Immediately after the war in 1919, when travel on the continent became safe, Mrs Armstrong and Jess made their way to Arras to pay their respects at Pat’s grave. In spite of strenuous efforts, she failed to have her son’s body repatriated. However, as a gesture of good will, the Imperial War Graves Commission agreed to let her have the temporary wooden cross which had been erected on Pat’s grave by his fellow officers. The cross was shipped to England in 1927 and later erected inside Kilvalure Church near Moyaliffe as a memorial to Pat Armstrong.
Mrs Armstrong never returned to live in Ireland but remained in Folkestone at Clodagh House, which Pat had helped her to acquire at the start of the war. She died on 31 January 1956, three months short of her 88th birthday.
Catherine ‘Heppie’ Hepburn remained with Mrs Armstrong for the rest of her life. She died aged 71 on 22 February 1943 at Cantreyn, Bridgnorth, and was buried four days later in her native Scotland.
Heppie and Mus