The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4184) Private Edward Walter Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF, First World War

Place Europe: France, Picardie, Aisne, Bellicourt
Accession Number PAFU2015/354.01
Collection type Film
Object type Last Post film
Physical description 16:9
Maker Australian War Memorial
Place made Australia: Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Campbell
Date made 24 August 2015
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

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 Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (4184) Private Edward Walter Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

Film order form
Speech transcript

4184 Private Edward Walter Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF
KIA 3 October 1918
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 24 August 2015

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Edward Walter Pearson.

Ted Pearson was one of 14 children born to William and Ann Pearson. His parents had migrated with a small family to Australia from Kent in England and moved to a property at Greenridge, New South Wales, where Joe was born. Ann and William worked on the dairy farm together and struggled financially, in part due to William’s drinking problem. Ted left home and began work as a dairyman himself, and also went into business with his friend John Brown.

Ted enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 20 September 1915, one month before his younger brother Joe and five months before his older brother Sam. All three went into the 26th Battalion. Joe and Ted arrived in France together to join the battalion in the field on 20 September 1916.

Ten days later Ted was hit by a motor vehicle and seriously concussed. While in hospital he became ill and was sent to England to recover. There he heard news that his brother Joe had been killed in action. Ted took great pains to find out what had happened to his brother, who had been hit by a piece of shell and died in the front lines refusing assistance.
Ted wrote to his mother to console her:
...don’t worry, it is good to know that he died bravely for his country. One man tells me that Joe was very brave in that fight, and he was brave till the end … Once again I say don’t worry about us, dear mother, as you have one great consolation in knowing that we served our country.

Ted re-joined the 26th Battalion in late 1917 but was again seriously ill over the winter. However, he had recovered enough to go back to France in mid-January 1918, and would remain with his battalion until their last operation of the war.

On 3 October 1918 the 26th Battalion participated in the attack on the Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt. The attack was largely successful, but the men came under heavy enemy fire, causing a small number of casualties.

One of those casualties was Private Edward Pearson. The exact manner of his death was not recorded, but he failed to answer the 26th Battalion’s roll call following the battle. His body was never recovered, and he is commemorated with his brother Joe on the Memorial to the Missing at Villers-Bretonneux. He was 33 years old.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 other 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 Edward Walter Pearson, his brother Private Joseph David Pearson, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.

Dr Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section

  • Video of The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4184) Private Edward Walter Pearson, 26th Battalion, AIF, First World War (video)