Private Percy Adams

When Private Percy Arnold Adams died at the age of 19 on 24 May 1916 from wounds received in action in France it was reported that he was “…the first Brunyite to make the ultimate sacrifice for the Empire on the battlefield”. (The Mercury 30 May 1917, page 5)

Private Adams was the son of John George and Elizabeth Rebecca Adams, of Alonnah, Bruny Island.

Private Adams proceeded to the Gallipoli Peninsula on 4 September 1915. He reported sick and was reported to Casualty on 14 October 1915 and was back on duty on 18 October.  He was sick again on 1 November 1915 with diarrhea.

Private Adams served in France from 9 January 1916 and was a Commanding Officer with the 6^th Australian Field Ambulance, in France.

Private Adams is commemorated in the cemetery at Erquinghem-Lys, in France. The village of Erquinghem-Lys was occupied by German forces early in October 1914, and taken by the the 1^st Somerset Light Infantry on 16 October.

Private Adams’ brother, Sergeant Arthur Adams MM, served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and died of bronchopneumonia on 7 December 1918.

Acknowledgements

Bruny Island Historical Society

Photo courtesy Trevor Adams