Virtual War Memorial | William PEARCE

William PEARCE Update Details

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PEARCE, William

Service Numbers:	225, 3112
Enlisted:	10 February 1915, Place of enlistment - Melbourne, Victoria
Last Rank:	Gunner
Last Unit:	12th Field Artillery Brigade
Born:	Mortlake, Victoria, Australia, 1890
Home Town:	St Kilda, Port Phillip, Victoria
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Labourer
Died:	Died of wounds, France, 14 December 1917
Cemetery:	Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais Plot II, Row C, Grave 7,
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Home Hill Roll of Honour, Townsville Railway Station Roll of Honour

World War 1 Service

10 Feb 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 225, 22nd Infantry Battalion, Place of enlistment - Melbourne, Victoria
19 Apr 1915:	Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 225, 22nd Infantry Battalion, Discharged as sole support of invalid Mother, Father nearly wholly blind.
12 Jul 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3112, Place of enlistment - Melbourne, Victoria
16 Oct 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3112, Embarked on HMAT 'A17' Port Lincoln from Melbourne on 16th October 1915, disembarking Egypt.
3 Mar 1916:	Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 46th Infantry Battalion
23 Mar 1916:	Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 12th Field Artillery Brigade , 45th Battery
2 Jun 1916:	Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 3112, 12th Field Artillery Brigade , Embarked from Alexandria, Egypt on 2nd June 1916, disembarking Marseilles, France on 9th June 1916 to join the British Expeditionary Forces.
13 Dec 1917:	Wounded AIF WW1, Gunner, 12th Field Artillery Brigade , About 12:20 p.m. on 13.12.17 while a party was unloading supply lorries at Sheet 28.S.30 c. An unknown man picked up a German "dud" air bomb which was lying in the vicinity, and after examining it dropped it when it instantly exploded. 5 soldiers were killed outright and 5 other wounded of whom Gunner Pearce was bought into the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station unconscious with a head wound and succumbed to his injuries the following day.

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Biography contributed by Daryl Jones

Son of A and Catherine PEARCE of 31 Duke Street, St Kilda East, Melbourne Victoria.