PEARSON, Joseph

Joseph Pearson was born at Old Hill and in 1914 was living in Blackheath with his wife, Ada, at 9 Maltmill Lane. He enlisted in the Worcesters and was sent to the 11th Battalion serving at Salonika in the campaign to defend Greece. This was another hard-fought campaign with most of the fighting around Lake Doiran. After the long winter of 1916-17 the Allies attempted to drive the Bulgarian army out of Greece. The opening battle was at Doiran on the 24th April but it failed to break the stalemate of trench warfare. Private Joseph Pearson was killed on this day. He was 24 years of age and is commemorated on the Doiran, Blackheath and Halesowen Memorials.