Fletcher, Percy

805 Sergeant Percy Fletcher - 28th Battalion AIF

Percy Fletcher was born in Perth WA in 1892.

He was educated in Fremantle and the family were living in Norfolk Street Fremantle.

After leaving school Percy took up employment as an Upholsterer and also saw service with the 11th Garrison Artillery which was based at Fremantle Artillery Barracks.

In 1913 he married Janet Sanders in Fremantle and they would have one child

On the 4th February 1915 Percy enlisted into the AIF. The medical examiner passed him as fit for service and recorded his details as;

Height - 5 Feet 7 inches tall;

Weight - 140 lbs;

Chest Measurement - 34-36 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Blue;

Hair - Light Brown;

Religious Denomination - Church of England.

After his enlistment, Percy was assigned to C Company of the 28th Battalion. He trained with this group over the next few months and on the 29th June 1915 Percy and his Battalion embarked from Fremantle Harbour aboard the HMAT Ascanius.

After arriving in Egypt the battalion undertook further training and in September 1915 they were sent to Gallipoli. Not long after their arrival Percy wrote;

14^th September 1915: Sgt Fred Ball was sitting on the ground reading a paper when; a shell burst ten feet behind him, pellets from which perforated his back. This is a rotten place, dead men all over the place…We get plenty of shooting here but also plenty that’s returned. I am going out on patrol tonight and there is hundreds of dead between our lines and the Turks.

Percy survived his time at Gallipoli as in December 1915 the Australian and New Zealand forces evacuated from Anzac. They then returned to Egypt where further training resumed.

In March 1916 the 28th Battalion were sent to France and Percy soon got his first taste of life on the Western Front at Armentieres.

They spent a few months in the Armentieres region and in July 1916 headed for the Somme battlefield where the British and French forces had launched a large offensive on July 1st 1916.

On the 29th July 1916 the 28th Battalion were tasked with an advance from Pozieres to capture the German lines. Unfortunately the ground they advanced over was a raised part of the battlefield and the Germans poured fire onto the advancing Western Australians and the 28th Bn were hit heavily. During the advance Percy was hit by shrapnel in the arm and had to go and get treatment for his wound. He was evacuated back to hospital in France and then England. He would receive treatment for several weeks and rejoined the 28th Battalion on the 28th October 1916. Percy rejoined them just in time for an attack on the German position known as the Maze. In horrendous muddy conditions the 28th Battalion were tasked with the capture of the German positions.

My platoon goes into the firing line tonight to hold the frontage of two platoons. Three men wounded. Up to your waist in slush...

November 5 attack at 9-10am I am hit again, this time in the back and lay out all day in a shell hole of water. Crawled in at night after 10 hours…was carried about 3 miles on a stretcher through mud then about 1 mile on a sledge to the Motor Ambulance. I then had the worst motor ride I ever had in my life.

During the attack Percy was hit by shrapnel in the back and buttock. Many men had been killed or taken prisoner so Percy was fortunate that he got back to his own lines. After initial medical treatment in France, Percy was sent to Hospital in England. (Photo below Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield)

Due to his wounds, Percy's war was now over though he spent several months in hospital and army camps in England in 1917.

On the 5th November 1917, Percy left England on the transport ship Themistocles and arrived back in Fremantle 23rd December 1917. Percy was then sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Tce Fremantle and was discharged from the AIF on the 23rd January 1918.

Unfortunately in Percy's absence, his wife had been unfaithful and a daughter Kathleen born later in Albany in 1918 was not Percy's.

He was granted a divorce by the courts and in 1921 Percy remarried to Avis Emily Bickford and they would have two children, William in 1921 and Alberta in 1923.

After returning from the war Percy took up a variety of work, on the railways, the wharves, and also in a furniture factory. For a time he went on to mining at Marble Bar.

In World War Two, his son William was killed while a member of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Percy Fletcher died on the 11th June 1971 and has a memorial plot in Fremantle Cemetery Rose Garden.