PEARCE, Clyde Bowman
| Service Number: | 1190 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 52nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, March 1888 |
| Home Town: | Pingelly, Pingelly, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Buckland's School, Davey Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | GSW to head, leading men in attack, Messines, Belgium, 10 June 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 29) |
| Memorials: | Hobart Roll of Honour, Kings Park 10th Light Horse Regiment Memorial WA, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Pingelly Memorial Rotunda, Pingelly Taylors Well District Roll of Honour, Wandering War Memorial Gates |
World War 1 Service
| 14 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1190, 10th Light Horse Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Sep 1915: | Involvement Private, 1190, 10th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Sep 1915: | Embarked Private, 1190, 10th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Anchises, Fremantle | |
| 3 Feb 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 10th Light Horse Regiment | |
| 8 Jul 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 8 Feb 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 52nd Infantry Battalion | |
| 10 Jun 1917: | Involvement Second Lieutenant, 52nd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1917-06-10 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From 52nd Battalion AIF
2nd Lt Clyde Bowman PEARCE was born into a wealthy merchant family in Hobart in 1888. He was a talented golfer from a young age, being runner-up in the Australian Amateur in 1906 and 1907. In 1908 he was the first Australian born man to win the Australian Open. He moved to WA in 1911 to farm near Pingelly. In 1915, he enlisted and joined the 10th Light Horse Regiment at Gallipoli in November. He was in hospital a number of times during 1916, then proceeded to England in November 1916 for training. He was taken on strength with the 52nd in January 1917 and promoted to 2nd lieutenant in February.
He was killed in action at Messines on 10 June. The 52nd’s chaplain, Rev Donald Blackwood remembered how Pearce “… led his men on so splendidly and bravely in the first great charge of June 7, … he did splendid work in organising the new line and repelling counter-attacks … He brought his men out safely from the Messines Ridge on the Sunday morning, had a good rest, and then led them in again to a more difficult bit of work — a more strenuous charge. In this he fell, right in the enemy’s barbed wire. He was there among the first at the head of his men ...”
His family purchased the old Mariners Church on the Hobart waterfront and had it re-erected in Sandy Bay dedicating it to their dead son. He is also commemorated on Soldiers Memorial Avenue in Hobart.
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