Recently discovered letters home from 2nd Lt O C Pearson, 70 Sqn RFC

[Jack Johnson]

Following on from this thread,

 

Some background information - About 18 months ago my work colleage Dan, who shares an interest in the Great War with me, brought in a tupperware tub filled with a pile of old and crumbly letters that were in the keeping of an old lodger of his. Said lodgers uncle discovered them in a skip outside a house being cleared in the mid '90's and saved them as they looked interesting...

Role on 15 years and me and Dan are sat looking through them at work, wondering what they are and what to do with them? They are all from 2nd Lt Oliver Charles Pearson, to his mother, and date from his time in the Inns of Court OTC in 1915, right up to his short time in France in 1917 with 70 Squadron.

We can obviously tell they are an important part of history, but are flumoxed as to what to do with them? Do we dontate to a museum? What will happen to them then, lost in archives? Or try and find any descendants who might want them back? Or maybe his old school would like them? We didn't know, but while we scratching our heads I spent a lot of quite evenings and long tea breaks typing out all the letters. By the time I'd finished we still didn't have a plan, but then Dan had a brainwave - start a blog and post them up on there! Now while we work out what should happen to these letters, we have a chance to share them with anyone interested. We're hoping people more knowledgeable than us can help fill in some of the gaps in Oliver's life as well. Also it would be great if any photos turned up so we could put a face to him...

Anyway, here it is.. We're still tweaking it here and there, but thought it would be timely to post the first letter on the 11th. We'll try and post a couple of letters a week from then on. Plan is to have the typed out letter in the blog, but scans of each letter available too. (I think photos of the first letter are already there while we test it)

http://olivercharlespearson.blogspot.com/

Cheers, any feedback welcome.

Mike.

[montbrehain]

Beat me to it Jack ! I was going to post a link to it for you. That is an excellent effort , If only everybody thought like that. Well done mate , talk soon "MO"

[Guest]

Think this is his MIC.

[Kath]

Mike & Dan,

Had a look.

Very worthwhile effort.

Thank you, Kath.

[alex falbo]

Thanks for your efforts. I've book marked it and will read tonight/

[Guest savalas]

Think this is his MIC.

Thanks very much for posting this Skipman (and the support of fellow posters), it's an encouraging start to what we hope will be an interesting project.. this is most definitely a relevant document and we'll add it to our archive of material on the site when we reach that particular and poignant era in the story.

Regards,

Dan

[Guest]

No problem,though be aware,it is from ancestry,and it's still a bit of a grey area whether one can reproduce it.Ok for personal use,but permission may be needed for use elsewhere.

Mike.

Think am ok to post it here,as i say it's a grey area Mike.

[montbrehain]

Hello Dan very good effort and well worth doing. You will find a very appreciative audience here. Thanks "MO"

[Jack Johnson]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys, and the MIC info!

First letter has now been posted! An interesting insight into life in the Inns of Court O.T.C., just a couple of weeks after he joined. Unfortunately it's the only letter we have for the year he was in the O.T.C.

Hey Mo, kettles on cobber

[Jack Johnson]

Just posted another couple of letters up, and the first from his time at Ternhill. From what I gather on the internet, this was a training school in Shropshire, set up in 1916. Can't find out much else about its Great War history though. Oliver has written at the top of his letters from Ternhill '34 RS RFC', can anyone shed any light on 34 RS? Is it a squadron? Or is it part of the flying school?

Many thanks,

'Jack'

[ChrisM]

Congratulations on your ongoing efforts, Jack.

There is some information online which tells us more about life in the Inns of Court O.T.C. a bit later, from February 1917. This is in the form of very similar letters written by another cadet, E. Trevor Evans, again destined for the R.F.C. The two experiences must have been almost identical; each even had digs in the same road.

The link to that information is in another thread in this forum -

Chris

[Surreyinexile]

Very interesting blog, and a very worthwhile thing to do. Done with sensitivity and dignity too. Congrats.

Adrian

[Jack Johnson]

Fantastic link Chris, many thanks for the heads up on that! I've only scan read that very well put together pdf of Evens letters so far, but there are a lot of similarities.

Thanks Adrian. We are very aware these are personal letters home, and the decision to post them online wasn't taken lightly. We don't have the familys permission to do this, but also we don't even know if there is any direct family left! This was weighed up with the knowledge that a lot of people would find the letters of everyday life of a subaltern in the RFC incredibly interesting. There is nothing scandelous or rude in any of the them, and in later letters 'On Active Service' he often asks his mother to pass them around, as he no longer has time to write to everyone. I wonder what Oliver would think of us now, finding the mundane and everyday aspects of his life so fascinating!

Dan has been doing some searching on Ancestory.com, but so far haven't turned up many leads. We were hoping we would turn up his flying license from the Royal Aero Club but drew a blank. Would he have had one?

[Adrian Roberts]

can anyone shed any light on 34 RS? Is it a squadron? Or is it part of the flying school?

Jack

34 RS was 34 Reserve Squadron. This would be basically an advanced training squadron, able to supply pilots elsewhere at short notice. The fact that he talks of flying off to other airfields as though this was routine shows that he was fairly experienced at the time.

Adrian

[Jack Johnson]

Oliver has now finished his training at Ternhill with 34RS, and is now at Central Flying School in Uphaven, Wilts, putting hours in on Sopwith 1/2 Strutters, Pups and Camels.

"I have done well in the flying line. I only had to do 45 mins on Sopwith 2 seaters while most chaps had to do at least 2 hours. I went off then on Sopwith Pups : a dear little single seater scout, about the handiest bus made : I did 2 hours 45 mins on on those & then to my huge delight I have been picked to go on the Sopwith Camel I have now done nearly 2 hours on them & shall do some more tonight. The last is one of our best single seater scouts. It has a wonderful performance & will do 130 easily & more when wanted. It has a wonderful climb too & its only drawback is it’s a bit hard to fly as it spins at once if you make a mistake of any sort not that spinning matters except near the ground."

[Jack Johnson]

Just posted the letter home from Oliver from hospital following a serious crash in a Camel, only days after being posted to 70 Sqn.

" The aerodrome I was on was fairly big but on one side you took off over a valley & in doing so yesterday my engine conked & I of course had to turn round which is a fatal thing to do & anyway after turning I remember no more. I came down about 200 feet & smashed the machine to atoms so I am told but all that is the matter with me is a sprained ankle a cut lip a cut eye my jaw somewhat cut about & worst of all two teeth knocked out at least one of my two tombstones is right out & one next door is broken off flat with the gum. I am otherwise alright & am thanking my lucky stars I’m alright as it must have been a great escape but I know nothing of it as I fainted after the turn back I made & was still unconscious till just befor I arrived at the hospital when I woke up wondering where I was and what had happened."

Also Dan has been doing some detective work on the genealogy front and we may have found the nephew of Oliver Pearson... Will keep you posted.

[ianw]

What a good effort Mike. I look forward to reading the letters in full.

I am going to Belgium in a week to visit the grave of one of the original RFC August 1914 pilots who rests in Tyne Cot.

We will remember them.

[Waddell]

Fantastic. A very good thing to do.

Scott.

[Jack Johnson]

Oliver has recovered from his crash and is back in the saddle with 70 Squadron just 3 weeks later....

70 Squadron RFC BEF France

6.9.17

"This morning at 5.30 I was wakened up to say I was for patrol at six. I was a bit surprised you bet but I have had my first trip over hunland. It was very cloudy indeed & we were above the clouds so that you could only occassionally see the places where the trenches are. I saw a gas attack in progress but that was all the activity I could see besides I was using my eyes too busyly looking round for huns. However we didn’t meet any & I only saw one & he was in the process of being downed by a bunch of our machines.

Five of us set out but we lost three leaving me & the leader to stroll about for an hour alone when we picked up another of the party. The hun honoured me with my first Archie which burst only about 20 yards from me with a loud report & knocked me over sideways & that was his first shot so will give you an idea of how good they are. (I was 16.000 ft up in the bargain.) Of course we had been flying straight for a long time myself in ignorance that we were even over them. The funniest sight was to see the opposing lines of kite balloons facing each other solemnly each side of the lines. Coming home I followed the leader alright till we had to go through the clouds. He picked a hole & went through & I did ditto but shortly after lost him underneath so as I hadn’t the foggiest notion where I was I flew around at only 400 ft till I saw a good field in which I landed quite successfully & found myself near a Divisional headquarters. I had breakfast & lunch in an ASC mess & a jolly good one they gave me. I rang up the nearest squadron & got more petrol & some mechanics & they sent me off after lunch when with much difficulty I found my way back. Of course I had phoned my squadron to let them know so they weren’t anxious. I was altogether 2 ½ hours in the air & didn’t at all mind my first trip although it was a windy time first trip over & for a time only two of us together."

[Jack Johnson]

Fantastic news! Through Dan's detective work we have managed to trace Oliver's nephew! He has the diary Oliver mentions in one of his last letters, also his medals and wallet. We hope to return the letters to the family soon.

Very happy, this is the perfect outcome for the letters. Also glad that the memory of Oliver was never forgotten, and one of his descendants is even named after him.

Will keep you posted.