Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born in 1894 in London into a seven child family, mother dying when he was only 11 years old Percy set sail to Adelaide on his own at 16 years - the start of many adventures including serving in both world wars. Percy put his age up to enlist in WW1 and down to enlist in WW11. He saw action on the western front in WW1 and at Tobruk and El Alamein in WW11. He saw much action as a medical orderly attached to various fighting units in both desert and muddy trench warfare. Percy was wounded once ... ‘sitting on a seat cut into the side of the trench reading an old Sydney newspaper when a whiz bang shell landed on the top corner of the trench (a whiz bang shell is a small shell which explodes either before it hits the ground or as it hits the ground), the nose cap opened spraying shrapnel all around me ... some of it penetrating through my sheepskin coat and uniform, and caused abrasions to my back and spine and fell out of my clothes when I took them off later at the Dressing Station. The hot and heavy shell case fell onto the calf of my left leg badly bruising and cutting it, and knocked me to the bottom of the trench.’
Percy provides his unique personal experiences in hand written diaries he kept throughout his service, and describes the highs and lows of being away from the comforts of home while facing the horrors and carnage of battle at close quarters and the bombings and shellings from afar, together with the mateship and camaraderie between the courageous men and women thrust into such conditions. Percy writes in WW1 ...’it amazes everyone to think of what the human frame can stand, and also, man’s inhumanity to man makes countless millions mourn.’