Name
Percy Charles Bray
1896
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/05/1918
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Lance Corporal
18927
Bedfordshire Regiment Depot
Depot
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
BALDOCK CEMETERY
7
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Baldock Town Memorial, St Mary the Virgin Church Memorial, Baldock
Pre War
Percy Charles Bray was born in Baldock, Herts in 1896, the son of George and Sarah (nee Moles) and baptised on 23 August 1896 in Baldock. He was one of five children.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Bygrave Lane, Baldock, where his father was working as a malt maker. His father died in 1902 and on the 1911 Census he was living with his widowed mother and brothers Frederick and Edward at Bygrave Lane, Baldock, Herts where he was working as a gardener domestic. Before joining the army, Percy was employed as a gardener by T. Veasey in Baldock.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Bedford and served with the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in France from 2 October 1915 and at some point was promoted to Lance Corporal.
Percy was wounded in action and repatriated from France to Dover Hospital, England suffering from severe shrapnel wounds that had resulted in the loss of his right leg and eye and had caused severe head injuries (a fractured skull). He was subsequently taken to King George Hospital in Stamford Street, London where he died on 16 May 1918.
His funeral at St. Mary's Church in Baldock was accorded full military honours with his coffin being covered with the Union Jack and carried on a gun carriage drawn by six horses. He is buried in Baldock Cemetery, Hertfordshire.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £15 10s and pay owing of £24 5s 11d. She also received a pension of 8 shillings a week.
Her address on pension records was 18 Salisbury Road, Baldock, Herts.
Acknowledgments
Derry Warners, Brenda Palmer
Adrian Pitts, Paul Johnson
