00:00You have embarked on a career like none other, a career where you are expected to put the
00:05community before yourself. Since 1938, the Lake Illawarra Police District has lost eight officers
00:11in the line of duty. These officers have been honoured on both an internal and exterior wall
00:17of remembrance. One of these officers is Sergeant 3rd Class Alan Nash, who whilst holding the rank
00:23of Senior Constable, was shot during a domestic dispute in 1956. You will hear first-hand
00:31accounts from his former colleague, a member of the family he protected during this deadly
00:36encounter and his own nephew. Senior Constable Nash joined the NSW Police Force in 1939.
00:43At the time of his death, he was 40 years of age. He never married and he had no children.
00:48Senior Constable Nash was attached to the Port Kembla Police Station, which is now part of
00:54the Lake Illawarra Police District. Behind me here, on Alara Crescent Primby, once stood a
00:59single-storey home occupied by Mrs Mildred May Pearce, her husband and two young sons. One
01:06of those young sons was Eric Pearce, aged three years old. This location would be the scene
01:12of a dramatic police shootout. Across the road was a small convenience store
01:18all that remains of that business now is a side wall. Despite being married, Mrs Pearce had been
01:25involved in a brief relationship with 34-year-old Nicolaj Russen. At the time, Russen was separated
01:35from his wife and three young children and had a reputation for being violent. Shortly after midnight
01:41on Thursday, 16 August 1956. Whilst Mrs Pearce's husband was at work, she was awoken by Russen
01:49knocking on the back door of her home. Unbeknown to her, Russen was armed with a .22 calibre
01:56rifle. After a brief discussion, Mrs Pearce refused to allow Russen into the home. In response, Russen
02:04fired several shots through the door. Mrs Pearce woke her two sons and placed them in the bathroom
02:11for safety while she exited through the front door across the road to the convenience store.
02:18Here, she woke up the shopkeeper where police were contacted. A short time later, Senior
02:23Constable Nash arrived on scene by himself. Without hesitation, he ran to the back veranda of the
02:29home and confronted Russen with his police-issued Webley Scott pistol holding it in his right hand.
02:37Russen fired one shot at Senior Constable Nash that entered through his stomach and into his spine.
02:43This caused instant paralysis of Senior Constable Nash's right hand causing him to drop the pistol.
02:49Undeterred, Senior Constable Nash picked up the pistol with his left hand and in quick succession
02:55fired three rounds at Russen. The first round struck Russen in the right hand. The second penetrated
03:02into Russen's heart and the third round jammed in the pistol. Russen died instantly and collapsed
03:09on the veranda. Senior Constable Nash was rushed to Wollongong Hospital in a critical condition
03:14where he would hover between life and death. Due to his extraordinary courage in literally saving
03:22the Piers family, coupled with other acts of bravery he had previously displayed, Senior
03:27Constable Nash was promoted to Sergeant Third Class at his hospital bedside by then Commissioner
03:33Colin Delaney. However, a week later on Wednesday 22 August 1956, Sergeant Nash passed away.
03:41It was established that Russen had fired multiple shots into both the front and rear of the house.
03:47He was also found with a number of handwritten letters that appeared to indicate his desire
03:53to murder the entire Piers family. Russen had migrated to Australia from Europe after World
03:59War II. It was later claimed that he had collaborated with the Nazis during the war but this was never
04:04substantiated. In an ironic twist, earlier that same year, Russen had been seriously assaulted
04:10when a local police officer intervened, essentially saving his life. That local police officer was the
04:17police officer of the police officer of the police officer of the police officer.
04:18In recognition of his actions, Sergeant Nash would be posthumously awarded the Queen's
04:24Police Medal for Gallantry, the Peter Mitchell Trophy and the George Lewis Trophy. His parents
04:30would be presented with these accolades.
04:32Mrs. Pearce's son, three-year-old Eric, would only become aware of Sergeant Nash's bravery
04:37that saved both him and his family decades after the event. It was a matter that was never discussed
04:43with his mother who died in the early 1990s.
05:02I'm a retired Detective Chief Inspector of Police. I joined the job in 1954 and I retired in 1991.
05:13My late husband, Eric Pearce, was one of the boys in the house at the time of the shooting.
05:21Eric passed away in January 2025 with a short battle of cancer.
05:30I'm the nephew of Sergeant Alan Nash.
05:33In 1956, I was transferred from Wollongong to Port Kilmer in a relieving capacity.
05:43And my workmate then was a senior constable, Alan Nash.
05:53Eric, only being three years old at the time, couldn't remember the incident, but he could just
05:58remember this whizzing sound. And he knew it was something serious.
06:03So in the 1980s, Eric and I went into Wollongong Library and did some research.
06:10I was 12 years old when Alan was shot.
06:16I worked with Alan and I was so impressed. He taught me so much.
06:22And then when we got to 1956, the shooting actually appeared on the microfiche in the library.
06:32And at the time, it didn't shock me too much because I thought my uncle was Superman. He'd get through
06:38this.
06:39We meet Kevin. We're here to look after everyone.
06:42And that was Alan's nature that what he considered to be a policeman was.
06:49Then on, he was very surprised to hear that it was actually a shooting
06:55because Eric's mother never said anything to either of the boys about the shooting.
07:01And then about a week later, the neighbours got a phone call saying that he'd passed away.
07:07Well, that hit me like a brick. And that was a big shock to me at the time.
07:14Knowing Alan, I never ever saw him take a backward step.
07:20So I used to consider that what Alan had done that night would have been typical of him.
07:28That he would be walking forward all the time, not taking a backward step
07:33and just holding up the nature and the covering of what police officers were expected to do.
07:46He then felt sorry for the Nash family.
07:56The actions that this has all had on our family, particularly me, it's been a very sad, sad time.
08:06And all these years later, I have never forgotten what he had done.
08:17He's just such a hero.
08:21And he asked me to place some flowers under the plaque of Alan Nash to say thank you for saving
08:37his life when he was three years old.
08:40I would like to thank you for honouring my uncle today.
08:46And I wish you all the best in your policing career.
08:52And I hope that during your career, you don't have anything happening like happened through our family.
09:04Sergeant Nash has left a legacy that typifies the proud traditions of the New South Wales Police Force.
09:37Let us in the past 20th
