3963500 Private Hosea PEARSEY, 1/5th Bn. Welch Regiment: 30/06/1944

Remembering Today

Casualty Details | CWGC
PEARSEY, HOSEA
Rank: Private
Service No: 3963500
Date of Death: 30/06/1944
Age: 24
Regiment/Service: 1/5th Bn. Welch Regiment
Cemetery: ST. MANVIEU WAR CEMETERY, CHEUX
Grave Reference: III. G. 1.
Additional Information: Son of James and Mary Pearsey; husband of Doris Mary Pearsey, of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan.
Personal Inscription: ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE LOST CAN TELL THE SORROW OF PARTING WITHOUT FAREWELL

 

I am also researching this man, as he was one of four with a link to the county of Glamorganshire in South Wales, who served in 1/5 Welch and were killed on the same day, 30-6-44. The four in total were those listed below, and are buried together in section III. G. of St. Manvieu War Cemetery, Cheux, France.

Private HOSEA PEARSEY (3963500)
Age: 24
Grave: 1.
Son of James and Mary Pearsey; husband of Doris Mary Pearsey, of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan.

Private HAYDN HOWELLS (14621942)
Age: 19
Grave: 3.
Son of David Morgan Howells and Hannah Howells, of Dowlais, Glamorgan.

Corporal DAVID MEREDITH WILLIAMS (3964082)
Age: 25
Grave: 6.
Son of David and Eleanor Williams, of Rhydfelan, Glamorgan; husband of Polly Williams, of Rhydfelan.

Private THOMAS GWYN PIERCE (3976374)
Age: 27
Grave: 11.
Son of Richard and Rachel Pierce, of Blaengarw, Glamorgan; husband of Haulwen Nancy Pierce, of Blaengarw.

#LestWeForget

 

From landing in France in June 1944 1/5 Welch were on the order of battle of 160th Infantry Brigade of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division until transferring to the 158th in the same division in August of that year. The following snippet gives an indication of the action in which the above men were involved at their time of deaths.

'On the night of the 15th July, the 53rd Division's 158th Brigade attacked towards the village of Evrecy. For the next two days, supported by the Churchill tanks of 34th Tank Brigade, it fought bitterly against the German infantry formations holding Evrecy, before withdrawing on the 17th having suffered heavy casualties. However, the operation overall had achieved its objectives, retaining the II SS Panzer Corps in the Odon sector and preventing it from interfering with GOODWOOD.

The 53rd Division remained in the Odon Salient for the rest of July, fighting actions that were often very brutal - such as the German assault on the 1/5th Welch around Le Bon Repos that almost wiped out an entire company. At the end of the month the division took over responsibility for Hill 112, which it was able to secure completely by the beginning of August.'

 

Hi, I was wondering how you got on , Cpl D.M.Williams was my Uncle, I had real problems trying to find information on the 1/5 welch on the 30 th, as far as the museum was concerned they went into action on the 1/2 July, in fact the CO was killed on the 30 June, I read in a Scottish regiment history ( can’t remember the bn) that Lt.Col Ripley was shot by a sentry when he didn’t respond to a challenge on his way to check out positions that the 1/5 th Welch would take over, My uncle was in C company I believe a cycle bn, I was told that they were mortared on the way up to relieve a Bn in the 15 Scottish , I did manage to contact a few x/1/5 but got no further, the Regiment History for those few days is poor it got much better later in the war.

 

Welcome aboard Huw.

Your uncle only appears in this thread.

Julian was only logged in last week, so I will send him a Private Message (PM) to return to this thread.

PM explanation

If you hover over the name of the member in their avatar it will show a new text box and within is the date of their last logged visit. Some members "flag" their interest in a thread, which means they get a system alert. Once you have posted five times - a measure to stop spam - you can send a private message (PM) to members using 'Start a private conversation' accessed via your avatar. Such messages depend on their email given at registration is still valid. You can receive and reply to a PM already.

If you search with an online search: "1/5th Welch" site:ww2talk.com that returns a number of threads and more (with duplicates) using: "1/5 Welch" site:ww2talk.com

Is your focus just on those few days? The War Diary for the those days may help provide context, they rarely refer to Other Rank losses by name. You could try: "1/5 Welch" + "War Diary" site:ww2talk.com to see if anyone has them already. Might help to use "War Diaries".

We always recommend applying for the subject's full service record. Yes, it may take a year to arrive - either from the MoD or National Archives (TNA). It is not available online and is the definitive record. There is nothing you can do about the wait. The records were never intended to be read today.

Yes, your subject's record is held by TNA, but it is 'Closed' as their procedures require an official document recording his death (CWGC entry will do). Follow the link and TNA explain: Request Closed MOD Personnel Records

His record is WO 423/142067 Name: D M Williams . Service number: 3964082 . Date of birth: 17 February 1919 . | The National Archives:

Good luck.

 

From Find My Past
Archive The National Archives

Archive reference WO 417/80

Piece description Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1526 - 1539

Date range 1944 Aug 16 - 1944 Aug 31

Record set British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945

Category Military, armed forces & conflict

Subcategory Second World War



------------------
Rank Acting Corporal

Rank as transcribed A/Cpl

Service number 3964082

Regiment Welch Regiment

Regiment as transcribed Welch Regiment

Theatre of war North West Europe

Archive The National Archives

Archive reference WO 417/78

Piece description Casualty Lists - Other Ranks 1497 - 1510

Date range 1944 Jul 13 - 1944 Jul 28

Record set British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945

Category Military, armed forces & conflict

Subcategory Second World War