The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4243) Private Joseph David Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (4243) Private Joseph David Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF, First World War.


The recording for this Ceremony is damaged and not suitable for release to public.

4243 Private Joseph David Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF
KIA 5 November 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 28 January 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Joseph David Pearson.

Joe Pearson was one of 14 children born to William and Ann Pearson. His parents had migrated to Australia from Kent, England, and moved to a property at Greenridge, where Joe was born. Ann and William worked on the dairy farm together, but struggled financially. William had a drinking problem, and the boys in the family gave their mother money when they could. Although Joe had promised to support his mother, when he turned 18 he decided to go to war and, as his mother later wrote, “he gave me no peace till I gave my consent for him to do so”.

Joe enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1915, one month after his older brother Ted. A third brother, Samuel, enlisted four months later. All three joined the 26th Battalion, and were sent for service overseas.

Private Joe Pearson arrived to join the 26th Battalion in France in September 1916. In early November the battalion attacked German positions near the French village of Flers. Pearson was hit by a large piece of shell just as he was getting out of the trench to begin the attack. He was severely wounded in the right thigh and lower body. Stretcher-bearers were having trouble getting to wounded men through the artillery fire and deep mud, and Pearson, although in deep pain, remained alert and cheerful, chatting to those around him even as his health failed. When the stretcher-bearers finally arrived he refused to let them take him first; he felt his situation was hopeless, and that there were many more wounded men around him who had a chance of life. He died several hours later, still in the battlefield.

Ted Pearson was in hospital when his brother died, and took great pains to find out exactly what had happened to Joe. He wrote to his mother saying: “don’t worry, it is good to know that he died bravely for his country … Joe was very brave in that fight, and he was brave till the end.” Ted was killed in action less than two months before the end of the war. Only Samuel returned to Australia.

Joe’s body was never recovered from the battlefield, and today he is commemorated with his brother Ted on the Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 19 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 Australians who died during the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Joseph David Pearson and his brother Private Edward “Ted” Walter Pearson, who gave their lives for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section