SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s Name
Reuben Woodward Pershouse
Rank
Private
Service Number
1914
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
AIF, 26th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement
Date of Birth
27 July, 1887
Place of Birth
Bundaberg, Queensland
Family Details
Son of Alfred Hubert and Sarah Ann Pershouse, of Murray's Creek, Queensland.
Parents
Alfred Hubert Pershouse (Born April 11th 1862, Boyne, QLD. Died 21st Sept 1943, Gin Gin,
Queensland)
Sarah Ann Pershouse (Born 1861, England. Died 1926, Queensland)
Siblings
Private Alfred Charles Pershouse (1885-1957) 4th. Pioneer Battalion. Returned to Australia
19 June 1919.
Lessingham Hubert Pershouse (1888- 1954)
Ernest Wilfred Pershouse (1890- 1967)
Not married
Age at Enlistment
28
Place of Enlistment
Bundaberg, Queensland
Date of Death
29 July 1916
Place of Death
France
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France
PHOTO:
No known photo
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Jessica Honan
Born on 27 July 1887, Reuben Woodward Pershouse was the second son of Alfred Hubert Pershouse, and
his English wife, Sarah Ann Woodward. Reuben had three brothers, Alfred Charles, two years his senior,
Lessingham Hubert; a year younger, and Ernest Wilfred; three years younger. The family lived in Murray’s
Creek, just outside Bundaberg. Reuben never married, and worked as a labourer, until the outbreak of the
First World War.
From the Pershouse family, both Reuben and Alfred, Reuben’s older brother, enlisted to serve. Private
Alfred Charles, Reuben’s brother, volunteered for the 4th. Pioneer Battalion. He served in Belgium and
France, and returned home safely on 19 July 1919.
However, Reuben was not so lucky. His unit, the Third Reinforcement of the 26th Australian Infantry
Battalion, embarked from Brisbane. Their ship, the HMAT A55 Kyarra, left on 16 August 1915. After serving
in Egypt, Gallipoli and on the Western Front, Reuben died from wounds on 29 July 1916 in France: just two
days after his twenty-ninth birthday. Although he has no known grave, he is commemorated at this
memorial. Reuben was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal.
Reuben’s youngest brother, Ernest Pershouse, is my paternal great grandfather, making Reuben my great,
great uncle.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian War Memorial 2015, Roll of Honour – Reuben Woodward Pershouse
http://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1654460/ (accessed 16 January 2015)
Find a Grave 2006, Private Reuben Woodward Pershouse, http://www.findagrave.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16187237 (accessed 16 January 2015)
National Archives of Australia 2015, PERSHOUSE Reuben Woodward: Service Number – 1914
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8015389
(accessed 20 February 2015)
The AIF Project, 2014, Reuben Woodward Pershouse https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=19675
(accessed 16 January 2015)