On 17 August 1914 Arthur Mueller ‘Joe’ Pearce enlisted to fight in the Great War. He was the eighth man from Essendon to sign up and the first VFL footballer to volunteer for the war. He had played 152 games for the Melbourne Football Club from 1904-1913, and in a game where players had fixed places on the ground, had kicked five goals. The Argus newspaper nominated him as ‘a full back and one of the best kicks ever’
There was never to be another tragedy like World War 1. Of the 330,000 Australians who enlisted, over 70,000 died and countless others were wounded. Most enlisted through patriotism, having learnt in school of the glories of being part of the British Empire. They would have seen themselves as being independent Australian Britons, with the war providing a baptism of fire that would see Australia emerge as an heroic nation, covered in glory. It was also going to be the great adventure of their lives, off with their mates to see the world.
Recruiting began on 11 August 1914. By nightfall, 3,600 men had been chosen to fight, mainly because they had some previous military experience, probably in a school cadet corps, like Joe Pearce, or in the Citizens Military Force. By the end of 1914, 52,461 had enlisted and were in training.
Joe Pearce was one of them. He was a single man, born in Bendigo, aged 29, 5ft 11ins in height and weighing 170lbs. A devoted member of the Anglican Church of Holy Trinity Church, East Melbourne, he was Church Treasurer, Sunday School Superintendent, Secretary of the Church of England Men’s Society and a member of the choir. He lived at 138 Gipps Street, East Melbourne and was a clerk. He told his supporters:
I have thought this thing over and I have considered it in every way. I am strong, healthy and athletic and I think I ought to go, and if I don’t come back, well, it won’t much matter.
He was placed in D Company, 7th Battalion, No 418 and made Lance-Corporal. After training they set sail in the A20 Hororata to join the rest of the Australian fleet sailing to Egypt. They made camp below the Pyramids and Sphynx. Then, after further training the 7th Battalion, under command of Lt. Col. “Pompey” Elliott, left Cairo by train for Alexandria where troops boarded SS Galeka. The men boarded the boats that would take them to shore at Gaba Tepe on 25 April 1915. Pearce never made it to the beach.
His service record states that:
While making for the fisherman’s hut … to take place in the landing at Gallipoli on 25th April, Pearce was killed by machine gun fire or rifle fire. He was buried with 20 or 30 others on the beach. Informant saw him killed.
Professor Geoffrey Blainey has identified Joe Pearce as the first VFL footballer to die at Gallipoli. His sister, Ethel, placed an advertisement in the Argus ‘In Memoriam’ column for forty years, as did his old friend from Bendigo, W F (William Farrington) Hastings.
A plaque honouring his memory was installed at Holy Trinity by his devoted family.
The whistle blows, the referee calls ‘Time!’
The players drop their futile pantomime
This article first appeared in the Inner City News, April 2022
