George Pearson

Battle, Capture & Escape: the Experiences of a Canadian Light Infantryman During the Great War George Pearson

Battlefield to breakout and bid for freedom

When Corporal Edwards' regiment-Princess Patricia's Regiment-went into the line in France during the Great War nothing could prepare its men for the overwhelming assaults they would experience from the attacking German forces. After an heroic struggle followed by hand-to-hand fighting his battalion was overrun and all but annihilated. Edwards and a few of his surviving comrades were spared and taken into captivity. Then followed the long journey to the Fatherland and incarceration behind the wire of a P. O. W camp. But Edwards was not prepared to languish as a prisoner for long. He began to plan escapes. Several were unsuccessful, but eventually he began a bid for freedom which would take him across Europe in a desperate attempt to reach Allied lines. Epic adventure, indeed.