| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Mark was born the 14 Oct 1892 at Tranby House, Anlaby and baptised at Hessle Parish Church the 29 Oct 1892. He was the eldest child of Harold Robinson Pease and his wife Violet Hester Pease (nee Barkworth) of Tranby House. They were married in 1891. Harold was a land agent, son of James Robinson Pease of Thearne Hall, a local JP and banker of repute. Mark was brought up at Tranby House, then Westwood House, Beverley. He attended Haileybury Public School and then Sandhurst Royal Military College, Surrey, gaining a commission in the 1st Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment in Feb 1912. He resigned the commission in Jan 1914 in order to take the entrance exam for Jesus College, Cambridge, joining the Special Reserve in Jul 1914. He was unmarried.
At the outbreak of war in Aug 1914 Mark returned to the 1st Battalion as a Second Lieutenant with "D" company. He arrived in France in early Sep 1914 and saw action on the Aisne Heights. The 1st were then transferred northwards to take part in the Battle of Armentieres in Oct 1914. On the 18th his company unsuccessfully attacked German lines and on the 20th a German counterattack began at 0800am. They "came into contact with the Germans in great strength and lost so heavily that for the remainder of the day the company ceased to exist as a formed body. At Promesque, near Lille, Mark was killed in action. It is recorded in Wyrall's history of the regiment that,
"A subaltern (2nd Lt Mark R Pease) was heard to shout to his platoon: "come along lads; it is a fine thing to die a hero"."
Mark was recorded as missing until his body was recovered towards the end of 1915. He is buried at Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension, Houplines, Nord Pas de Calais France. He was awarded the 1914 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
He is remembered on the Hengate War Memorial but not on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster. His father, Harold, had been the Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the Reserve 3rd Battalion of the East Yorkshires before the war. In the war itself he was recalled and commanded the 11th and then 12th Battalions of the East Yorkshires, two of the Hull Pals battalions in which many local men served.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |