 In the same year, after Peter Burra was given a long-term loan of a cottage on Bucklebury Common, Berkshire, Pears began to stay with him regularly, and it was through Burra that he got to be friendly with the rising young composer Benjamin Britten, who had become another good friend of Burra's.In 1937 Burra was killed in an air crash.Pears and Britten volunteered to clear his possessions from the cottage, and their daily contact during this period cemented their friendship.