Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

LATIMER Percy Gordon 601 PTE

21ST Machine Gun Battalion

1885-1944

Percy Latimer was the youngest in the family of three surviving brothers and seven sisters, the children of George Latimer and his wife Julia (née Binney).  When he was 29 he was the first of the boys to enlist in the war. Born at Echuca, his name is on the Violet Town State School WW1 Honour Board, which indicates that he must have attended school there. His electoral records state that he worked as a baker in Corryong, Cranbourne and Brunswick from where he enlisted on 14 October 1916.                                       

 Siblings:

 Annie Latimer b. Newbridge, 1867-1949 -  m. James Gundry, Tarnagulla, 1890.
 Emily Latimer b. Tarnagulla 1868-1954 -  m. Chris Selleck, Tarnagulla, 1890.
 Tom Binney Latimer  b. Tarnagulla 1871-1934 - did not marry.
 Frederick Coaker Latimer b. Eaglehawk  1872-1950 - married Ada Simpson, Eaglehawk.
 Harriet Latimer b. Kangaroo Flat 1874-1929 – no Victorian records of marriage or death.
 May Latimer b. Rochester 1876- 1944 - m. Alex Rowe, Rochester, 1904.
 Ada Florence Latimer b. Rochester  1878-1960 – m. Alfred Horsley 1901 - Rochester.
 Alice Maud Latimer b. Echuca 1880-1937 m. John Mitchell, Echuca 1910.
 George Latimer, Echuca - lived for seven days 1882-1882.
 Amy Latimer b. Echuca  1883-1961 – m. Charles Scott, Echuca 1908.
 Percy Gordon Latimer b. Echuca  1885-1944 – m. Mary Corcoran, 1926.

Percy embarked on RMS Omrah on 1 January 1917. On arrival in England in March he was sent straight to Belton Park, Grantham, to the Machine Gun Training Camp. This camp had been established in 1915 and became the base depot of the MGC. After training he was sent to Camiers Depot in France where he was taken on strength by the 21st MGC in September 1917.

Percy’s unit was in the thick of the fighting at Broodseinde. On 7 October he was wounded severely in the left eye, head and   legs.  After being transferred from casualty clearing stations and field hospitals he ended up in the ‘Mile End’ hospital at Dartford, England. From the outset of war, old institutions such as ‘Mile End’ had their facilities greatly improved to meet the needs of sick and injured soldiers from the war front.

By April 1918 he was well enough to be discharged to Depot to await his return soon after to Australia aboard HMAT Karoola.  He was discharged on 11 November 1918 in Melbourne.

In 1925 Percy married Mary Veronica Corcoran – there is no evidence of any children.

He resumed work as a baker at which trade he worked until his death in March 1944 at the Caulfield Repatriation Hospital. His wife died a year later. They are both buried at the Springvale Botanical Garden

Medals: British War Medal,  Victory Medal.

Percy is remembered on the main Honour Board in the Violet Town Memorial Hall, the Violet Town State School Honour Board and his copper plaque is affixed to the external wall of the Memorial Hall. It is thought that these copper plaques were used as identity in the Memorial Avenue Planting in 1917 and 1918.

In 2013 a Ceratonia siliqua - Carob Tree - was planted in McDiarmid’s Road in his memory.

© 2015 Sheila Burnell

Percy Gordon Latimer was born in 1885 in Echuca, Victoria, to George Latimer and Julia Maud, nee Binney. He was the youngest of ten children. At some stage before 1916, Percy was a baker in Corryong, Victoria.

On 14th October 1916, he enlisted at Brunswick, Victoria. At the time, he was a single, 29-year-old baker living at 58 Park St, West Brunswick, Victoria. He was allocated Regimental Number 601 and placed in the 10th reinforcements for the 2nd Machine Gun Company. Percy gave his next of kin as his mother, Julia Latimer, his father having passed away when Percy was only 11 at Violet Town. After initial training, he embarked on HMAT A5 Omrah at Melbourne, Victoria, on 17th January 1917.

During his enlistment period, he was also a member of the 21st Machine Gun Company, having been transferred to that unit on 25th September 1917. 

On 4th October 1917, Percy was severely wounded by shellfire. The 23rd April 1936 edition of the Corryong Courier contained an article on Percy’s experiences.

“A Digger Marvel

Under the above caption ‘Smith’s Weekly’ says: Percy S. [sic] Latimer is a living example of what a human being can stand. A fine figure of a man. 6ft high and weighing 15st 6lb, he enlisted in the 21st M.G. Co. in 1916 and bore a charmed life until October 4, 1917, when he was wounded at Passchendale, the grave yard of many Australian. The shell that got him, blinded him in the left eye, and shrapnel penetrated both legs, inflicting severe wounds. After a spell in Caiera Hospital in France, he was taken to a London Hospital at Mile End with septic head and legs.

One of Percy’s most pleasant memories while in this hospital was an unofficial visit from King George V, accompanied by the Mayor of Stepney Green. During a twenty minutes chat with His Majesty Percy told him that he would like to souvenir the top of his cane.

“You only have got one eye” said the King, laughing, “and yet you, like your brother Australians, use it to look for souvenirs.”

Shortly after the King’s visit, Percy was invalided back to Australia and entered the Caulfield Repatriation Hospital where he had both legs amputated above the knee. He spent nearly 10 years there.

Today, Percy gets around in his special wheeled chair or uses his little crutches and in spite of the great handicap of having both legs off, left eye blinded and mustard gas burns, he is 12st 4lb of energy and cheerfulness.

(Many of our readers will no doubt remember Percy).”

On 8th April 1918, he returned to Australia aboard HMAT A63 Karoola, with the rank of Private. He was discharged on 29th November 1918 and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service during the war.

Parcy lived with one of his sisters, Ada Horsley, in South Road, Moorabbin, after being discharged from hospital. He was a keen amateur fisherman. When he lost his boat in a storm, the residents of Moorabbin presented him with a new one.

Percy passed away on 15th March 1944 at Caulfield, Victoria and was buried in Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Victoria.