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Letter 16 - The Sister is a nice girl & has a medal of a military character.

A note from the Editors:

After only being in the Squadron a couple of days, Oliver is involved in a bad crash, writing off his Sopwith Camel and putting him in hospital, luckily with only superficial wounds.


Franked 22 AUG 17
Mrs Chas. E. Pearson,
Hillcrest,
Lowdham,
Notts.

39 Stationary Hospital France
21.8.17
Letter No 9

Dear Mother
This is only a very temporary address & I am writing with all haste so that you may not be alarmed if you see my name in the casualty lists. I am here as the result of an aeroplane accident. The aerodrome I was on was fairly big but on one side you took off over a valley & in doing so yesterday my engine conked & I of course had to turn round which is a fatal thing to do & anyway after turning I remember no more.

I came down about 200 feet & smashed the machine to atoms so I am told but all that is the matter with me is a sprained ankle a cut lip a cut eye my jaw somewhat cut about & worst of all two teeth knocked out at least one of my two tombstones is right out & one next door is broken off flat with the gum. I am otherwise alright & am thanking my lucky stars I’m alright as it must have been a great escape but I know nothing of it as I fainted after the turn back I made & was still unconscious till just befor I arrived at the hospital when I woke up wondering where I was and what had happened. I have had a stitch put in two of the cuts but have been left alone otherwise.

I am in a nice ward made of a hut there are five others in all as well as me all infantry chaps with very little wrong with them. The Sister is a nice girl & has a medal of a military character. I was having a fine time at the squadron & am awfully mad this has happened. I was actually setting out on my first rip over the lines when I had the accident. Till then I had been flying round practicing.

I had been given the most beautiful machine & was as pleased as punch with it. I also had a fight in the air with one of our best scrappers & I surprised him pretty well as he was loud in my praises when he got down so I had a good prospect. I am a bit afraid now that I may not get back to my old squadron but shall work like mad to do so. One of the Ternhill boys is missing poor fellow. Keep on addressing my letters except the answer to this to 70 Squadron remember that I might have been in a boxing match & shall soon be alright. Also if I go though the casualty lists I shall be entitled to wear a gold stripe although I shant of course. With much love to all from
Oliver.

Comments

Anonymous said…
What, I wonder, just did Oliver mean by 'has a medal of a military character.'; he doesn't expand on it in the letter; possibly he meant 'mettle' ie spirit?

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Welcome to 'An Airmans Lost Letters' 1915-1917

These long forgotten letters penned by a young R.F.C. pilot, 2nd Lt. Oliver Charles Pearson to his Mother during the Great War, were discovered and liberated from a skip filled with the remnants of a roof clearance at a property in Southampton, UK during the mid 1990s. Within the past year they were rediscovered (again) having sat in a box in a loft for the last 10-15 years and were kindly passed to this sites authors, both of whom share an interest in social and military history from this period. Any links the letters had with the Pearson family have been long forgotten. We, the creators of this website, believe these documents are important social records of great interest to many, truly deserving preservation and a wider audience. When the letters came into our possession, via the nephew of the original finder, we deliberated over what we should do with them - perhaps donate them to a war museum? Oliver Pearsons old school? or return them to any living descendants, should we di

We can finally see the face behind the letters

Since we started this blog in 2008, we feel we have got to know Oliver quite well, from the letters home we have shared here. One thing that frustrated us though was not having an image of Oliver. We really wanted to put a face to the young man. The Great War saw an explosion in photography, with every proud soldier and sailor having a studio photograph taken of themselves in uniform, and made into multiple postcards to send on to family and friends. And less common than the studio portraiture, not helped by strict censorship in force, were pocket cameras and amateur photographers. Oliver himself mentions his camera several times ... "Talking of photographs I am sorry you will have no studio ones of me because while I was at home and at Birmingham I had no clothes fit to wear and while at the C.F.S. had no opportunity but I do promise that I will have some done here when and as soon as it is possible for me. It should not be difficult. Keep all the letters from me that are int