Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Name: John William Pearson
Service Number: 3858
Place of Birth: Woodside
Date of Birth: 10 June 1889
Place of Enlistment: Adelaide
Date of Enlistment: 30 August 1915
Age at Enlistment: 26 years 2 months
Next of Kin: Father, George Pearson
Occupation: Farm Labourer
Religion: Methodist
Rank: Private
John left Australia on 2 December 1915 bound for the Middle East with the 10th Battalion. On 29 March 1916 his unit went from Alexandria to Marsailles, France. John was reported as missing on 23 August 1916, the same day as his brother Ernest was reported missing – later confirmed as killed in action. John had been wounded and taken prisoner of war by the Germans. On 17 September he sent the following letter to A.I.F. Headquarters at Westminster, England to be forwarded to his mother, “I am sorry to have to inform you that I am a prisoner of war. I was wounded on 21 August and taken prisoner on 22 August at Pozieres on the Somme. Please will you forward any letters that may be left.” Base Records, Melbourne advised John’s mother that he was a prisoner of war on 30 August 1917 and sent her his address on 21 January 1918.
On 1 June 1918 John wrote, “I am still keeping in the best of health but waiting for home. I received a personal parcel but do not know who sent it. The parcels are arriving very irregularly.” He was repatriated to Rippon, England on 15 December 1918 and arrived back in Australia on 26 April 1919 to be discharged on 18 June.