Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Completed by St Joseph's School, Clare

Wilfred Leslie Pearse was born in Auburn Hospital on the 26th of February 1922. Wilf’s father was a WW1 soldier. He lived in Leasingham, near the Clare Valley in South Australia with his parents, William and Annie Pearse, as well as siblings, Dudley, Victor, Vera, Gordon, and Alan. He went to school at Watervale Primary school, 2.5km from his house, about a 20-minute walk as it was uphill. He walked to school every day. He played football for Clare and Auburn before and after war and was in a very musical family. He was great at playing the accordion. At school he was the Drum Major in the Fife School Band, where he met his to be future wife. Wilf left school in grade 6/7 and worked for Mr. Perry Dunston delivering fruit around the Clare Valley, then worked in McLaren Vale. After working in McLaren Vale, he came back to Watervale to enlist for World War Two on the 3rd of September 1942.

Wilf then went to Greta, NSW to do war training. He then was a Don-R (dispatch rider) and rode his motorcycle delivering messages between camps and trainings. He was then sent to Darwin and travelled on a cattle train and trucks. He worked on the 9th docks operating company unloading and loading ships. Wilf was working on the harbour when there were multiple Japanese air raids. Him and other soldiers that were preparing to get onto ships would have to flee to the oil tunnels when there were bombs dropping.

At the docks, many ships burnt and sunk. While in Darwin, when WW2 was happening, he stayed at the Larakia Barracks. Wilf did trips of offloading drums of fuel for the war to the Bluey Truscott airstrip in Western Australia. When they were travelling by boat to the airstrip, they were accompanied by a corvette boat which had ammunition and guns for protection against the enemies. They unloaded all the fuel drums and then the drums were washed into shore for supplies for the Australian soldiers and Army personnel to use. They then made the trip back around the coast to Darwin to prepare and load boats at the docks. He was working on the boats for some time longer and made a few trips back and forth from places. Wilf was badly affected by the heat and humidity in the Northern Territory. He developed dermatitis and was ill while in Darwin. Wilf then was in hospital and got sent back to South Australia and was discharged from the war on the 7th of February 1946 after around 4 years of service.

When Wilf got back from the war he went to trade school on Frome Road, in Adelaide and learnt bricklaying and building. He then came back to Watervale and worked for Mr Stevens who was a builder and bricklayer in Auburn SA. There was a building project for the construction of the commonwealth bank in Clare, South Australia. While working there he met Beryl, his future wife. They realised that they had met before, when they had been in the Fife School Band in Watervale when they were young.

A few years later, Beryl and Wilf got engaged at the Adelaide War Memorial, North Terrace, SA. Wilf then got married on May 21st, 1949, at Watervale Church by Reverent Cook to Beryl Louise Winkler from Watervale. They lived in a friend’s garage whilst building their first house, at 52 Beare St, Clare. Their first daughter, Julie was born in 1950 and passed away in 1960, ten years old from cancer. They then had other children Gary, Steve, Bobby, and then adopted their youngest, Merridy.

After some time, Wilf gave up building and then took over the monumental work (building headstones and carving the lettering for at the local cemeteries.) Years later, Wilf’s son Steve took over and managed the business after he retired. He was then living at home with his wife and played golf, bowls and croquet. Wilf was one of the best in South Australia at bowls and was in the croquet championships. He held many records and competed in many other South Australian tournaments. He then developed bad eyesight and had to give up sports.

Wilf loved nothing more than to sit and have a drink of port with his best mates in the back shed and talk of war trips and his great life. When he was 89, he went to Carinya Nursing Home and passed away at 90 years old on the 6th of December 2012 from old age and a slow heart. Wilf had been married to Beryl for 63 ½ happy years.

Works Cited
Australian War Memorial. “The Australian War Memorial.” Awm.gov.au, 4 Feb. 2019, www.awm.gov.au/.
Google Maps. Google Maps, www.google.com/maps/place/52+Beare+St. Accessed 24 June 2024.
National Archives Australia. “Damage from a Bomb Attack in Darwin, Second World War | Naa.gov.au.” Naa.gov.au, 2024, www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/student-research-portal/learning-resource-themes/war/world-war-ii/damage-bomb-attack-darwin-second-world-war.
Oz at War “Truscott Airfield in Western Australia during WW2.” Www.ozatwar.com, www.ozatwar.com/truscott.htm. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Pearse, B. (2024). Wilf Pearse. [Discussion].
Virtual War Memorial “Australian Soldiers, Memorials and Military History.” Vwma.org.au, 2019, vwma.org.au/.
Virtual War Memorial “Wilfred Leslie PEARSE.” Vwma.org.au, vwma.org.au/explore/people/584083. Accessed 24 June 2024.