Carter, Percy

No.341A – Private Percy Henry Carter – 28^th Battalion AIF

Percy Henry Carter was born in Weymouth Dorset England in 1893 to Charles and Elizabeth Carter. The family soon moved to Hayling Island in Hampshire where Percy attended school. He took up work as a handyman and labourer and continued this work after he immigrated to Western Australia in 1910.

From 1910 to 1916 Percy lived at 19 Howard Street South Fremantle and 26 Point Street Fremantle. He enlisted into the AIF on the 24^th January 1916 and the medical examiner found Percy to be 5 feet 5 ½ inches; weight of 125 lbs; chest measurement of 32-35 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and light brown hair. His religious denomination was Wesleyan.

On the 10^th February 1916 Percy was assigned to B Company of the newly forming 44^th Battalion AIF. This battalion formed at Claremont Show grounds Camp until the beginning of June 1916. On the 6^th June, the soldiers of the 44^th boarded the troopship H.M.A.T. “Suevic” in Fremantle Harbour for the voyage to England. They arrived in Plymouth England on the 21^st July 1916 and as soon as they disembarked they were sent to Larkhill Camp on the Salisbury Plains. They trained here for the next few months but in October there was a call for men to reinforce other Australian units that had just come through the Battle of the Somme and that were low in numbers. Quite a few of the men in the 44^th opted to be sent to France to join other battalions. Percy was one of these and with other mates from the 44^th Battalion he joined the 28^th Battalion on the 30^th October 1916. Four days later the 28^th Battalion attempted an assault on the German trenches at Flers. The ground was a devastated landscape of muddy shell holes and the attack ended in a failure. Percy was killed during the action though his body was able to be recovered and given a battlefield burial. After the war the war graves parties came through and concentrated the casualties from this battle at Warlencourt British Cemetery. Percy lies in plot IV.A.39.

After the war his mother Elizabeth would receive a pension of 20/- per fortnight.