MARTIN

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents	His parents were Thomas and Lizzie Martin	Yes
Parents	Mr. T. Martin				2
Where born	Uttoxeter		Yes		2, 1901 Census
When born	1894				1901 Census
When born	1893 or 1894				3
Address	38, Derby Road (parents)	Yes
Address	Bradley Street (Parents)			1a	2
Spouse
Children
Employment Before Joining up
Where enlisted	Uttoxeter		Yes		2
Regiment & Unit	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales’s)	Yes	Yes	1e	2
	6^th Bn.	Yes		1e
	1^st/6^th (T.F.) Bn				2
	1^st/6^th Bn		Yes		7
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes	1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e	2, 7, 8
Service Number	1427	Yes	Yes		2, 7, 8
Date of Death	4 January 1917	Yes	Yes	1b, 1c	2, 7, 8
Age at time of death	23			1a
Age at time of death	24	Yes
Where Killed or died	France/Flanders		Yes
Where Killed or died	Somme - Gommecourt			1b, 1c
How he died	Accident – shot by accident by a friend in a dugout			1a
	Wounded and died of the wounds				8
	Died of wounds		Yes		7
Location of Grave or Memorial	Bienvillers Military Cemetery - Grave VII. A. 5.	Yes
Location of Grave or Memorial	Uttoxeter Town War Memorial				2
Awards	Victory Medal F/104B Page 15				7
	British Medal F/104B Page 15				7
	1915 Star F/SB3 Page 19b

Percy was a member of the local troop of Boy Scouts^1a, ² almost from its inception, and was for some time assistant scoutmaster^1a. He was described as 'a lad with many good points' who 'was very popular with the boys' ^1a.

His parents lived at Bradley Street, Uttoxeter, at the time of his death^1a.

He had been a Territorial for 4 years when war broke out^1a and he was one of the first contingent of Uttoxeter men to leave the town with the 1^st/6^th North Staffordshire Regiment on 6^th August 1914^1d. His medal card⁷ shows that he first served in France from 6^th March 1915.

He was one of the little company of Uttoxeter men who participated with other Midland Territorials in a lot of heavy fighting from July 1915^1a.

In October 1915 the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported that Percy was serving with the 6^th North Staffordshire Regiment at the front[^1e.

In January 1917 the Uttoxeter Advertiser published an article about his death^1a, in which it was said that he died as a result of an unfortunate accident in a dugout in the front line. He was in the dug-out with other soldiers, including Peter Hayes, who had been awarded a Military medal a few months before. This is not, incidentally, the Peter Hayes who died during the war. A short distance away another soldier was cleaning his rifle when it went off and the bullet passed right through Percy’s body. It also went between the legs of Private Hayes, who was standing close to him at the time.

A memorial notice posted by his family in 1918 in the Uttoxeter Advertiser’s roll of honour says that he died at Gommecourt.^1b

Percy is buried in Plot VII A of Bienvillers Military Cemetery. Bienvillers is a large village in the Pas de Calais, 18 kilometres south-west of Arras.


	Photograph with kind permission from the Uttoxeter Advertiser
Photograph with thanks to Percy’s nephew, David Martin