, Pat rose from a rifleman in the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps to the rank of major in the 4th Battalion of the Lincolns in Europe.

Following the surrender of Germany in May, 1945 and because of his experience in journalism, he became Press Chief for 1 Corps in the British Zone in Germany. He was responsible for re-establishing Germany. He was responsible for re-establishing German newspapers after years of Nazi repression.

After the War, Pat resumed his career with and Colonist Daily (later renamed ), becoming assistant editor.

Pat and I first became friends as children when we lived "over the wall" from each other. We went to school together and shared many of life's experiences, including joining the BVRC before the War and going overseas together.

One afternoon in early June, 1940 Pat and I met at the corner of Queen and Front Streets. I'm sure we were talking about the recent release by Bermuda Command Headquarters of the names making up Bermuda's first draft of volunteers to serve overseas. Our names were among them. Along with our excitement, there was a slight feeling of urgency. No longer was going overseas some time in the future. It would be soon. Here we were, about to say goodbye to those dearest to us - girl friends, wives children, parents. War being what it is, certainly for some of us, goodbye would be for the last time every. Three of that first draft did not return: Stanley Shelton, Allison Fowle and Anthony (Toby) Smith.

A mutual friend stopped to speak to us. He said, with a trace of apprehension, "You fellows are so young (we were 22 and 24). Why do you volunteer? You shouldn't go until you're ordered to". Pat replied "Somebody's got to do it". Sixty-two years later, for me, his words are still the best reason why so many Bermudians volunteered to serve overseas.

Pat's parents were Arthur and Emma Purcell. An older brother, Richard, died in infancy. Both parents were prominent in Bermuda musical circles. His mother was beautiful, had a glorious voice and had had a career in grand opera in America. His father, a piano prodigy and a virtuoso on piano and organ, was a descendant of Henry Purcell, the famous 17th century composer. Pat's father played the organ at the Bermuda Cathedral for many years. Editor of the Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily, he was frequently invited to speak on important civic occasions.

Pat attended Saltus Grammar School and Ridley College in Ontario, Canada. After leaving school, he worked first as a copy boy, then on the rewrite desk at the Canadian Press News agency in Toronto. Following a period with Reuters News agency in London, Pat returned to Bermuda in 1938 to work full time for . He reported sports and was made sports editor.

With mobilisation of the BVRC on 3rd September, 1939 Pat was promoted to corporal. A few months later, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Bermuda Militia Artillery.

The first volunteer draft left Bermuda on 23rd June, 1940 arriving at Avonmouth, England on 10th July. Our ship, the "Mataroa" from New Zealand, was part of a large convoy escorted by the ill-fated HMS "Jarvis Bay", an armed merchantman. The "Jarvis Bay" was sunk a few months later attempting to save another convoy from attack by the German pocket battleship, the "Admiral Scheer".

The passenger list included a large contingent of New Zealand pilots bound for the Royal Air Force. Also, the mother and sister of New Zealand flying ace Cobber Cane. In the eight months he flew in World War II, Cobber Cane had shot down an incredible 40 German aircraft. Mrs. Cane and her daughter, on learning of Cobber's death, volunteered for war work in Britain.

Our convoy survived U-boat attacks in the passage between Spain and Southern Ireland, although we lost one ship not far from outs. The experience was a wake-up call. Perhaps, for the first time, some of us realise we were at war.

Because of the extreme threat of a German invasion of Britain after Dunkirk, and because he had artillery experience, Pat was transferred from the Lincolns to Coast Artillery.

When no action followed, Pat answered a call for volunteers to go to West Africa. Several colonies were in danger of invasion by the French Navy at Dakar. He was sent to Sierra Leone. Then, with promotion to Navy at Dakar. He was sent to Sierra Leone. Then, with promotion to captain, he became commander of a coastal battery in Lagos, Nigeria. Assignment to Takeradi in the God Coast concluded his West African service.

Pat takes up his story here, as written in a letter to me some years ago:

"When my second tour of duty in West Africa was completed and I returned to the United Kingdom, I asked for a transfer from coast to field artillery.

"I got the transfer, but when I seemed to be doomed to spend my days on the staff of the training school on Salisbury Plain, I sought a transfer back to the Lincolns. This request was granted and I joined the 4th Battalion in Holland, where I served as a platoon commander until the German surrender.

"Shortly after the War ended, as I had newspaper experience, I was seconded to Information Services Control, a branch of military government in Germany responsible for establishing and controlling German newspapers.

"At the Time of demobilisation I was Press Chief for 1 Corps Area in the British Zone of Germany, responsible for all the papers we had established in the greater part of North Rhine Province and Westphalia. I had the rank of major and was in a lieutenant-colonel's job.

"I can claim to be a successor to Karl Marx - he was editor of D?sseldorf newspaper Rheinische Zeitung; I was editor of the Neue (New) Rheinische Zeitung. Our policies were not the same.

"Under the jurisdiction of Information Services Control, newspapers were handed over to selected German publishers and journalists, who were considered fit and responsible to carry out the valuable public service - mainly to re-educate the German people.

"The policy", he wrote "was to have the Germans inform themselves and use their own judgment rather than listen to a doctrine forced upon them. Our papers were the first the Germans had seen which separated news from comment. We kept comment to a minimum and gave maximum of facts to enable them to form their own opinions.

"Reaction of the public was Reaction of the public was slow at first. It was something completely new to them. At the outset, I found that they preferred to have their thoughts made for them. They were rather lost without the propaganda to which they had been accustomed".

Pat emphasised that it was not the role of the British to substitute propaganda of their own. Instead, the effort was in the direction of political re-education - to stimulate their minds which had been withheld from them throughout the Nazi regime.

After more than six years overseas, Pat and his bride, the former Elizabeth Anne Taylor of Surbiton, Surrey left England on the "Queen Mary" in August, 1946 for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The big liner continued on to New York, from whence the couple proceeded to Baltimore to fly to Bermuda. T

They had been married on 25th November, 1945.

Pat resumed employment with , first as foreign editor and then as assistant editor to E.T. (Ted) Sayer.

In another letter to me, Pat wrote "I left the in 1955 to become assistant general manager of Bermuda General Theatres, and was later general manager. In 1967, we emigrated to Australia, where I first worked for Warner Bros Films, and then returned to journalism.

"It was a full turn of the circle - not only was I back in journalism where I started, the Bermuda connection was renewed. I was joined on the Manly Daily by Bob Wilson, who had followed some years after me as Gazette assistant editor, and then by Catherine Zuill, whose father (William S. Zuill) joined the when I was assistant editor. He later became its editor".

Pat won several journalism "prizes" in Australia for his editorials. He was subject to mandatory retirement at 65, but continued part-time until he was 73. During that period, he concentrated on editorials and feature articles, and trained many young journalists. Some went on to top executive positions with Sydney's major TV channels or newspapers. Pat's superb command of English made his own writing and his training of young reporters outstanding, both in Bermuda and Australia.

Pat was a member of the BVRC Overseas Association, and the Bermuda War Veterans Association.

His passing is, for me, a very great personal loss. A lifetime of memories flood through me as I join our comrades, including George Fisher and Fred Mansbridge of the 1940 First Draft.

We say goodbye to Pat Purcell, a special and gifted Bermudian, a first-class soldier and friend.

Virginia, Pat Purcell's younger daughter, in a letter to Tom Aitchison, wrote lovingly about her father:

"Moving to Australia was a decision I could never quite fathom, and no amount of probing ever brought, what I thought to be, an adequate explanation from Dad. I felt he didn't ever truly settle here and, as the years passed, it became more apparent to me that he deeply missed Bermuda and perhaps his life there.

"Certainly the garden at number 9 (their family home) can attest to his passion for things Bermudian.

"Since retiring, the garden evolved from an organised native Australian to a hodgepodge of lucky-nut trees, pigeon berries, hibiscus, oleander, Suriname cherries, snow plants and cedars.

"Old man's beard hung in long clumps from the latter and in early spring, freesias massed under the lime tree and along the edges of the paths. He was delighted to see a mutated Bermudiana plant pop up in the lawn, a mystery that we never solved ... my Dad revelled in the purely simple and meditative task of tending to and loving his garden.

"I look at the photograph of Dad in his uniform and I realise that this man is not the man I knew as my father. I did not know him then - young, strong, perhaps carefree, full of ideals. My father was mostly very serious and thoughtful, mature and quiet.

"He didn't reminisce about the war or even elaborate on the very bones of his tour of duty. At least not to me. I felt he believed war was something no one should have to live through and the details were best kept in the darker recesses of one's memory.

"He didn't talk very much about himself and it would take some tough journalistic interview techniques to loosen his lips - usually a bottle of very good Reisling. Even then, I always knew there was so much more.

"Bouts of ill health came and went and both he and Mum battled through them with admirable tenacity. Dad had had his fair share of operations.

"The doctors told us he was near the end. We made sure someone was with him at all times. He died just after 10 am on Thursday, 21st February. As it happened, I was the one with him. I told him how much I loved him, and how I believed I was a good person because of his influence as a father. Dad taught me what I believe to be the greatest virtues - integrity and honesty. It is how he lived his life. His loss is enormous.

"As per Dad's wishes, he was cremated... We scattered his ashes in a most beautiful and tranquil place in a nearby National Park. It was a significant spot as it had been the host to many happy family picnics and outings. The water there continues to the ocean, and we all wish that Dad's ashes find their way back to his home, Bermuda."