Lieutenant Colonel 6/1146 Walter Relf Pearless Walter Relf Pearless was reported to be the oldest man to land on the Gallipoli Peninsular on 25 April 1915. 1 He was 60 when he enlisted on 17 August 1914 and turned 61 on 19 March 1915 just over a month before the landing. He had attempted to enlist the moment that war was declared (5 August) but had been rejected because of his age. It was only after an appeal supported by Colonel Chaffey, the Commanding Officer of the Canterbury Military District, who described Walter as, an excellent officer and as physically fit as a much younger man, that he was permitted to join up. 2 Undoubtedly, an important reason for a man of his age to be anywhere near a front line was that he possessed a skill that was urgently needed at the time. Walter was a medical doctor with a long history of service to the military and the people of Wakefield and the South Waimea district. Like many men of the time service was considered a natural part of everyday life. As we will see later, New Zealand was not able to return the same level of service to Dr Pearless when he needed a small measure of support after the war. Walter Pearless was born in East Grinstead, Sussex, England in 1854. He was evidently an intelligent young man, gaining a pass for junior students to the University of Cambridge at the age of 15 in December 1869. 3 He continued his education at Bartholomews Hospital in London, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1876. He then emigrated to South Yarra in Victoria, Australia where he lived and worked as a general practitioner for the next seven years. Soon after he arrived in Victoria he married Marianne Lessels Raikes. Between 1877 and 1884 they had four children. They would eventually have a total of eight children four girls and four boys. In 1884, Walter, Marianne and their children moved to New Zealand where Walter set up a practice in Wakefield. He was described as a strong personality under 1 Staff Reporter (1924, December 24). Dr Walter Pearless, Obituary. Nelson Evening Mail, p.5. 2 Telegram to Colonel Anderson, 15 August 1914, in Walter Pearless Military Records. 3 Certificate in the possession of his great-granddaughter Penny Pearless. See Figure 10. 1
whose leadership the whole district seemed to quicken. 4 He was soon organising many clubs and sports teams including an athletic society, a tennis club and a cricket team. After a period of basing his surgery in the Wakefield Hotel he built Fellbridge known locally as the Doctor s Residence a house he both lived and worked in. The house in Pitfure Road is still lived in today, although it has not been a doctor s residence for many years. Figure 1: Wakefield Cricket Team, c.1893-1896. Dr Walter Pearless is seated, second from the left. His son, Hugh Pearless, is sitting on his left. Photo: Tasman Kete at: http://ketetasman.peoplesnetworknz.info/site/images/show/133-wakefieldcricket-team 4 Waimea South Historical Society (1992) From River to Range, Wakefield, NZ: Waimea South Historical Society, p.15 2
Figure 2: Dr Pearless on his rounds. Photo: Noel Baigent in Stringer, Marion J., (1999) Just Another Row of Spuds: The Pioneer History of Waimea South, Nelson. P.68. In 1885 Walter was appointed Surgeon-Major of the Waimea Rifles a volunteer organisation for training territorial soldiers. He led the Nelson Bearers Corps (stretcher bearers). He was awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration (V.D.) for his twenty years of service. In 1899 New Zealand volunteers became involved in the war in South Africa (known as the Second Anglo-Boer War) and Surgeon-Major Pearless services were soon called on by the New Zealand Government. 5 He sailed with the Eight Contingent on the SS Surrey on 1 February 1902. After serving in Transvaal and the Cape Colony he was called home when he received news that his son, Montague (Monty), was dying. On his return Walter was awarded the Queen s South Africa Medal (QSA) with two clasps, and promoted to Surgeon Lieutenant- Colonel. On 1 March 1911, as a part of the reorganisation of the New Zealand Territorial Force under the direction of Major-General Sir Alexander Godley, he was appointed Principal Medical Officer to the Canterbury Military District. 5 Eventually 6500 volunteers, along with doctors and nurses, sailed for Africa. See New Zealand History Online http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/south-african-boer-war/introduction 3
Figure 3: Surgeon-Major Pearless (seated left) as a member of the Waimea Volunteer Rifles. Date unknown. Photo: Dr Pearless group. Nelson Provincial Museum, N Baigent Collection: 327803 Figure 4: Tapawera, 24 April 1914. Lieutenant-Colonel Pearless seated third from left. Photo: F. N. Jones Collection, Nelson Provincial Museum. 4
As part of the Main Body Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Pearless embarked on 16 October 1914 and after a short time in Egypt found himself bound for the Dardanelles as a member of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion 12 th Reinforcements. 6 Landing at an area that would later be called Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 he quickly established a Field Station at the base of Walker s Ridge, just north of the Sphinx a prominent detached rock near Russell s Top. 7 The casualties were serious. Walter s battalion suffered 20 killed, 89 wounded and 101 missing on the first day. On 27 April, after the arrival the field ambulance, Walter moved further up the ridge and established a Regimental Aid Post (R.A.P.) closer to his battalion headquarters. 8 On 5 May, three New Zealand bearer subdivisions (stretcher bearers) and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade embarked for Cape Helles in the south of the Peninsular to take part in a combined attack with the British and the French. The New Zealanders landed on V Beach and moved forward along the main road towards the village of Krithia on 7 May. It was during this manoeuvre that Walter was twice slightly wounded. 9 In a bizarre way he may have been lucky. The attack on 8 May was a fiasco. As soldiers moved through an area called the Daisy Patch they were mowed down by Turkish machine gun and rifle fire. The New Zealand Brigade suffered 835 casualties over 25% of those who took part. 10 Walter was evacuated to hospital in Alexandria in Egypt. At Anzac Cove conditions began to deteriorate as summer arrived. After recovering in Egypt, Walter returned to Gallipoli on 14 June to help with the huge increase in the number of soldiers struck down by sickness caused by the unsanitary conditions. In the first week of June alone 456 men had to be evacuated. 11 It was during this time, on 5 August, that Walter learned he had been mentioned in despatches a great 6 Two of Walter s sons also enlisted. Lance Corporal (later Sergeant) Herbert Campbell Pearless (7/257) was a member of the Main Body which embarked in October 1914. He was repatriated home in 1917 being unfit for further service. He died in 1934. The other son, Second Lieutenant Reginald Pearless (WW1: 17162, WW2: 807424), enlisted in February 1916 and embarked for overseas service on 26 April 1917 with the New Zealand Field Artillery. He also served in the Second World War. 7 Carbery, A. D. (1924) The New Zealand Medical Service in the Great War 1914 1918, Christchurch, Whitcombe & Tombs, p.45. 8 ibid. 9 ibid, p.54. Also see Military Record. It is unclear how Walter was injured but it is likely he sustained wounds to his hip or legs. 10 Pugsley, C. (2008) Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story, North Shore. N.Z.: Penguin. P.200 and Carbery, p.54. 11 Carbery, p.59. 5
honour. 12 The appalling conditions at Gallipoli did not discriminate and at the end of August Walter was suffering from enteritis and debility. 13 On 1 September he was taken on board the hospital ship Maheno and admitted to hospital in Malta a week later. By now he was not a well man. To assist his convalescence he was again transferred by ship (the Hospital Ship Panama) this time to Endsleigh Palace Hospital in London. Endsleigh Palace Hotel had been converted into a hospital for officers in July 1915. 14 Back in his home town of Wakefield the people were doing everything possible to help their men overseas. In 1915 there was a monster fund-raising gala in Nelson to help raise money for the troops. A float was made to represent the hospital ship, Maheno. It was built by Bill Newth on a truck owned by a local grocer called Hodgson. The ship (truck) was driven to Nelson to take part in the Great Parade. Figure 5: Wakefield Hospital Ship Float, 2nd August 1915. Photo: Tasman Kete, http://ketetasman.peoplesnetworknz.info/waimea_south_collection/images/sho w/194-wakefield-hospital-ship-float 12 See Figure 11. 13 Enteritis is a gastric complaint caused by eating contaminated food and debility refers to loss of strength. 14 The Endsleigh Palace Hospital (1915, 17 July). The British Journal of Nursing, p. 55. 6
By the start of 1916 it seemed that Walter had recovered sufficiently to travel. He boarded the SS Ionic in Britain and arrived in Alexandria on 2 January 1916. A little over a month later he boarded the SS Tahiti as the Consulting Surgeon. The Tahiti was carrying soldiers being repatriated to New Zealand. On his arriving home in March he was granted 42 days leave. The relief must have been enormous a chance to see family after almost a year overseas. Walter undoubtedly would have considered himself lucky to be home and alive. Many other soldiers were less fortunate often not seeing their loved ones for many years. On 5 April 1916 he reported for duty at Awapuni Camp near Palmerston North and embarked again for overseas duty on 1 May this time on the SS Ulimaroa. His trip took him to Suez and then onto Britain aboard the Hospital Transport ship Ivernis. He joined the New Zealand Medical Corps (NZMC) Reserve Group at Sling Camp near Bulford on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire but was almost immediately on 8 August detached to London. His past experience meant that he was needed urgently and, on 29 August, he joined the New Zealand Command Group at Codford, the huge transit camp where New Zealanders were stationed before going to France. He was appointed Senior Medical Officer (SMO), a position he held for the next year until 2 July 1917 when he joined the New Zealand Headquarters in London. Figure 6: SS Ulimaroa. Photo Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Publisher, John Dickie, Photographer, unknown. 7
In June 1917, on the Western Front, the New Zealand Division had recently successfully engaged the Germans at Messines Ridge. Walter transferred to Etaples, the huge British training camp on the French coast, but his health began to deteriorate again. Finally on 18 October he found himself back in Britain getting ready to return to New Zealand as it turned out for the last time. He set sail on the SS Arawa on 10 January 1918 and arrived 8 March 1918. The final stage of Walter s military career began with his appointment to the No 11 Travelling Special District Medical Board. The Board s role was to travel the country certifying men many of them by 1918 being conscripts fit for service overseas. This may have still not been exciting enough for Walter because in August of 1918 he attempted to embark for overseas for a third tour of duty. This time his request was firmly but gratefully declined. Walter s treatment after the war finished demonstrated the hardships that many returned servicemen faced even those with high levels of qualifications and sought after skills. When his work with the Medical Board finished Walter was faced with having to earn a living after four years away from his medical practice. His application for a disability pension was dismissed by the War Pensions Board because, in answer to a plea from the Director of Medical Services, Colonel J. R. Purdy, it was stated: there is no apparent disability which can be connected with the officer s military service. 15 This was despite an earlier recommendation that a quarter pension should be granted. Walter s papers had been lost and the earlier recommendation was ignored. Walter finished his work with the Medical Board in October 1918 and set about re-establishing his medical practice. He was added to the Retirement List 5 April 1921 and died 23 December 1924 at the age of 70. His funeral was held with full military honours 16 and was one of the largest seen in Wakefield. He is buried at St John s Church and a number of memorials are dotted around the town. 15 Commissioner of Pensions, Memorandum to Director of Medical Services, Wellington, June 6, 1919 in Military Record. Also see Figure 13 for list of pension percentages based on disabilities. 16 Obituary. 8
Figure 7: Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Relf Pearless VD, QSA, MiD. 9
Figure 8: Pearless Flats and Pearless near St John's Church, Wakefield. Figure 9: Memorial plague on the gate at Wakefield Domain. 10
The Pearless family today is spread out across the Nelson region but I would like to give special thanks to the great grandchildren of Dr Walter Pearless, Hugh and Penny Pearless for their help in researching Walter s story. Vic Evans 11
Figure 10: Cambridge entry results. Photo: Original in Penny Pearless collection. 12
Figure 11: Certificate for Mention in Despatch. Photo: Original in Penny Pearless collection. Figure 12: The signatures of members of the Pearless family on the reverse of the framed copy of Walter s certificate in Figure 11. Presented to the Wakefield Medical Centre by the Pearless family. 13
Figure 13: War pensions percentages. 14