King Edward’s School and the Great War

Memorial Roll of Honour 1914 - 1918

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Pearson, Harry

Second Lieutenant ▪ Royal Field Artillery

Harry Pearson, born on 20th April 1898, was admitted to King Edward’s School in January 1911, winning a Foundation Scholarship the following year. He lived with his parents Laura and Benjamin, a haulage contractor, and his six siblings at ‘Eastbourne’, Gravelly Hill, Erdington.

At School, Harry studied in the Modern School, which offered a curriculum that emphasised scientific rather than classical subjects, and consistently gained a high place in his class. He evidently had a talent for writing, placing second in his class in Latin and English, and winning the Badger Prize for English Literature in 1915, but he appears not to have been a sportsman as he does not appear in any of the School magazines.

After School, Harry went on to Birmingham University and joined the university’s Officer Training Corps in 1916. In September 1917, he was commissioned to the Royal Field Artillery as a Second Lieutenant, and in November was sent to France. He died of his wounds on 1st October 1918 at the Military Hospital, Rouen, France, and is buried in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, where the inscription on his headstone reads: “Thy Will Be Done.” Harry left his estate of £356 to his father, who applied for his medals in 1921.