Major Bethune Minet "Peter" Patton (5 March 1876 – 10 April 1939) was an ice hockey player and administrator. He is credited with bringing ice hockey to Britain and helping to spread the sport to Europe. He was a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1908 and was the inaugural president of the British Ice Hockey Association (BIHA) in 1914. He is a member of both the IIHF Hall of Fame and the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. Patton had a public school education at Winchester and Wellington and he is believed to have learned to skate whilst holidaying in Switzerland. Early life He was the son of Henry Bethune Patton (1835-1915) CB, a Colonel in the British Army with local rank of Brigadier-General, and his second wife Georgina Emma Minet (1845-1918). The name Bethune came from an ancestress, Mary Bethune, who had married Henry Patton in 1749. One of his uncles was General Walter Douglas Phillips Patton-Bethune. Military career From a military family, his initial profession was as a soldier. He served with the 3rd Somerset Regiment and gained the rank of Major with attachments to the Royal Army Service Corps. During the First World War, Patton served in France between September 1914 and May 1916. He was also attached to the Serbian Army and was awarded their Order of the White Eagle. In July 1919 after returning home from the war, Patton was attached to the Serbs working in historical records of motor units. Patton retired from the army in 1921. Ice hockey career Playing Patton started a form of ice hockey in 1897 at the newly opened Prince's Skating Club when he formed the Princes Ice Hockey Club. With the help of some Canadian expats, he established a more recognisable form of ice hockey at the club in 1902. In 1903 he formed and became president of a five team league, the first league in Great Britain or Europe. On 24 January 1904 he played in the first game in Europe when Princes played a local team in Lyons which Princes won 2–0. Princes, with Patton as their captain, played in the first European tournament in October 1908 which was held in Berlin. In 1910, Patton led the Princes team to the gold medal as they represented Great Britain at the inaugural European championships. Both before and after the First World War,