9046 Sergeant Thomas Reuben Pearson 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment Thomas Pearson came from Brierley Hill and was born in 1895, his parents living at “Croakleigh” in Bank Street. He was a regular soldier with the 1st Battalion and on the outbreak of the war was stationed in South Africa. In a letter dated 28 May 1915, he described to his parents his experiences during the Battle of Festubert in May 1915: “I am all right except for a little unsteadiness occasioned during our last heavy battle. I received the cigarettes, etc., the night before we went into action, May 15th, and I can tell you these practically kept me alive for the three or four days, as when we are in action and charging the Germans with the bayonets in the open, we are nearly mad with anger and cannot eat anything. A smoke and a drink of water are mostly what we crave during this time. I have been in some of the hottest fighting yet, being at Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, and Fleurbaix, but the hottest of all was Festubert. We made a grand charge there on Sunday, May 16th , capturing 200 German prisoners, and taking all the trenches in front of us occupied by the enemy. But we suffered rather heavily this time, our casualties amounting to 267, including about nine officers. The regiments fighting on our flanks lost a lot more as I daresay you will see by the lists published in the papers. It was like hell. The Germans continually poured shells into us like clockwork. We all thanked God when we were told we were getting relieved by some fresh troops and going out for a short rest. I hope I shall have the luck to come through the next lot right.” Thomas Pearson survived almost until the end of the war. He was killed, a Sergeant serving with the 2nd Battalion, on 23 August 1918 during an attack on Ervillers. He is buried at Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery: Plot I, Row H, Grave 22.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 17:43:09 +0000
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