´óÏó´«Ã½

Introduction

In St Nicholas’ Church Tower, Whitehaven, Cumbria there is a Memorial Plaque to those parishioners who died in the service of their country during World War Two. I have already written an article giving a few details about those named on the Memorial (Article Reference ID A4188657). Most, if not all, of those named on the Memorial must have been known to some of my older relatives, and I have been able to write additional articles providing a few more details about some of them.

This article is about two of those named on the WW2 Memorial in St Nicholas’ Church. Their names are John Richardson and Gilbert Ellwood Pearson, and at the time of their deaths they were serving in Burma with the 2nd Battalion of the Border Regiment. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article (September 2005) I have not been able to trace any relatives or close friends of these two gentlemen, although I have obtained a few details about them from the Cumbria County Archives Service, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and references about the Border Regiment in Burma.

The names of Gilbert E. Pearson and John Richardson appear next to each other on the Memorial inside St Nicholas’ Church Tower. They also died on the same day, as a result of the same incident and they are buried in adjacent graves in the Imphal War Cemetery near the India / Burma border. They were also very close friends before and during the war.

The 2nd Battalion Border Regiment in Burma

In the definitive reference work on the history of the Border Regiment, ‘Tried and Valiant' by Douglas Sutherland (1972), Reference: ISBN 0 85052 042 8 there is some information about the 2nd Battalion in Burma during World War Two. Without access to the actual Service Records of Sergeant Richardson and Lance Corporal Pearson, I cannot discover their exact movements. However, it is possible to work a few things by cross referencing what is known from newspaper articles about them with the recorded movements of the 2nd Battalion.

According to 'The Whitehaven News' articles about the two pals it appears they were posted abroad about September 1942, setting sail for India via Capetown, South Africa. By that time existing 2nd Border personnel were in training for jungle warfare in Horana, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In January 1943, the Battalion were posted to Kandy and in June that year became part of the 100th Brigade within the 20th Indian Division under Major General D.D. Gracey OBE MC. Then in October 1943 the Division moved to a camp in Burma near to Imphal. It must have been somewhere in this area where John Richardson and Gilbert E. Pearson died on 5 June 1944.

Douglas Sutherland's book gives a brief but detailed summary of what happened to 20th Division, 100th Brigade and in particular 2nd Border during this period. 'Tried and Valiant' is a good starting point for anyone wishing to learn more about what happened in Burma in the latter part of 1943 and the first half of 1944 Suffice to say for this article that there was some ferocious fighting with the Japanese who had laid a heavy siege upon Imphal. The successful counter-attack to relieve this siege began in early June 1944, around the time the two Border Regiment 'pals' from Whitehaven died. However, the records state that John Richardson and Gilbert Pearson lost their lives in an accident, rather than in battle.

Two Great Pals

The information for this section was obtained mainly from two sources. Firstly, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records and secondly from copies of ‘The Whitehaven News’ published in 1944. I was able to read the articles in the ‘News’ referring to John Richardson and Gilbert E. Pearson from in the Cumbria County Archives service.

Gilbert Ellwood Pearson was 27 years old when he died on 5 June 1944. He was the son of Ernest and Margaret Pearson who lived on Scotch Street, Whitehaven, Cumberland (now Cumbria). Gilbert E. Pearson was the eldest of three boys. All three of the brothers were serving in the forces at the time Gilbert died.

The other two brothers served in The RAF: Flying Officer Ralph Pearson, aged 24 in 1944, and Leading Aircraftman John Pearson, who was 20 years old in June 1944. John Richardson was serving in Britain at that time.

According to ‘The Whitehaven News’ article dated 29 June 1944, Gilbert Pearson met his brother Ralph in Capetown, South Africa, while on the way out to India in 1942, and they travelled on the same ship for this leg of the journey. The newspaper article also records that just before it was written, Flying Officer Ralph Richardson had recently met Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander in South East Asia, while in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Before the war, Gilbert Pearson had served an apprenticeship with Metcalfe’s Joiners who were based on George Street, close to the town centre. Before joining the Army in 1941, he had been employed by Whitehaven Corporation on a new council house building project at Hensingham, a district of the town about two miles south of the town centre. Gilbert Pearson’s Service Number was 3607258.

Like his pal Gilbert Pearson, John Richardson was also 27 years old when he died. He was the younger son of Joseph and Ada Richardson, who lived in Corkickle Lodge, Whitehaven. This house is near the junction of Corkickle and Coach Road, Whitehaven and at that time was diagonally opposite the Catholic convent of the Sisters of St Paul.

The Richardson family were, however, Anglicans. Before the war, John Richardson had been a keen bell-ringer at the Anglican church of St John’s, Hensingham, as well as a member of the choir. He was also a founder member of Hensingham Cycling Club, although the newspaper article does not give the date the club was founded.

Like Gilbert Pearson, John Richardson had joined the Army in 1941, and most likely they had signed up together. John Richardson’s Service Number was 3607262, which is only four digits different from that of Gilbert Richardson. John Richardson had married his wife Lilian in June 1942, a mere 3 months before being posted overseas. In June 1944, Mrs Lilian Richardson was listed as living in Whitehaven, at 2 Cart Road, Preston Street. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists Mrs Lilian Richardson as being from Hornsey, Middlesex, possibly indicating she had left Whitehaven shortly after her husband died. However, with no hard evidence about this, it is only conjecture.

Before joining the Army John Richardson had worked with Gilbert Richardson on the council house building project at Hensingham, although I don’t know in which trade. According to the newspaper article about Sergeant Richardson, he had also been a part time member of the N.F.S., although it doesn’t specify what the initials stand for (NB - possibly the Fire Service?).

The families were told that the two pals were killed accidentally but the actual circumstances do not appear to have been released, at least at that time. While researching this article, I have found a few people who remember the Pearson and Richardson families during the war, but they do not have a lot of information about them. As stated in the introduction, at the time of writing this article, I have been unable to trace any of their relatives or close friends who might perhaps be able to give further information about them.

Remembering the two Border Regiment ‘pals’

As referred to above in the introduction to this article, Lance Corporal Gilbert Pearson and Lance Sergeant John Richardson now lie in adjacent graves in the Imphal War Cemetery, India. The grave references are respectively, 1.b.4 and 1.B.3. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission will commemorate their names in perpetuity, and maintain their graves.

Additionally, in their hometown, the names of Gilbert Ellwood Pearson and John Richardson are commemorated on the World War Two Memorial inside St Nicholas’ Church Tower, Lowther Street, Whitehaven. These pals are among the 20 parishioners of St Nicholas’ who died while serving their country during the Second World War. According to the contemporary evidence shows that Sergeant Richardson was also actively involved in the parish life of St John’s, Hensingham. However, the homes of both Sergeant Richardson’s parents and his wife are closer to the Anglican parish of St Nicholas, based in the town centre.

On Sunday 25 June 1944, the Reverend C.E. Nurse conducted a memorial service at St Nicholas’ Church for Gilbert Pearson and John Richardson. While I do not have a record of the Order of Service, I am sure the Reverend Nurse paid a fine tribute to these two great pals, who had worked together and had died together. Additionally, ‘The Whitehaven News’ article from 1944 mentions records the fact that the bell ringers from St John’s Church rang a special peal in their memory a few days before it was published. John Richardson, of course, had been one of their members before the war. This was yet another way for people who knew them to pay a positive tribute to their memory.

During the war years another way people often paid tribute to the memory of friends or family who died was by making a contribution to the local newspaper ‘Comforts Fund’. The money raised this way went towards providing various items from home for those serving in the Forces at home and abroad. For the area where John Richardson and Gilbert Pearson lived the local weekly newspaper was ‘The Whitehaven News’.

A key role for the ‘News’ during the war was by sending copies of the newspaper to the three Border Regiment Battalions involved in the war against the Japanese in the Far East, paid for by money from the ‘Comforts Fund’. Appropriately, in the weeks after the deaths of John Richardson and Gilbert Pearson were announced, townsfolk made a number of contributions to the local ‘Comforts Fund’ dedicated to their memory. To show how well thought of these two Border Regiment ‘pals’ were, a contribution of 10 shillings was made by another of their good ‘pals’ also serving in Burma at the time: Corporal Dixon Greenop. In 1944 a donation of 10 shillings from the Army pay of a person serving in the Far East must have been a significant contribution

Conclusion

The photographs of John Richardson and Gilbert Pearson published in ‘The Whitehaven News’ edition of 29 June 1944 shows them proudly wearing their Border Regiment uniforms. I understand that in most cases the local newspaper used to talk to family and friends of those killed in the war and where possible borrow a photograph that they would print to go with an appropriate tribute.

Unfortunately, according to current staff at ‘The Whitehaven News’ office, most original photographs and records prior to the 1980s, where they had them, were destroyed in an accident. As I have not been able to trace any close family or friends of these two Whitehaven ‘pals’ before writing this article, I have not been able to pay as fine a tribute to them as they obviously deserve. So far as I am aware, the information in this article is correct.

Nevertheless, I would like to dedicate this article to their memory. Perhaps at some future date a more fitting tribute to Sergeant John Richardson and Lance Corporal Gilbert E. Pearson will be written.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.