Military Chat

I am looking for information about Private Edward Pearson born 1874 Birkenhead have found medal card Victory British Roll H/1/101 B28 page 5841 and Lancashire Fusiliers service number 57396 can anybody tell from his service number
when and where he enrolled how long he was in the army we have a suggestion that he might of enrolled at cross lane barracks
I would be grateful for any information about Edward thank you
jim scanlon

Hello Jim, you may or may not be aware that around 70% of WW1 records were destroyed during WW2.

I'm not seeing any service records for him so quite likely his were amongst the records lost.

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Edward J Pearson
England and Wales Census 1881
Name Edward J Pearson
Event Type Census
Event Date 1881
Event Place Tranmere, Cheshire, England
Registration District Birkenhead
Residence Note Queens Buildings
Gender Male
Age 7
Marital Status (Original) Single
Occupation Scholar
Relationship to Head of Household Son
Birth Year (Estimated) 1874
Birthplace Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Page Number 28
Registration Number RG11
Piece/Folio 3585/17
Affiliate Record Type Household
HOUSEHOLD

ROLE

GENDER

AGE

BIRTHPLACE

William Pearson Head M 52 Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
John Pearson Son M 24 Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Edward J Pearson Son M 7 Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Mary Jane Pearson Grand Daughter F 3 Wales
Mary Braid Boarder F 45 Acton, Cheshire, England

Edward Pearson
England, Cheshire Parish Registers
Name Edward Pearson
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 24 May 1896
Event Place St Mary, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Gender Male
Age (Formatted) 22y
Marital Status Single
Father's Name William Pearson
Spouse's Name Agnes Jackson
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Father's Name William Jackson
CITING THIS RECORD

As Ancestry is down at the moment, it isn't possible to view the medal card.
Edit - back up now, sort of

You may find this interesting re the medals awarded
http://www.1914-1918.net/soldiers/themedals.html

From your post, it would seem that he was awarded the Victory medal and the British War medal. The Victory medal "....was awarded to all those who entered a theatre of war. It follows that every recipient of the Victory Medal also qualified for the British War Medal, but not the other way round."
If he wasn't awarded either the 1914 Star or the 1914-1915 Star, we can assume that he didn't "...serve(d) in a theatre of war before 31 December 1915."

This link gives you a rough idea of the regimental movements.
http://www.1914-1918.net/lancsfus.htm

There is a 2 volume book on the history of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1914-1918, links can be found towards the bottom of the following page
http://salfordhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/cross-lane-drill-hall.html

Added - there is a further card with the same service number. This one gives his units

Name: Edward Pearson
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Lancashire Fusiliers
Regimental Number: 57396
Previous Units: 17th Lan Fus 57396 Pte

Extract from a previous link
17th (Service) Battalion (1st South East Lancashire)
Formed in Bury on 3 December 1914 by Lieut-Col. G. E. Wike and a Committee as a Bantam Battalion. Moved on 16 March 1915 to Chadderton (Oldham) and in June 1915 to Masham.
21 June 1915 : came under orders of 104th Brigade, 35th Division. Formally adopted on 27 August 1915 by the War Office. Moved to Cholderton in August 1915.
>>>Landed at Le Havre 29 January 1916. Ceased to be a Bantam Bn in early 1917.

Slightly more detail from the Lancs Fusiliers site
http://www.lancs-fusiliers.co.uk/tourspostings/17LFToursPostings.htm
17th (Service) Battalion (1st South-East Lancashire) and 18th (Service) Battalion (2nd South-East Lancashire)

03.12.1914 - The 17th formed and the 18th formed on the 13.01.1915, both as a Bantam Bn in Bury by Lieutenant-Colonel G E Wike and a committee.
16.03.1915 - The 17th moved to Chadderton near Oldham and then to Masham, Yorks to join the 104th Brigade of the 35th Division.
08.04.1915 - The 18th moved to Garswood Park, Ashton-in-Makerfield and then to Masham, Yorks to join the 104th Brigade of the 35th Division. .
27.08.1915 - Both Battalions taken over by the War Office and moved to Cholderton, Salisbury Plain.

29.01.1916 - Mobilised for war and landed at Havre and the Division engaged in various action on the Western Front including;
During 1916 - The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, The fighting for Arrow Head Copse, Maltz Horn Farm, and Falfemont Farm.
Early 1917 - Ceased to be a bantam Battalion.
During 1917 - The pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The fighting in Houthulst Forest, The Second Battle of Passchendaele.
During 1918 - The First Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Ypres, The Battle of Courtrai, The action of Tieghem.
11.11.1918 - The 17th ended the war in Belgium, Grammont and the 18th in Belgium, Paricke west of Grammont.

You asked when he would have been de-mobbed. Obviously without full service records, its difficult to tell. One thing we do know - he wasn't awarded a Silver War badge given to soldiers on medical leave.

We'd probably guess that he returned permanently to the UK sometime late 1918, or in 1919. There are a few who didn't come off the Roll until 1920, but they are rare. Many of the complete records indicate that there was a hiatus before the paper work was completed, during which time the soldier was on 'Home leave'.

(as Jim is a new poster, PM sent advising how to return to his thread)

Welcome to the Community boards Jim.


(I'll let Jim know he has replies to his query) :-)

http://www.1914-1918.net/lancsfus.htm
http://www.1914-1918.net/35div.htm
The Division was largely comprised of locally raised units known as "Bantams", manned by troops who were under the normal regulation minimum height of 5 feet 3 inches.


A unit's war diaries describe, on a day by day basis, what a unit did that day. They are available on Ancestry as follows:
On Ancestry
Search - Card Catalogue

then
Title - war diaries
Select - UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920

Then
Regiment or Unit - lancashire
Sub Unit - 17th battalion

I have a couple of posts you might find interesting:

Wesley PARKER - Sgt in 8 Batt, Lincolnshire Reg
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/military_chat/thread/1354965

Ancestry in libraries
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1354471

PM from Jim, as I'd notified him about replies
....
I am new to all of this and I am delighted the fact that people have replied and given me information
Jim
....

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Agnes Pearson
England and Wales Census, 1901
Name Agnes Pearson
Event Type Census
Event Date 31 Mar 1901
Event Place Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
County Cheshire
Civil Parish Birkenhead
Ecclesiastical Parish Saint John
Sub-District Birkenhead
Registration District Birkenhead
Residence Note Oliver Street
Gender Female
Age 23
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Birth Year (Estimated) 1878
Birthplace Bhead, Cheshire
Schedule Type 41
Page Number 8
HOUSEHOLD

ROLE

GENDER

AGE

BIRTHPLACE

Edward Pearson Head M 28 Bhead, Cheshire
Agnes Pearson Wife F 23 Bhead, Cheshire
William Pearson Son M 4 Bhead, Cheshire
James Pearson Son M 2 Bhead, Cheshire

take a look at the fusiliers site

http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/lancashire-fusiliers
and
http://www.fusiliermuseum.com/family-history

PM from Jim

Thank you for replying about Edwaed Pearson major problem iPearson common name got most of non army data but although medal cards give information they don, indicate if it is THE Edward Pearson I'm looking for
Thanks again
Jim
..........

If the records hadn't been destroyed during WW2, there'd be a lot more happy FH researchers around :-D
There is the added complication that soldiers weren't necessarily conscripted to or enlisted with their local regiment.