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Thomas Pearson (British Army officer, born 1914)

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Sir Thomas Pearson
Born(1914-07-01)1 July 1914
Queenstown, Ireland
Died15 December 2019(2019-12-15) (aged 105)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1934–1974
RankGeneral
Service number63639
UnitRifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
Parachute Regiment
CommandsAllied Forces Northern Europe
Far East Land Forces
1st Division
16th Independent Parachute Brigade
45th Parachute Brigade
7th Battalion, Parachute Regiment
1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment
2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
Battles / warsArab revolt in Palestine
Second World War
Palestine Emergency
Malayan Emergency
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order & Bar
Mentioned in Despatches
King Haakon VII Freedom Cross (Norway)[1]

General Sir Thomas Cecil Hook Pearson, KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar (1 July 1914 – 15 December 2019) was a senior officer of the British Army who served as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe from 1972 to 1974. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living British full general.

Background and early career

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Thomas Pearson was born on 1 July 1914, shortly before the First World War began, in Queenstown, Ireland. He was the son of Commander (later Vice-Admiral) John Lewis Pearson (1878–1965), a Royal Navy officer, and Phoebe Charlotte Pearson.[2][3][4]

A member of a notable Staffordshire family with a long tradition of service in India and the British Armed Forces, Pearson was the fourth generation of his family to achieve general officer or flag rank. His great-great-grandfather John Pearson (1771–1841) was a barrister and senior East India Company official who served as Advocate-General of Bengal from 1824 to 1840.[3] His great-grandfather General Thomas Hooke Pearson CB (1806–1892) served as an ADC to the Earl Amherst, then Governor-General of India. He fought under Lord Combermere at the Siege of Bharatpur and served with the 16th The Queen's Lancers in the Gwalior campaign (Maharajpur) and the First Anglo-Sikh War (Badowal, Aliwal and Sobraon), commanding a regiment at Sobraon and being mentioned in despatches.[3] His grandfather, Admiral Sir Hugo Pearson KCB (1843–1912) joined the Royal Navy and rose to command the Australia Station,[3] before retiring as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1907.[5]

Pearson was educated at Charterhouse School,[6] and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he, along with another future general officer, Douglas Darling, was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) on 30 August 1934.[7] He was promoted to lieutenant on 31 August 1937.[8][9]

Second World War

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Pearson served in the Second World War, initially as a Staff Captain in the Middle East. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1941 as a temporary captain.[10] He was promoted to captain on 30 August 1942 and became Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade that year, with the ranks of war substantive major and temporary lieutenant colonel.[9][11] He took part in the Second Battle of El Alamein, a turning-point in the war,[12] and was awarded a Bar to his DSO on 19 August 1943.[13]

In 1943, Pearson became a General Staff Officer, first at Force Headquarters and then in the Middle East.[9] On 8 December 1944, he was promoted to war-substantive lieutenant-colonel and temporary colonel.[14] He was appointed Deputy Commander of 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group in 1944 and then Deputy Commander of 1st Airlanding Brigade in 1945.[9]

Post-war career

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After the war, Pearson was made Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment in 1946 and Commanding Officer of 7th Battalion Parachute Regiment in 1947.[9] He was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 30 August 1947.[15]

Brevetted lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1951, Pearson became a General Staff Officer serving at the War Office, then at Malaya Headquarters and then at Headquarters Far East Land Forces.[9][16] He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service in Malaya on 30 October 1953.[17] He became an Instructor at the Joint Services Staff College in 1953, Commander of 45th Parachute Brigade in 1955 with the temporary rank of brigadier. He was promoted to colonel on 3 April 1955 and became Commander 16th Independent Parachute Brigade in 1957.[9][18] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1959 New Year Honours list.[19] He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Director of Operations in Cyprus in 1960 and Head of the British Military Mission to the Soviet Zone of Germany in 1960.[9]

Pearson became General Officer Commanding 1st Division on 4 November 1961 with the temporary rank of major general, and was retroactively promoted to major general from that date on 8 December.[20][21] He relinquished this appointment on 5 November 1963 and was appointed Chief of Staff for Northern Army Group on 14 December 1963.[22][23] Pearson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1964 New Year Honours list.[24] Relinquishing his appointment as Chief of Staff, Northern Army Group on 28 October 1966, he was appointed General Officer Commanding Far East Land Forces on 1 February 1967 and promoted to lieutenant general with seniority from 12 June 1966.[25][26] He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in that year's Birthday Honours list.[27] After relinquishing his appointment as GOC Far East on 16 November 1968, Pearson was appointed Military Secretary at the Ministry of Defence on 13 January 1969.[28][29]

Vacating his appointment of Military Secretary on 2 February 1972, Pearson received his final appointment as Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Northern Europe on 9 February 1972, with the rank of general (seniority from 7 January 1972).[30][31] He relinquished this appointment on 18 September 1974 and retired on 27 December after a 40-year career.[32] [33] In June 2009 he was present at the unveiling of an updated display at the Royal Green Jackets Museum.[12]

Pearson died on 15 December 2019 at the age of 105.[34]

Arms

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Coat of arms of Thomas Pearson
Crest
In front of a demi-sun in splendour proper, a parrot's head erased argent, gorged with a collar nebuly azure[3]
Escutcheon
Per fesse nebuly, azure and sable, in chief, two suns in splendour, and in base, issuant from a mount, a sun-flower, stalked and leaved, all proper[3]
Orders
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

References

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  1. ^ "No. 38240". The London Gazette. 19 March 1948. p. 1919.
  2. ^ "Pearson, John Lewis". probatesearchservice.gov. UK Government. 1965. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Crisp, Frederick Arthur, ed. (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 10. pp. 73–77.
  4. ^ "General Sir Thomas Pearson – Parachute brigade commander and rifleman who served in Africa and the Mediterranean, winning two DSOs for courage and leadership". Daily Telegraph. London. 20 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Royal Navy Senior Appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  6. ^ Old Robinites
  7. ^ "No. 34083". The London Gazette. 31 August 1934. p. 5524.
  8. ^ "No. 34431". The London Gazette. 31 August 1937. p. 5512.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  10. ^ "No. 35157". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 May 1941. p. 2645.
  11. ^ "No. 35685". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1942. p. 3806.
  12. ^ a b Royal Green Jackets Museum
  13. ^ "No. 36138". The London Gazette. 17 August 1943. p. 3721.
  14. ^ The Quarterly Army List: July–September 1945 (Part II). HM Stationery Office. 1945. p. 1362.
  15. ^ "No. 38058". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 1947. p. 4086.
  16. ^ "No. 39397". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 November 1951. p. 6239.
  17. ^ "No. 40000". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 October 1951. p. 5771.
  18. ^ "No. 40530". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 July 1955. p. 3929.
  19. ^ "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1959. p. 6.
  20. ^ "No. 42508". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1961. p. 8089.
  21. ^ "No. 42531". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1961. p. 8861.
  22. ^ "No. 43149". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1963. p. 9043.
  23. ^ "No. 43183". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 December 1963. p. 10279.
  24. ^ "No. 43200". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1964. p. 3.
  25. ^ "No. 44307". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 May 1967. p. 5190.
  26. ^ "No. 44242". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 February 1967. p. 1419.
  27. ^ "No. 44326". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1967. p. 6270.
  28. ^ "No. 44736". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 December 1968. p. 13509.
  29. ^ "No. 44766". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1969. p. 458.
  30. ^ "No. 45592". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 1972. p. 1580.
  31. ^ "No. 45598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 February 1972. p. 1896.
  32. ^ "No. 46427". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 December 1974. p. 12548.
  33. ^ "No. 46469". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 January 1975. p. 863.
  34. ^ "Obituary: General Sir Thomas Pearson". The Times. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
[edit]
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding 1st Division
1961–1963 		Succeeded by
Preceded by General Officer Commanding Far East Land Forces
1967–1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Military Secretary
1969–1972 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe
1972–1974
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