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Remembered Today:

Strange - A Cheshire KIA in Serbia


John_Hartley

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My current researchee is a John Pearson, 12th Cheshires.

CWGC gives his date of death as 19/12/18 and a commemoration on Doiran Memorial.

SDGW also notes that he's a KIA and Theatre of War as Serbia.

This seems to raise all sorts of questions. I can't explain how he comes to be KIA at a date well after the end of fighting in Salonika. Or, if it was actually a "died" or "died of wounds", why he has no known grave at a time when all should be quiet.

SDGW records that Pearson was the last 12th Cheshire to die.

So, I suppose I'm asking if fighting continued inside Serbia into December that might explain things. Is the war diary likely to have been continued upto this date (in which case, it'll be worth me adding it to my increasing list of look-ups).

My personal theory is that the date may well be wrong - in that the last time the Cheshires were in action was 18 & 19 September 1918 at Pip Ridge. The attack was on the 18th , but CWGC has quite a number recorded as being the next day (I suspect wrongly), so there seems to be some "history" of wrong dates.

Any ideas?

John

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Hi John-

You may be right with your speculations, but I would like to throw in another possibility just for good measure: fighting with local bandits. You are right that had he died of disease for example he should have a proper grave. If I am not mistaken banditry was still rife after the fighting in the Balkans and this just may account for this casualty. Maybe other members here can shed more light or discredit this speculation. All the best

Dimitri

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John

CWGC's original register records that the Doiran Memorial records names of the missing up to 30th November 1918 - "except for four names".

Pearson was one of them and so it does not look like a date error but a deliberate inclusion. I would not rely on SDGW being correct with 'KiA'.

He could have been lost by accidental drowning and his body not recovered, for example - or died of wounds or in an accident or killed in some sort of fracas and his grave site lost somehow.

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Worth pursuing the war diary, John. My Grandad's battalion's War Diary went on into 1919 on the Western Front.

And 12th Cheshires formed part of the 28th Division that went off to Turkey in early 1919, so would think they kept their war diaries going.

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Terry - Many thanks for that. I am now intrigued and will follow up the war diary.

Richard - I feel a trip to the Museum at Chester coming on. Do you know if it's still Thursday/Saturday appointments for ordinary punters like us?

John

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Ordinary Punter!!!!!! :o Excuse me Mr Hartley, I am a student of Chester College, which has an educational link with Chester Military Museum, and therefore am admitted to the Museum, as and when I like, in fact on Thursdays!!!!

I haven't been for a while John, but I believe its still Thursday & Saturday. :)

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Do you know if it's still Thursday/Saturday appointments for ordinary punters like us?

Richard

Once again, my poor written English lets me down.

When I refer to ordinary punter like "us", I meant, of course, the less than exalted ones. ;)

John

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Photo of Pearson's name on Doiran memorial for you.

post-5-1099157042.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Updating the thread as promised. The war diary proved no help in developing his story (except by not providing anything useful), but here's John Pearson's story as best I can tell it (write-up from a still "in development" research project)-

"John was born in the parish of St Thomas’ C of E Church, Stockport; the son of George and Eliza Ann. The 1901 Census records three men named George Pearson who may have been his father – two worked in the cotton industry, the third in the local hat making industry. Eliza, then aged 31, was a cotton weaver.

By the time of the Great War, he had married Mary and they lived at 1 Lancaster Street, in the Portwood area of town. His service number indicates he enlisted into the army in September 1914 and, after training, would have gone overseas in early September 1915. Apart from a few weeks in France, all of John’s service was in the Salonika theatre of war in Greece, where British troops fought the Bulgarian army.

Early in his service, John was “mentioned in despatches” for his devotion to duty. There are no details available. In its edition of 31 May 1918, the London Gazette published the fact that he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Clearly a brave man, John’s citation reads “During a hostile attack on his post he was severely wounded, but refused to retire, making light of his wound, displaying the greatest courage and setting a magnificent example to all ranks. On another occasion he voluntarily crossed 300 yards of open ground under heavy shell fire to assist a wounded man. His conduct throughout has been beyond praise.” The Battalion’s War Diary has been examined for any entry during the preceding six months that might give more information about John’s acts of bravery, but without success.

The date of John’s death is most unusual in that it is over two months after hostilities ceased in Greece, on 30 September 1918. On the 25 October, the Battalion embarked from a nearby port with the intent of an attack on the Turkish port of Dedeagatch. Due to rough weather, the assault did not take place and an Armistice was signed with Turkey on 31 October.

By late November, Cheshires were back in Greece and camped at Rendina. They stayed there throughout December. The Battalion’s War Diary makes no reference to anything occurring on 19 December which might have caused John’s death. His death is even more unusual in that John has no known grave and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial to the Missing.

Regimental records indicate that he was “killed in action”. This may, of course, simply be an error. The Cheshire Year Book notes that he “died” rather than “died of wounds”. If the Year Book had taken this from military records of the time, then it implies that his death was from natural causes or was accidental.

It is, however, surprising that an accidental death at that time was not worthy of mention in the War Diary. Equally surprising, is that John’s grave, if ever there was one, became lost. Whilst this was common during hostilities, it must be unusual in a rest camp area. Another possibility is that John had been attached to another unknown unit and died whilst with them.

It is a mystery that is unlikely ever to be resolved. "

John

(PS: the final reference to him possibly being attached to another unit, comes from a war diary reference to 20 soldiers being transferred to 4th Rifle Brigade on 5/12/18)

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Could he possible have been a victim of the flu pandemic? Winters in the Balkans are pretty aggressive, and maybe he fell ill and died quickly, was hastily buried, and the grave lost in the winter snows.

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  • 17 years later...

This is a rather ancient thread but for the sake of accuracy and the late Sgt Pearson (serv no 13081) I thought I’d add what I understand happened to him.  Of course since the original posts a lot more information can now be analysed  online so the task is easier,  I do not wish to belittle the efforts of previous posters.

Sgt Pearson was listed as missing following the 18th September 1918 Battle of Dorian where his Battalion attacked up Pip Ridge (see casualty list below dated from Oct 29th 1918)  They were the lead Battalion and the attack failed.  His Battalion suffered terribly with most men becoming casualties including their Lt Col CO  being killed in action.  A number were taken prisoner as the Battalion had to retreat back towards their own lines. Sgt Pearson was one of these prisoners - 65 men were listed as still missing in this casualty report.

His  award of the DCM was not for this action.  He was also listed as wounded on  a 24 December 1917 casualty list suggesting a wounding sometime in November 1917 which is when the award likely occurred as the dates of gazetting and inclusion on his 29 Oct missing report are too soon for an award for an 18th of September action. 
 

From the 21st of September the Bulgarians retreated en masse from their positions and the war in this Theatre had just 10 more days to run.  Hundreds of British prisoners captured on the 18th and 19th now found themselves attached  to a retreating army.  Many British wounded were left behind by the Bulgarians to be quickly recovered by the advancing British, Greek and French forces, whilst unwounded men tend to have joined the retreat. The status of captured men was thus confused with men being recovered piecemeal throughout late September and October and occasionally into the November.  Over time a picture emerged of who had been killed in battle and not recovered/identified, who had succumbed to wounds after capture and in some cases who had died as a result of sickness/exhaustion on the Bulgarian retreat.  In many cases assumptions had  to be made by the War Office.  Hence Sgt Pearsons status and assumed death between 19 September 1918 (when he was likely confirmed as alive by a fellow soldier after the battle and thus a POW) and 12 December, when all hope of recovery was gone. 
 

My personal view is that he likely died of wounds/exhaustion soon after the battle but his death was not witnessed by colleagues or his grave identified. That said we will never likely know.  However, it does seem he was a POW for a time otherwise his status would have remained as missing then much later missing presumed killed with a date of 18th September. 
 

images courtesy of WFA, Ancestry and NLS: 

2A0B599F-1DA6-43DF-9F89-9ADD48ACED54.jpeg.062cd0d5dfc895920e27a4eaebaceb2a.jpeg3FD7219B-DFC6-46B4-98BE-BE814745DC4B.jpeg.3d22b8b50d59412da8efd8a02c0bb4a9.jpeg609421ED-90B6-4C25-A320-A255BCF99FBE.jpeg.190a401591880f0aafba1222f24adef8.jpeg

 

Edited by AndrewSid
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