John Pearson

John Pearson. Private. 81696, 8th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regt.). Died of Wounds (DoW), 28th September 1916, France. Age 25.

John was the son of Dan and Mrs Mary Eleanor Pearson, who lived and farmed at Seatle Farm. He attended Cartmel Fell school. The 1917 edition of the "Cartmel and Lower Holker Almanac" printed, "Private John Pearson, died from wounds in France, 28th September 1916. He was a Cartmel young man but had a homestead in Magnet, Manitoba and came over with the second contingent from Canada." He is also named on the war memorial at Cartmel Fell.

The first Canadian contingent of 31,000 men left for England on 3rd October 1914 and arrived in Plymouth eleven days later. This was the 1st Canadian Division, of which the 8th Battalion was a part. John came in the second contingent, which consisted of further infantry battalions to reinforce the 1st Division, in February 1915.

The first severe action the Canadians experienced was on 22nd April 1915, when they suffered the first gas attack at the 2nd Battle of Ypres where they sustained 6,000 casualties by the time the fighting subsided.

The 2nd Canadian division arrived in France in mid-September 1915 and a Canadian Corps was formed, commanded by General Alderson, 1st Div's commander. The Canadians remained in the Ypres area until August 1916 when they were transferred to the Somme.

The Corps sector was Pozieres-Mouquet ("Mucky" to the Tommies) Farm, where the Australians had fought and died in vast numbers, in that terrible summer of 1916, suffering 22,826 killed and wounded.

The Canadians continued the hard fighting and saw the first tanks go into action at Courcelette on 15th September, when the village was captured. The battles continued and on 26th September 1916, the Battle of Thiepval Ridge began at Courcelette.

The British 18th Division attacked Thiepval, 11th Division attempted to gain Mouquet Farm and the Zollern Redoubt, while the Canadians’ objectives included Zollern Graben, Hessian Trench, Kenora Trench and beyond them, the soon to become infamous, Regina Trench. The 8th Battalion, 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade were on the extreme left of the Canadian advance, adjoining the British. At 12.35pm the artillery began and the 8th Bn left their trenches and moved to the edge of the barrage, at 12.49pm the barrage went forward over Zollern Graben, which was occupied by them.

Battalion HQ received a message at 2pm that the left flank was held up, the battalion reserve was despatched, reached its objective of Zollern trench with little difficulty and sent back 100 prisoners. The attack on the left petered out because of heavy machine-gun fire from the Zollern Redoubt, but on the right "C" and "D" companies occupied Hessian Trench and were in contact with 5th Bn. on their right.

At 9am the next day it was obvious that 11th Div on the left had made no inroads into Hessian Trench, so a defensive flank had to be thrown back.

The fighting for Thiepval Ridge had been tough and costly. The line moved on the Canadians' left to within a short distance of Regina Trench, but on the right there were only small gains. The British had entered Thiepval village, but 11th Division made little progress.

John Pearson was wounded during this battle and evacuated to Puchevillers, some way behind the front-line, where 3rd and 44th Casualty Clearing Stations were located. He died of his wounds in 3rd CCS on Thursday, 28th September and was buried in Puchevillers British Cemetery, Somme, Plot V, Row B, Grave 16, one of 213 Canadians who lie there, most of whom died of wounds suffered during the September fighting.

The battles around Courcelette continued, Regina Trench was captured on 11th November, the final Canadian operation on the Somme taking place on the 18th, when Desire Trench was attacked and taken on a day which started with snow and sleet, eventually turning to rain.

The Canadian battlefield, August 2000, photographed from the Australian Memorial at Pozieres Mill, Courcelette British Cemetery is centre right.

The Canadians had suffered 24,000 casualties, the Courcelette battlefield claimed 8,000 dead.

The Westmorland Gazette of 29 September 1917 "In Memoriam" section contains the following, “ PEARSON.-In loving memory of Pte. John Pearson, Canadian E.F., who died of wounds in France, September 28th. 1916.

“ PEARSON.-In loving memory of Pte. John Pearson, Canadian E.F., youngest son of D. and M.E. Pearson, Seatle Farm, Grange-over-Sands, died of wounds at No. 3 Canadian Clearing Station, France, September 28th. 1916, aged 25 years. - Interred at Puchevillers British Cemetery.