The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (416280) Flight Sergeant Allan Edgar Pearce, No. 611 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second 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 Chris Widenbar, the story for this day was on (416280) Flight Sergeant Allan Edgar Pearce, No. 611 Squadron, Royal Air Force, Second World War.

416280 Flight Sergeant Allan Edgar Pearce, No. 611 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Killed in flying battle 11 February 1943
Story delivered 9 July 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flight Sergeant Allan Edgar Pearce.

Allan Pearce was born in Adelaide on 19 August 1921, the son of Edgar and Florence Pearce.

After attending Adelaide High School, and then Prince Alfred College at the Kent Town campus, he worked as a bank clerk at the Adelaide branch of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

A keen sportsman, Pearce played cricket for the Sturt Districts XI and football for Prince Alfred Old Collegians.

On 28 April 1941, at the age of 19, Pearce enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force.

He soon commenced training as a pilot and before long embarked for overseas service. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, Pearce was one of almost 27,500 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers, who, throughout the course of the war, joined squadrons based in Britain.

Pearce arrived in San Francisco, where he travelled on to Canada to undertake further specialist training before travelling on to Britain, where he arrived on 10 March 1942.

In August 1942, Pearce was posted to No. 1 Squadron, Royal Air Force. He was later posted to No. 222 Squadron RAF, before being posted to No. 611 Squadron RAF, which was based at RAF station Biggin Hill.

On 11 February 1943, Pearce was on an operation, flying low in his Spitfire, which hit the water, killing him instantly.

His body was unrecovered, and today his name appears on the Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames: the Runnymede memorial, which lists all British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.

His name also appears on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flight Sergeant Allan Edgar Pearce, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section