ANZACs have always demonstrated acts of courage. They must not be forgotten - Sergeant Samuel Pearse

Samuel George Pearse, VC, MM (16 July 1897 – 29 August 1919)

Samuel George Pearse was born on 16 July 1897 and served in the Militia for two years with the 73rd Infantry Regiment, before volunteering for overseas service with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War. At the time of his enlistment in the AIF in July 1915 just before he turned eighteen, Pearse's occupation was as a rabbit-trapper. He sailed from Melbourne on 10 September 1915 aboard the Star of Victoria, assigned to the 9th Reinforcement for the 7th Battalion reaching Gallipoli shortly before the evacuation and spending two weeks in the line there in December 1915.

After transferring to the 2nd Machine Gun Company, assigned to support the 2nd Brigade, Pearse subsequently saw action on the Western Front where he was wounded on 24 August 1916 but soon returned to his unit. On 28 September 1917 he was awarded the Military Medal for an action in single-handedly raiding a German machine gun-post east of Ypres in Belgium:

"Normally this man is a runner ....and throughout he showed an utter disregard of danger in carrying messages, guiding parties and in bringing in wounded men on every return run".

Pearse was awarded his Military Medal in the field by General Sir William Birdwood (Pictured) but at the time Birdwood had run out of medals and decorated Pearse with a strip of medal ribbon. He was promoted to lance corporal on 21 November 1917, and to corporal on 10 April 1918. He was wounded in action for a second time on 19 May 1918. He subsequently returned to England to recover, but did not return to his unit until the end of the war. After undergoing training at the Machine Gun Depot, he was posted the 1st Machine Gun Battalion on 1 December 1918.

Following the Armistice, Pearse was attracted by the prospect of a tour of duty with the North Russia Relief Force (Pictured) and like the other 150 Australian soldiers who volunteered, Pearse was discharged from the AIF on 18 July 1919 and re-enlisted in the British Army as a private soldier.

Many of the volunteering Australians had come late to action in First World War but Pearse was a battle-hardened veteran and was soon promoted to sergeant. He was a 22-year-old sergeant in the 45th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers during the North Russia Campaign under the command of Brigadier General Lionel Sadleir-Jackson when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

"For most conspicuous bravery, devotion to duty and self-sacrifice during the operation against the enemy battery position north of Emtsa, North Russia on the 29th August 1919. Sergeant Pearse cut his way through enemy barbed-wire under very heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and cleared a way for the troops to enter an enemy battery position. Seeing that a blockhouse was harassing our advance and causing us casualties, he charged the blockhouse single-handed, killing the occupants with bombs. This gallant non-commissioned officer met his death a minute later and it was due to him that the position was carried with so few casualties. His magnificent bravery and utter disregard for personal danger won for him the admiration of all troops. — The London Gazette, 21 October 1919

Pearse was buried in a military graveyard near the Obozerskaya railway station, between Emtsa and Archangel, North Russia. A photo taken in September 1919 shows his grave to be intact, but all visible traces of the graveyard eventually disappeared and the location forgotten. His Victoria Cross, Military Medal and 1914–15 Star are on display under his photo in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra. Two other service medals were issued but their whereabouts is unknown.