PEARCE, John
| Service Number: | 386 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Timber cutter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Pozieres, France, 25 July 1916, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Tree Plaque: |
Ballarat Avenue of Honour
|
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Avenue of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 386, 8th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 386, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Melbourne | |
| 25 Jul 1916: | Involvement Sergeant, 386, 1st Pioneer Battalion, Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 386 awm_unit: 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1916-07-25 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Elizabeth Pearce
Sergeant John Pearce - KIA - 25th July 1916. Sgt John Pearce was born in Ballarat. On 18th August 1914, at aged 24 years old he volunteered to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), 8th Infantry Battalion. He later transferred to the 1st Pioneer Battalion.
During his service he fought at Gallipoli, Egypt and the Western Front. On 25th April 1915, he was a part of the second wave landing at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli. He was wounded by a gunshot to his left hand. Towards the end of 1915, during his recreational leave in UK he went AWOL for three days and had his pay docked for five days. He probably went fishing and visited his grandparent’s gravesite in Cornwall, UK.
April 1916, he was promoted to Sergeant whilst fighting at the battlefields in France. On the 25th of July 1916, he was killed in action, aged 26 years old at Pozieres (Battle of the Somme). His name is listed on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial, France.
No known grave. “Known unto God”.
The Australian official historian Charles Bean wrote that Pozieres ridge ‘is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth’.
His personal belongings listed: a bible, 2 x wallets, photos, a pocketknife, 2 x metal watches with chains, coins, badges, 3 x pieces of shell, 2 x shrapnel bullets, a handkerchief, 2 x letters, 2 x religious books and fishing line.
The devastating news shattered his cousins from Ballarat who were fighting at the Western Front. Major James Vine Pearce, Lieutenant William Bastion Pearce, Captain Joseph William Pearce (KIA, 4th October 1917) and Private John Pearce (Jack).
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