PEARCE, William Edwin
| Service Number: | 2613 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 August 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1880 |
| Home Town: | Wagin, Wagin, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Dromana Primary School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Lake Grace, Western Australia, 14 October 1950, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Lake Grace Cemetery, Wagin, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Wagin Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Aug 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2613, 43rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 2613, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 2613, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Fremantle | |
| 27 Sep 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2613, 43rd Infantry Battalion, embarked England for Fremantle on board HT A29 Suevic | |
| 29 Nov 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 2613, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private William Edwin Pearce (Service No:2613) enlisted in the AIF on 28 August 1916 and was attached to 43rd Infantry Battalion when he embarked with his Unit from Fremantle for Devonport on 9 November 1916 on board HMAT A8 Argyllshire. Private Pearce served on the Western Front, and embarked from England for Fremantle on 27 September 1917 on board HT A29 Suevic. He was attached to 43rd Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 29 december 1917. Younger brother Ray was KiA in France in 1918.
Will was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1880, eldest of seven children of William Henry Pearce (b1858 at Mt Macedon, Victoria) and his first wife Emmeline Ray Ewers (b1859 in Adelaide, South Australia). William Snr (a Farmer and Orchardist) and Emmeline married in 1880 in Melbourne, Victoria and lived in Melbourne, Dromana and Thorpdale. Following Emmeline's death in 1900, William Snr remarried and settled in Childers.
Will worked as a Farmer in Gippsland before moving to Wagin WA in 1903, where he was a Farmer in 1914 when he married first wife Amy Louisa Batterham (b1880 in Hotham, Victoria). Amy died in 1916, and Will enlisted in the AIF. Returning to Wagin following his Discharge, he moved to Lake Grace in 1924 and opened a business as General Agent. In 1926 in Katanning, he remarried to Beatrice May Jarman (aka May; b1889 in Clare, South Australia). Will and May settled at Lake Grace, where Will was a General Agent and Mail Contractor - he had the mail run from Lake Grace to Ravensthorpe - and later took up farming at Burngup. Will was a Member of the Lake Grace Road Board, receiving a Certificate of Long Service for his voluntary work for the district as a member of the Board. Will died in 1950 and May in 1969.
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