Walter Stanley PEARCE

Walter Stanley PEARCE Update Details

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PEARCE, Walter Stanley

Service Number:	267
Enlisted:	22 July 1915, Keswick, South Australia
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	8th Machine Gun Company
Born:	Kooringa, South Australia, 15 March 1892
Home Town:	Adelaide, South Australia
Schooling:	Burra Boys School, South Australia
Occupation:	Draper
Died:	Killed in Action, Fromelles, France, 20 July 1916, aged 24 years
Cemetery:	Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, Bethune, Nord Pas de Calais
Memorials:	Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Burra District WW1 Honor Roll, Burra Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Mount Bryan Roll of Honor WW1

World War 1 Service

22 Jul 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 267, Keswick, South Australia
18 Nov 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 267, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: ''
18 Nov 1915:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 267, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide
11 Mar 1916:	Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 8th Machine Gun Company
19 Jul 1916:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 267, 8th Machine Gun Company, Fromelles (Fleurbaix), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 267 awm_unit: 8th Australian Machine Gun Company awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-20

LETTER WRITTEN TO THE FAMILY OF WALTER STANLEY PEARCE THE DAY BEFORE HE DIED.

P13.
A LETTER WRITTEN BY STANLEY PEARCE TO HIS FAMILY NOV. 1915.
MY DEAR FATHER MOTHER BROTHERS AND SISTERS NORTH ADELAIDE.
14th Nov, 1915.
I AM WRITING THIS LITTLE NOTE THE SUNDAY BEFORE MY DEPARTURE FROM AUSTRALIA TO TAKE PART IN THIS GREAT STRIFE WHICH I FEEL IS MY DUTY- I AM LEAVING WITH GREAT HOPES THAT I SHALL BE SPARED TO COME BACK AGAIN BUT IF IT BE MY LOT TO FALL AS MANY OTHERS HAVE DONE, I ASK YOU NOT TO TAKE IT TOO HARD. JUST FEEL THAT IT HAS BEEN GOD'S WILL THAT IT WAS THE DEATH THAT WAS MARKED OUT FOR ME IN HISTORY OF LIFE AND THAT ALL WILL BE RIGHT IN THE END.
I HAVE NOT LIVED AS GOOD A LIFE AS I OUGHT, BUT I PRAY THAT ALL MY SHORTCOMINGS WILL BE FORGIVEN AND THAT WE SHALL ALL MEET IN HEAVEN.
THAT GOOD OLD SONG IS RINGING IN MY EARS "GOD BE WITH YOU TILL WE MEET AGAIN". SINCE ENLISTING I HAVE REALISED MORE KEENLY THAN EVER I DID BEFORE IN MY LIFE THE VALUE OF OUR GOOD HOME AND THE LOVE OF A FATHER, MOTHER,BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
I AM WRITING THIS AS A FAREWELL WHICH IN A WAY I HOPE THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OCCASION TO OPEN.
IF YOU DO, GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
WITH FOND LOVE TO ALL.
STANLEY.

STANLEY PEARCE DIED 20-7-1916. WAR 1
HAVING BEEN IN ACTION ONLY A FEW DAYS AND IS NOW BURIED AT ARMENTAIRES IN NORTHERN FRANCE.
JACK DUFTY HAS HIS MEDALS AND RIBBONS ETC.
THIS LETTER WAS RECIEVED BY AILEEN IN 1986

Biography

Walter Stanley Pearce was Killed in Action at the Battle of Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916. At the time he was part of the 8th Machine Gun Company, 8th Brigade. A short biography of Walter Pearce's life, is presented in the 2012 entry into the South Australian Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize (rslvwm.s3.amazonaws.com).

"THE LATE PRIVATE W. S. PEARCE.

Mr. Walter Pearce, of Kooringa, has received official notice that his eldest son, Private W. S. Pearce, who left Australia, was killed in action on July 20. Private Pearce was 24 years of age." - from the Adelaide Advertiser 15 AUg 1916 (nla.gov.au)

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