LEIGHTON, Percival James
| Service Number: | 4223 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 July 1915, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, 1888 |
| Home Town: | Mildura, Mildura Shire, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Grocer's assistant |
| Died: | Pneumonia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Mildura Workingmans Club War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 6 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4223, 7th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Dec 1915: | Involvement Private, 4223, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Dec 1915: | Embarked Private, 4223, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Henry Wittwer
Percival James Leighton was born in Castlemaine, Victoria in April 1888. At some point in his life he moved to San Mateo Avenue in Mildura. Before he enlisted he was a assistant in a grocery store.
On the 6th of July he enlisted at the age of twenty seven and he was in the 7th infantry battalion but was apart of the 13th reinforcement unit. His unit shipped out on the 29th of December 1915. When his battalion reached France, Percival fell ill to two sicknesses and spent most of the war in hospitals in Belgium and England until nearing the end of the war where he was detached to the 2nd Australian infantry battalion and was promoted to driver. On the 26th of March 1919 he was transferred back to the 7th infantry battalion
After the war he was awarded the Victory medal and the British War medal. He was honorably discharged from the army at the age of thirty four. Nearing the end of his life he was admitted to a military hospital in melbourne and died of pneumonia at an unknown age.
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