Percy Harold Joyce

  General Notes:

Harold enlisted in the AIF on 30 June 1916. He was a month shy of his 31st birthday and working as a Letter Carrier. He was Single and listed his mother as his next of kin, her address was given as 12 Frederick St, St. Peters in Sydney. He was given the Service Number 6086 and assigned to K Coy of the Dubbo Depot Battalion. He had previously been rejected for Service because he had false teeth.

Hubert was described as 5 feet 2 3/4 inches tall, weighed 144 lbs and had a chest measurement of 33 1/2 - 35 1/2 inches. His complexion was Medium, eyes grey and hair Auburn.

On the 25 October 1916 he left Sydney on the HMAT A11 Ascanius disembarking in Devonport, England on 28 December 1916. He was assigned to the 5th Training Battalion at Rolleston and then, on 9 April 1917, he joined the 19th Battalion in France. In August and September of that year he was sent to Infantry School, rejoining his Battalion on 29 September. On the 8 October he was admitted to hospital with "Trench Feet" a common affliction for troops spending days and nights in the muddy, putrid trenches at the front line. After convalescing at Etaples in France he rejoined his unit on 23 November 1917.

By February 1918 he had been detached to the 2nd Division Salvage Company, apparently as a Batman. This was a short detachment, ending a couple of weeks later. On 18 March he rejoined his Battalion in Belgium and at the end of March he was wounded in action suffering a shell wound to the neck and abrasions to his left arm. He was evacuated to the Broadwater Hospital in Ipswich, England. The war was approaching its end and he spent the remainder of his service in England attached to the AIF Administrative HQ.

He did, however, find time to get married to a London lass, Lucy Long, a widowed housekeeper living in London at the time. They were married just after the war ended, on 30 November 1918 in Marlebone, London.

Private Percy Harold Joyce returned to Australia on the Bahia Castillo on 19 April 1920, and was discharged from the AIF on 29 August 1920. He was awarded the British War medal No. 59013 and the Victory Medal No. 57230.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He worked as a Letter Carrier when he enlisted in the AIF in 1916.

• He worked as a Postman at Dulwich Hill at the time of his death on 20 Feb 1949.

• He resided at the time of his death on 20 Feb 1949 in 13 Queen St, Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia.

Percy married Lucy Ford, daughter of Samuel Ford and Unknown, on 30 Nov 1918 in Catholic Church, Marylebone, London, England. (Lucy Ford was born circa 1886 in England and died in 1974 in New South Wales, Australia.)

  Marriage Notes:

The Church is named as "Our Lady of the" on his AIF Marrige Record.