PEARSON, James Henry

James, probably known as Harry, Pearson was the son of Mr and Mrs Dudley Pearson of 4 Coffee House Row, High Street, Brierley Hill, and was living in Netherton when he volunteered for Worcester Territorials. He was sent to the 2/7th which went to the Western Front in 1916. They were stationed on the Artois front line near Neuve Chapelle where trench warfare was relatively quiet and went to the Somme at the end of the long battle. In March 1917 the Worcesters at last made a significant advance when they followed the retreating enemy from the Somme towards the Hindenburg Line. They reached the villages close to St. Quentin where German resistance emerged strongly. Private Harry Pearson was seriously wounded at some point and was transferred to the Base Hospital at Rouen where he died of wounds on the 11th April 1917.He is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension (VIII J 7) and is commemorated on the Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials. Two of his brothers, Charles and Dudley, also died in the war.