WW2 Book of Remembrance - Surnames J

Eric's Q2 1922 birth was registered in the East Grinstead District of Sussex. He appears to be the the fifth of seven children born to Samuel H Jackson and Elizabeth Ada (née Summersby - they married Q3 1914, registered in the Southwark district). The first three children were born in Kent and Suffolk, the second three all in East Grinstead, and the last in Kent again.

By the time of the 1939 Register, the parents were living at 15 Durnford Street, Plymouth. 55 year old Samuel is listed as "Excavating, Public Works" and 42 year old Elizabeth with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties". Some of their children were living with them, and 17 year old Eric may be behind the currently closed record: a Forces' record notes Plymouth his town of residence. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's post-war records note the parents were "of West Ewell", but that address has yet to be established.

Eric's WW2 service was in the 5th Battalion of Devonshire Regiment, which was used mainly for home defence, training or supplying the other battalions of the regiment with infantry replacement. Sadly, there is nothing in the readily available records about the particular nature of Eric's duties. His death on 22 June 1941 was registered in the Bath District.

As noted above, Eric's parents had by then moved into the Borough, and his body was brought back for burial in the Ewell (St. Mary) Churchyard Extension (Grave E14). However, his father seems by then to have died, since the personal inscription added to his headstone reads.

"He died for King and Country. Gone but not forgotten by loving Mother and all."

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records note that Percy was the "son of Samuel and Elizabeth Jackson". While these relatively common names make it hard to trace the family background in the readily available records, internet searches of others' work enable us to say that Percy was born on 31 December 1906 in Old Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland - the last of 11 children born to Samuel and Elizabeth Ann (née Yates) Jackson. The 1901 Census records the parents and six children aged between 1 and 16 living at 48 Skares Row, Old Cumnock. These "Rows" were of modest terraced accommodation built by pit owners for their coal miners. This was 38 year old Samuel's occupation (as an "Under Ground Manager") and that of his 16 year old son, David (an "Under Ground Manager Roadsman").

In turn, Samuel had followed his father, David Jackson. The 1871 Census records the mid-30s and Irish-born David and Jane Jackson lodging with the widowed Margaret Boyd at 99 Inkermann, Abbey, Renfrewshire. The 7 year old Samuel (Percy's eventual father) was the third of their eventual seven children, of whom all but the first were born in Scotland. By the 1881 Census, David and Jane's family were living in Glengyron Row in Old Cumnock. The 46 year old James and 18 year old Samuel are both listed as "Coal Miner".

By the 1891 Census, Samuel had married English-born Elizabeth Yates, and they are recorded also living in Glengiron Row in Old Cumnock with their first three children, aged between 1 and 6. After his 1906 birth, Percy is recorded in the 1911 Census as part of the family living at Bankend Cottage, Ayr Road, Cumnock. The record notes that his father remained a colliery underground manager and that, of the 11 children born to the couple over they 27 years of marriage, 3 had died.

After leaving Cumnock Academy, Percy worked at the local branch of the Clydesdale Bank. Having made the grade there, he was promoted to be in charge of the branch at Auchinleck. After three years there, he was then for a time in St Andrews but transferred to the London Midland Bank, in which he held responsible office in one of the City branches.

In Q2 1933, Percy married Kathleen M Lamb. That was registered in the Wandsworth District, and it seems certain that his bride was the 4 year old first child of Joseph (a "Journeyman Carpenter") and Emma Lamb recorded in the 1911 Census living at 59 Wayford St Battersea. Neither Percy nor Kathleen can be found with any confidence in the 1939 Register but, when Kathleen was granted probate on Percy's estate in August 1943, her address was noted as 6 East Dean Avenue, Epsom.

Percy's WW2 service was in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. The readily available records provide disappointing little information about his time in uniform but, from his place of death he must have been stationed with the significant RAF presence in Egypt and the Middle East. Thanks to a cutting from a local Cumnock paper we know that Percy had been laid low with an attack of pneumonia and, in spite of all that an RAF hospital in the area could do, he died on 7 July 1943.

He is buried in the Heliopolis War Cemetery, on the outskirts of Cairo. (This had been opened in October 1941 for burials from the many hospitals in the area coping with the wounded and sick, mainly from the Western Desert campaigns.)

His widow took the option of adding a personal inscription to his headstone,

"His memory is cherished for ever 'Till all the seas gang dry my dear'. Kath."

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records note that Henry (of unspecified age) was the "son of Henry and Anne James and husband of Lottie James, of Brixton, London." Their relatively common names make it difficult to track the family background from the readily available records with any confidence. It seems likely that Henry and Lottie are the couple recorded (with one currently closed record) at 149 Denmark Road, Lambeth. Henry, born on 25 August 1887 (hence the probably age indicated above) is listed as a "General Labourer", and Lottie with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties".

Disappointingly, the readily available records provide no useful information about Henry's WW2 service in the Pioneer Corps. The fact that, after his death on 7 February 1941, he was buried in the Horton Estate Cemetery suggests that, either sick or injured, he had taken to the Emergency Hospital at Horton - one of Epsom's cluster of mental hospitals that, as for WW1, had been taken over to deal with military and civilian wartime casualties.

Henry is, in addition, commemorated on the special WW2 memorial in Epsom Cemetery.

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records note that Alice was "of 35 Coleman Road, Camberwell, London". She was recorded there in the 1939 Register, living with her twin sister, Charlotte. Both had been born on 31 October 1859, had never married, and are listed as "Retired".

As noted in the Commission's records, Alice was injured (by enemy action) while at home on 12 May 1941. She was taken to the Emergency Hospital at Horton - one of Epsom's cluster of mental hospitals that, as for WW1, had been taken over to deal with military and civilian wartime casualties - where she died 11 days later, on 23 May.

(If sister Charlotte was injured in the same attack, she survived.)

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Henry was born in Hackney Q3 1907, the first child of William Henry and Edith Maria Jepps. The 1911 Census records 3 year old Henry living with his 34 year old father (a "Cheesemonger Assistant") and 28 year old mother at 85 de Beauvoir Road, Hackney.

In Q3 1936 Henry married Vera Ellen Gwyer, registered in the local Surrey Mid Eastern District. Henry attested for the Royal Artillery in 1938. The 1939 Register records the 28 year old Vera living alone at 7 Timbercroft, Ewell - listed with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties" but also "(Comptometer)". The couple had a daughter, Pauline, born Q2 1942 and registered in the local Surrey Mid Eastern District.

Sadly, the readily available records tell us nothing of Henry's WW2 service in the Royal Artillery. He is one of the 587 Commonwealth burials in the Brussels Town War Cemetery, most of whom died on lines of communication duties after the liberation of Brussels at the beginning of September 1944. Henry's death - on 30 June 1945 - came nearly 8 weeks after VE Day on 8 May and it is not currently known if this was the result of some wartime injury or a post-war incident.

Drawing from Shakespeare's The Tempest, the widowed Vera took the option of adding a personal inscription to Henry's headstone,

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

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John Jobson was born on 24 December 1912, the fourth child of James (a "Dock Labourer") and Kate (née Miller) Jobson who, with their first three children, were recorded in the 1911 Census living at 10 Mason's Court, High Street Stockton-On-Tees.

In Q4 1937 he married Violetta Jackson. She was born on 31 October 1910, the first child of George Henry (a "Coal Miner, Hewer") and Isabella Jane Jackson - in the 1911 Census all living at 3 Monkseaton Terrace, Seaton Hirst, Northumberland.

They had both moved south. Their marriage was registered in the Surrey Mid-Eastern District, and the 1939 Register recorded the couple living at 270 Sutton Common Road, Sutton. That listed John's occupation as "Lorry Driver, Heavy Worker". (Violetta's was the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties".) The couple's first child, John, was born Q1 1939 but died later in the year. Their second child, Ronald, was born Q2 1940.

John's older sister, Mary Temple Jobson, had also moved south. In Q2 1933, she had married Thomas Edward Boorer. That was registered in the Croydon District, and the 1939 Register records them living at 55 Riverholme Drive, Ewell, with Thomas working as a "Gardener". It seems they had no children.

The reason for mentioning this other couple is that Thomas saw (and survived) WW2 service as a Gunner and it seems that, while he was away, John and Violetta moved in with Mary at 55 Riverholme Drive. And this is where, as the result of enemy action, John and Violetta were killed on 15 June 1944.

55 Riverholme Drive is confirmed as their address in the February 1946 Probate records when administration of John's £443 estate was awarded jointly to "Mary Boorer (wife of Thomas Edward Boorer) and said Thomas Edward Boorer gunner HM Army".

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance.

Alfred was born Q1 1910. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records note that he was the son of Alfred Thomas & Annie Johnson but, with such common names, his family background cannot be traced with any confidence in the readily available records.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's post-war records also note that Alfred was the "husband of Beatrice Marjorie Johnson, of Tooting". Again, the common names rule out confident tracing of their marriage in the readily available records. Disappointingly, neither is readily found in the 1939 Register, and the address in Tooting - and that in the Borough (presumably why Alfred was buried in Ewell) - have yet to be established.

Alfred's WW2 service was with the Royal Artillery, and an annotation in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's burial records indicated that this was with the 22nd Anti Tank Regiment. Sadly, this does not lead to any useful information in the readily available records about either Alfred's experiences of the cause of his death on 14 May 1943.

His death was registered in the local Surrey Mid-Eastern District and he is buried in St. Mary's Ewell, Churchyard Extension (Grave E.51). The widowed Beatrice took the option of adding a personal inscription to Alfred's headstone,

"In most loving memory."

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

On 1 March 1913 at Emmanuel Church, Camberwell, James Johnson, aged 25, a Printer's Warehouseman, married Edith Agnes Mary Simpkin, 21; both lived at 123 Warner Road, Camberwell. Birth of their son James E Johnson came to be recorded in Camberwell, 3/1920.

James, junior, enlisted with the RAF during April 1940 at Cardington. He was commissioned Pilot Officer, from the rank of Leading Aircraftman, 16 March 1941.

On 7 September 1941 a Wellington Mk 1c, X9767, of 75 Squadron took off from RAF Feltwell for an operation against Hüls, the most northerly district of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was shot down by a night-fighter, piloted by Oblt Emil Woltersdorf of II./NJG1, and crashed 00.11 hrs into the sea near Borculo (Gelderland), 8 km SE of Lochem, Holland.

The crew killed in action were:-

P/O James Edward Johnson, RAFVR 66519 - Pilot.
Sgt. Peter Simpson Dickson Johnston, RAFVR 776002 - 2nd Pilot.
Sgt. Robert Michael Minchin, RAFVR 751355 - Navigator.
Sgt. Wilfred Bearne, RAFVR 976174 - Wireless Operator.
Sgt. Ronald Davies, RAFVR 751130 - Front Gunner.
Sgt. William John Barker, RAFVR 1378561 - Rear Gunner.

Their bodies were recovered for burial at Borculo General Cemetery in Plot U. Collective grave 1-5. James' headstone bears the inscription : -

'Only a step removed! We soon again shall meet, Around the Saviour's feet'

He was recorded by CWGC as the son of James and Edith Agnes Mary Johnson, of Ewell, Surrey. Before 1947, his family had arrived locally to reside at 37 Pams Way, Ewell - Edith A M and James Johnson together with their daughter Doreen A and Norman Rickerby (marriage reg. Surrey Mid E, 6/1946).

The death of Edith Agnes M Johnson, born 14 December 1891, was registered in Surrey Mid E, 3/1892.

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

The marriage of Cecil M Johnson to Winifred K Warrington was registered at Kingston for the September Quarter of 1921. Birth of their son, Kenneth M Johnson came to be recorded at Croydon, 3/1923.

The family took up residence at 78 Seaforth Gardens, Stoneleigh, Ewell, Surrey before the death of Cecil Maurice Johnson in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen's Square, London, on 19 June 1938.

During September 1941 Kenneth enlisted in the Royal Air force Volunteer Reserve at Euston with a Service Number 1806593.

On 27 August 1944, whilst still serving as an Aircraftman 2nd Class, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer with a group of volunteers for the Glider Pilot Regiment.

He became a member of No 2 Wing, GPR, training to fly Hamilcars at RAF Tarrant Rushett, Dorset. On 24 March 1945, Kenneth was involved in Operation Varsity/Crossing the Rhine. Hamilcars transported M22 Locust light tanks and other supplies. The gliders proved to be successful although their slow speed and large size made them easy targets for anti-aircraft fire, which resulted in a number of gliders being damaged or destroyed.

As recorded at Tarrant Rushton, 1 April 1945 :-

'C Sqn - Casualties for Operation 'VARSITY' - Lt. Graefe - Lt Kennard, D.C. P/O Hanson, G.B. P/O Johnson, K. Missing. - also N.C.O's (Army) 11 Missing, 1 PW, N.C.O's (RAF) 9 Missing, 1 PW, 1 Killed'.

In fact, Kenneth had also been killed in action to be buried at Ringeberg, north of Wesel in Nordrhein-Westfalen. His remains were later re-interred at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, in grave 42. D. 9. - recorded by the Commonwealth Graves Commission as the son of Winifred Kate Johnson, of Ewell, Surrey.

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Frederick Leonard Jones (b. 1889 in Spalding and educated at Spalding Grammar School), a Journalist, became editor of the Malay Mail, Kuala Lumpur, in 1912. On 11 October 1915 at St Georges's Church, Penang, he married Miss Blanche [Lucy] Burrows from Norfolk. A daughter, Margaret Elizabeth Jones arrived in the Federated Malay States during 1917 but the birth of their son, Anthony Leonard Jones, came to be registered in Erpingham, Norfolk, for the June Quarter of 1920. Mrs Blanche L Jones, with Margaret aged 3 and Anthony 7 months returned to Port Swettenham, Malaysia on the Glenluce, 3 May 1921.

It appears that Anthony and his sister were brought up in Malaya but came back to England with their father just before the outbreak of WW2. Frederick Leonard Jones, Journalist aged 50, sailed home alone to Port Swettenham on 26 September 1939, having been staying at 74 Alexander Road, Epsom.

Anthony may already have learned to fly because, from 23 October 1939, he was granted a Short Term Commission of 4 years as an Acting Pilot Officer. He advanced to Pilot Officer on probation, 20 April 1940, and that position was confirmed on 14 August 1940.

On the night of 20/21 September 1940 the crew of Whitley P5001 of 10 Squadron was tasked with an operational flight to bomb primary targets of Hamm, Soest and Ehrang. They took off at 21.17 hrs and dropped their bombs on one of the primary targets between 00.50hrs and 01.05hrs in a series three attacks. Bombs were seen to fall on railway lines and anti-aircraft fire was encountered by this crew but they described it as being slight. Nevertheless, the aircraft's port wing had been hit and sustained several small holes because of this flak. The aircraft was able to make a safe return to RAF Leeming and landed at 05.15hrs.

This encounter was survived by: -

Pilot - P/O Anthony Leonard Jones RAF (42843), of Ewell, Surrey,
Second Pilot - P/O Allan Bridson RAF (36267), of Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand,
Observer - Sgt Edgar George Harding RAFVR (749521), of Liverpool,
Wireless Operator - Sgt James Beasley Watt RAF (647062), of Edinburgh
Air Gunner - Sgt H W Green RAF (651321)

On the night of 5th/6th November 1940, however, Jones, Harding and Watt were flying in the same aircraft, Whitley P5001 KA - S, on an operation to Milan. The plane failed to return to base and was last heard transmitting distress signals on returning to England.

[AIR27/141 PTB 234 Routed: Base - Bassingbourn - Orford Ness - French Coast - Target - French Coast - Orford Ness - Bassingbourn.This aircraft reported operation had been completed at 23:59 on 5 November 1940 but failed to return. Sealand recorded that an SOS had been received from PTB 234, fixed 10 miles E of North Foreland at 06:10 on 6 November 1940.]

Anthony is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial,which commemorates airmen and women with no known grave, as a son of Frederick Leonard and Blanche Lucy Jones; nephew and ward of Esmond V Jarrold, of Ewell, Surrey.

The local connection was Anthony's uncle, Esmond Vavasseur Jarrold (b. Thorpe Norfolk 1887 - d. reg. Surrey Mid E 9/1960). He had lived at Ferncote, Woodcote Side, Epsom, but by 1936 moved to Roxley, 87 The Green, Ewell.

HMS. Giang Bee, a Chinese-owned coastal steamer requisitioned and used as a patrol vessel, left Singapore Harbour at 10 p.m. on Thursday 12 February 1942. Although Captain Lancaster, in command of the ship, initially refused to take civilian passengers because he saw the dangers attached to a ship designated as a warship, she was loaded with up to 350 refugees who were mostly women, children and the elderly. All her Malay crew had been ordered ashore in Singapore before she left, so that the crew consisted of a handful of RNVR. personnel and some passengers who volunteered to be stokers etc. She was bombed and suffered damage during the day of 13 February, and in the evening, after a long stand-off with a Japanese destroyer, was shelled and sunk in the Banka Strait. There had never been enough lifeboats for those on board, and two of them had been seriously damaged by the day's bombing. Due to this and the speed with which the ship sank, a large number of lives were lost. Amongst the fatalities had been Frederick Leonard Jones.

Mrs Blanche Lucy Jones survived the Giang Bee sinking to become a Sumatra internee. Sadly, she subsequently died in captivity on 8 December 1944 at Palembang women's camp and was interred at Muntok.

F L Jones' married daughter Margaret Elizabeth Baker was left to adninister his estate. His image may be viewed at www.sabrizain.org. The family had lived at 243 Circular Road, Kuala Lumpur.

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

Arthur's common names make it hard to trace his family background with any confidence in the readily available records. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records note that he was "of 11 Cambria Road, Camberwell, London", and that is where he was recorded in the 1939 Register. The details there show that he was born on 15 July 1886, was married with his occupation listed as "Shopkeeper, Off License Grocery". Also at the address is Kathleen M Jones, also married, presumably to Arthur notwithstanding the 19 year age difference (she was born on 22 June 1905). Instead of the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties", she is listed with "Paid Domestic Duties". There is one currently closed record at the address, perhaps their child.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Arthur was injured by enemy action on 16 April 1941 while at home (so presumably not in connection with his WW2 Home Guard activities). He was taken to the Emergency Hospital at Horton - one of Epsom's cluster of mental hospitals that, as for WW1, had been taken over to deal with military and civilian wartime casualties - where he died eleven days later, on 27 April.

If Kathleen was also injured, it was not fatally - and it appears that, after the war, she remarried.

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

Thomas was born on 7 December 1907. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records note that he was the "son of Thomas and Mary Jones" but, with such common names, his family background cannot be traced with any confidence in the readily available records.

In Q2 1935, the 27 year old Edward married 23 year old Alice Aileen Minor. The marriage was registered in the Barton Upon Irwell District of Lancashire, but the 1939 Register records the couple living at 25 Portway, Ewell. Edward is listed as "Departmental Manager Accumulator Maker" (an "accumulator" being a lead-acid battery as used in cars etc) and Alice with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties". Also at the address were:

• what appears to be their only child, 2 year old Marian (whose 12 February 1937 birth had also been registered in the Barton Upon Irwell District);
• Jessie Minor, being Alice's 58 year old widowed mother; and
• 30 year old Albert Philips - as "Accounts Department Manager Accumulator Maker", presumably one of Edward's colleagues.

(The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's post-war records note that the widowed Aileen was "of Stoneleigh", but that address has yet to be established.)

Edward's WW2 service was in the Merchant Navy, as the 1st Radio Officer on SS Observer, a steam merchant of 5,881 tons. She had been built in Glasgow in 1928 and was owned by T & J Harrison of Liverpool.

In late 1942, SS Observer was partway through a voyage from Mersin in Turkey to New York, via Cape Town and Trinidad. Unescorted - but with 9 gunners among her complement of 81 - she left Cape Town on 29 November with her cargo of 3,000 tons of chrome ore. By 16 December, SS Observer was about 350 miles off the most easterly part of Brazil when she was located by U-176 which began pursuit. Observer's Master took evasive action and U-175 chased her zig-zag course for 9 hours. At 21:27 hours, the U-boat fired two torpedoes. Both scored direct hits and SS Observer sank within 30 seconds.

The Master and 65 others - including Edward - were lost. Only 14 crew members and one gunner survived, landing at Fortelaza in Brazil.

As one of the many thousands of Merchant Seamen who died during WW2 and have no know grave, Edward is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.

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Not listed in the Book of Remembrance

Llewellyn (in some records, "Llewelyn") was born in June 1920, the third son of Hector Greenly Jones and Edith M (née Williams - they had married on 22 June 1911 in Llandegfan, Anglesey). The family lived at 5 Bryn Difyr, Bangor, and this is where the parents and two currently closed records are found in the 1939 Register. 51 year old Hector is listed as "LMS Railway Parcel Porter" and 50 year old Edith with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties". While Hector is recorded as "Hector G Jones", Edith's married surname "Jones" was later amended to "Greenley-Jones", and the family surname is seen as "Greenly-Jones" in many subsequent records.

Llewellyn attended the Central School in Bangor, after which he was employed as a sales assistant at the Lotus & Delta shoe shop in Bangor High Street. However, well before the outbreak of WW2, he left the job to join the Welsh Guards. He will have been sent to France in 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force and, after the German invasion, evacuated from Dunkirk. As part of the subsequent rebuilding and strengthening of British forces, the 3rd Battalion Welsh Guards was formed at Beavers Camp, Hounslow on 24 October 1941 and Llewellyn was assigned to this.

In February 1943, Llewellyn married Vera Grace Keen. The marriage was registered in the Surrey Mid Eastern District which covers the Borough of Epsom and Ewell. Vera's Q3 1923 birth had been registered in the then Epsom District - as was the Q1 1923 marriage of her parents, Charles Keen and Annie L Bridger. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's post-war records note that the widowed Vera was "of Ewell, Surrey", but that address has yet to be established.

Very shortly after Llewellyn's marriage, his Battalion set sail for North Africa where they joined Montgomery's 8th Army, the "Desert Rats". By mid-April they were fighting on the Enfidaville Line about 60 miles south of Tunis. After the tide of the Desert War had been turned at the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 and the near simultaneous Allied invasion of Algeria, fierce fighting on both flanks was forcing Axis troops towards Tunis. The Allies' final push for Tunis began on 6 May.

On 8 May, the Battalion was under fire outside Enfidaville. As he went to help others, Llewelyn was shot in the neck by a sniper and killed. He is buried in the Enfidaville War Cemetery. The family took the option of adding a personal inscription to Llewellyn's headstone,

"Though you lie far away in a land across the sea dear Llew, in our hearts you will ever be."

Four days after Llewellyn's death, the Axis forces in North Africa were finally overcome. More than 230,000 men surrendered. As prisoners of war, many were sent to camps in Llewellyn's home patch of North Wales.

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Percy was born on 14 July 1896, the second child of Thomas Henry Joy and Mary Ann (née Cozens - their Q3 1893 marriage was registered in the East Grinstead District). Percy's birth was registered in Dorset, the county from which Mary and her family came. However, the 1895 birth of his older sister, Hilda, had been registered in Epsom.

The 1901 Census records the family of four living at Stoke Villas, Burgess Road, Basingstoke, and Thomas is listed as a "Railway Clerk". By the time of the 1911 Census, the four were living in West Street Epsom. 43 year old Thomas is now listed as a "Milk Vendor", working from home - and 42 year old Mary Ann as "Assisting in the Business". 16 year old Hilda is listed as "Student Civil Service", and 14 year old Percy Franck as "School and Errand Boy". (Living with them were Mary Ann's widowed father, 73 year old Henry Cozens - listed as a jobbing gardener - and two school girl nieces.)

On 20 January 1916, the 19 year old Percy attested in Kingston for the 10th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment with the Service Number 7014. He was 5' 6" tall and listed as a Chauffeur. While Percy was in uniform, his father died in Q2 1917. His widow continued the Dairy business as 5 West Street - at least for the next decade under her late husband's name. In the 1930 and 1934 Kelly's Directories, Mary's own name is listed as the proprietor.

At some point after WW1 - and, given his father's death, perhaps sooner rather than later - Percy joined the family Dairy business. In Q3 1925, he married Mary Harris Longhurst, registered in the Easthampstead District of Berkshire. They had two children, both born in Epsom - Mary, born Q1 1927 and Philip, born Q2 1932.

The 1939 Register records the couple living at 136 Manor Green Road, Epsom. 43 year old Percy is listed as "Dairyman (Master)" - the family business is listed in the 1938 Kelly's Directory as "Joy's Dairy", still at 5 West Street - and 45 year old Mary with the conventional "Unpaid Domestic Duties". There are two currently closed records at 136 Manor Green Road, doubtless of their teenage children. Also living with them was Percy's older sister Mary, now-widowed with the surname Dix and listed as "Civil Service Clerk (Inland Revenue)". (Percy's mother, Mary, had also lived with them there until her death in Q3 1938.)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records note that, on 16 December 1940, Percy was injured (by enemy action) at Laburnham Road, Epsom, and died later that day at Epsom County Hospital.

Percy was buried in Epsom Cemetery on 19 December 1940, in the same plot (A479) as both his parents.

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