Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War 1916 ‘Western Front’ M.C. attributed to Lieutenant A. J. Pearson, Machine Gun Corps, who subsequently transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and was killed in action when his de Havilland Scout was shot down by ‘The Red Baron’ on 9 March 1917

Military Cross, G.V.R., reverse contemporarily engraved ‘Richebourg l’Avoue (Boars Head) June 29-30. 1916. 2nd. Lieut. A. J. Pearson. M.G. Corps’ with original mounting pin on riband, extremely fine £600-800

M.C. London Gazette 19 August 1916:
‘For conspicuous gallantry during operations. When held up by the enemy’s fire after an advance through heavy fire, he established himself in a shell hole and held on for five hours. He then withdrew, bringing back his gun and a wounded man.’

Arthur John Pearson was born in Buckingham in July 1887 and was educated at the Royal Latin School, Buckingham. From school, he took a three year course in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the City and Guilds Institute, London, and subsequently joined the Western Electrical Company, Woolwich. A specialist in the installation of telephone exchanges, his work took him to China, where he installed two new telephone exchanges for the Imperial Court in Peking; South Africa; and Australia. Following the outbreak of the Great War he returned to the U.K. and attested as a Private in the 19th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers at Victoria Street on 15 September 1914. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 8th (Reserve) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment on 27 March 1915, he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in 1916, and served during the Great War on the Western Front from 17 May 1916. For his gallantry at Boars Head on the eve of the Battle of the Somme he was awarded the Military Cross, the Battalion War Diary stating: ‘Second Lieutenant Pearson was out in No Man’s Land for 6 hours with his gun mounted in a shell hole, to repel and counter attack that might have been attempted by the enemy. He then got his gun in safely with the help of Corporal Bind, and also brought in a severely wounded man’.

Transferring to the Royal Flying Corps on 19 July 1916, supposedly (according to family tradition) because he thought that the M.G.C. was too dangerous, Pearson underwent pilot training at Upham before returning to France and joined No. 29 Squadron west of Arras in December 1916. Flying de Havilland Scouts, he had one shared victory- a Jasta 5 over Tilloy les Mofflaines on 4 March 1917, before he was shot down in flames by the celebrated German Ace Manfred von Richthofen on 9 March of that year- the Red Baron’s own account of the action states: ‘At 11:55 a.m. between Roclincourt and Bailleul, 500 metres behind our trenches, I attacked, with three of my planes, several enemy planes. The machine I had singled out soon caught fire and dashed after 100 shots downwards. The plane is lying on our side, but cannot be salvaged as it is nearly completely burned out and too far in front.’

Pearson was von Richthofen’s 25th victory of the Great War. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, France.

Sold with copied research.