| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
Percy Barney was born in Felthorpe, Norfolk, in 1893, one of eleven children born to James Barney (1858-1932) and his wife Grace (1862-1938). Percy’s father was a bricklayer and Percy and many of his older brothers worked with him as bricklayer’s labourers.
Percy had moved to the Beverley area and was employed as a horseman at the New Holland Farm in Weel where he also lived, by the time war broke out, he was unmarried.
Percy enlisted in the army in Beverley on 9 Feb 1916 and was mobilised on 5 Jun 1916. He joined the 14th Reserve Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment for training but was then switched to the 10th Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment, as a private. He arrived in France on 15 Oct 1916. In the spring of 1917, the 10th took part in the Battle of Arras and then switched to Belgium to take part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres after July 1917. It was there at Broodseinde on 5 Oct 1917, part of the Passchendaele campaign, that Percy was killed in action. Percy’s body was never recovered.
He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial at Passchendaele, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the Tickton War Memorial, the Hengate Memorial, and the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster. He was awarded the War and Victory Medals. |