Corporal Peter Pushman, service no. 1454610. Photo from the Mitcham News & Mercury, 17th November, 1944.
Peter Pushman joined the Army before the war and was a gunner in 265 Battery of the 67th Field regiment of the Royal Artillery. He was a corporal in the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, when he died at the Battle of Arnhem on 22nd September 1944.
He was 28, and was married to Sarah Charlotte (maiden name Todd), of Sandford-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. They lived at 17B Council Houses, Bullingdon Rural District, Oxfordshire, and were married in the first quarter of 1939. At no. 17 Council Houses was George R. Todd, born 1870, and likely Sarah’s father, a retired builder’s labourer. The Bullingdon rural district is now part of the South Oxfordshire District.
His parents were Bert and Elizabeth Pushman who lived in Love Lane, Mitcham. His father was a chimney sweep.
Sources
Casualty entry on Commonwealth War Grave Commission website.
The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register, Reference: RG 101/2
General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 3a; Page: 2147.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Bullingdon in South Oxfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
His death as reported in a local newspaper article
His grave is in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, reference 22. A. 19. in Holland. Photo taken 17th September, 2019.
Mitcham News & Mercury 20th October, 1944, page 1
DIED IN EPIC OF ARNHEM
Corporal Victim of Mortar BombTHE Arnhem epic has taken its toll of Mitcham’s gallant sons. The latest name on the Roll of Honour is that of Cpl. Peter Pushman, second son of Mr. and Mrs B. Pushman. Mr. Pushman is the old-established chimney sweep in Love-lane. Mitcham.
Cpl. Pushman, who was in the South Staffordshire Regt., was killed instantly by a mortar bomb. In a letter to his parents, the adjutant of his unit writes:—
“Cpl. Pushman died whilst giving his all, and his leadership and cheerfulness were an example to all those around him.”
Cpl. Pushman, who was in the Terriers before the war, went through Dunkirk and had returned to this country from Italy shortly before last Christmas. He was a bricklayer in civil life, and leaves a widow and one daughter. He was educated at Gorringe Park School.
Three serving brothers will mourn his death. Bert, the eldest, is serving with the Queen’s Royal Regt. in India. Frank is with the Royal Engineers on the Western Front, and Jim has recently been released from the R.A.F. to work in an aircraft factory.
From the 1939 Register on Ancestry, the occupants at 113 Love Lane were:
Bertie Pushman, married, aged 89, born 8 July 1889, chimney sweep (own account)
James A. Pushman, single, 20, born 2 Jan 1920, electric meter assembler
Daisy T. Pushman, single, 20, born 2 Jan 1920, electric meter assembler
Sidney Pushman, single, 18, born 2 Feb 1922, shop assistant
Frank Pushman, single, 23, born 31 July 1923, sheet metal driller
Joyce Pushman, single, 25, born 30 June 1925, cardboard box makerThis OS map of 1954 shows number 113 as on the west side of Love Lane, the second house north of the corner with Pear Tree Close. It was built by Mitcham Borough Council as part of the Pear Tree Close development in 1934, and still exists in 2019.
1954 OS Map showing 113 Love Lane
Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Mitcham History Notes 