LATIMER, Percy Gordon
| Service Number: | 601 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 October 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Echuca, 1885 |
| Home Town: | Violet Town, Strathbogie, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Violet Town State School |
| Occupation: | Baker |
| Died: | 1944, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: | Euroa Telegraph Park, Violet Town Honour Roll WW1 |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Oct 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 601, 2nd Machine Gun Company, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Omrah embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 17 Jan 1917: | Embarked Private, 601, 2nd Machine Gun Company, RMS Omrah, Melbourne |
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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