• Casualty list, 4th Bn. The Dorsetshire Regiment, Operation Market Garden

Date of birth:

October 5th, 1923 (Stockport/Cheshire, England)

Service number:

14723722

Nationality:

British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Rank held during Operation Market Garden:
Private

MISSING 25.9.1944, POW, SURVIVED

Prisoner of War (POW) details:
POW No. 17597
POW Camps:
- Stalag 12A (Limburg s.d. Lahn) from 25 September 1944 to October 1944;
- Stalag 4B (Mühlberg) from October 1944 to May 1945.

Biography:
Herbert James Pearson was born on 5 October 1923 in Stockport, Cheshire, England. Pearson was educated at Parish Church Schools, Spring Gardens, Stockport and later employed by Simpsons Ltd., Prince's Street. Prior to joining H.M. Forces he was a Corporal at the Home Guard and worked as a boot repairer.

He enlisted on 2 March 1944 into the General Service Corps (GSC) and subsequently transferred to South Lancashire Regiment on 13 April 1944. From there he was transferred to the Dorsetshire Regiment on 6 September 1944, most probably as reinforcement as the Battalion's War Diary mention the arrival of 91 reinforcements on that day.

In order to make the evacuation of the remnants of the 1st Airborne Division possible, the 4th Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment was ordered to cross the Lower-Rhine at the Westerbouwing Heights, just west of Oosterbeek, on the night of 24/25 September 1944. Pearson was reported missing on 25 September 1944 at Oosterbeek and subsequently reported Prisoner of War in German hands.

He was held as a POW at Stalag 12A (Limburg s.d. Lahn) from 25 September 1944 to October 1944. Then in Stalag 4B (Mühlberg) from October 1944 to when he was liberated in May 1945.

After the Second World War he served with the South Lancashire Regiment and East Lancashire Regiment up until 24 November 1947. After the war he went back to Stockport. Later, which year is unknown, he emigrated to Australia where he lived until he passed away.

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• Photo: Collection Gren Bint
• - Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1577(27), 1641(16), 1788(18)
  - England & Wales Births 1837-2006
  - ‘Prisoners of War. Armies and other land forces of the British Empire, 1939-1945’, compiled by J.B. Hayward
  - Record of Service (Ministry of Defence)
  - General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War
  - Information kindly provided by Gren Bint