Percy Hamblin "Perc" Beckett was born in Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1889 and was baptised on the 23rd of January 1889. He was the son of Henry 'Harry' Hamblin Beckett (1858–1910) and Sarah Beckett (previously Pearce) nee Perkins (1854-1923) of Cavendish House, Minehead. His father was an Accountant. Percy had two full siblings:
1. Ida May Beckett (1883–1961)
2. Stanley Tom Perkins Beckett (1891–1943)
and three half-siblings:
1. Beatrice Harriet S. Pearce (1879-1954)
2. Edmund Pearce (1881-1959)
3. Gertrude Annie P. Pearce (1882-1955)
Percy's mother had previously been married to John Pearce (1854-1881), who was a builder in Minehead. Following his death, she had a relationship with Percy's father, and they married in 1887.
Prior to WW1 Percy joined the territorial force of the West Somerset Yeomanry. He was also a keen player at the Minehead Football Club, but in 1913 he emigrated to Australia where he became at Auctioneer in the town of Mildura, Mildura Shire, Victoria.
On the 7th of November 1914 he enlisted into the Australian Army at Mildura becoming Trooper 806 of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment. All Australian Light Horse cavalry units were armed with rifles, not swords or lances, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse.
In May 1915 his regiment were sent to Gallipoli to re-enforce the Australian Infantry regiments already fighting there. Percy was killed in action on the 7th of August 1915 at the Battle of the Nek. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It connected the Australian and New Zealand trenches on the ridge known as "Russell's Top" to the knoll called "Baby 700" on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched. The official report of the battle said: "Early on the 7th of August 1915, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse Brigade mounted a bayonet attack on the Ottoman trenches on Baby 700. The first line of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, led by their CO; Lieutenant Colonel White, were shredded by machine-gun and rifle fire with a number of men being killed even before they got over the parapet. When the second line leapt up they also met with a hail of fire and in addition to this had to contend with shrapnel fired from two field guns bursting low over the ground. A total of 600 men took part in the assault, attacking in four waves; 372 were killed or wounded. Ottoman casualties were negligible."
Percy was 26 years old when he died. He was buried at Plot A. 11. of the Ari Burnu Cemetery, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Turkey. The personal inscription on his gravestone reads: "Ever remembered by his loving mother at Minehead". His name is also commemorated on Panel 6 of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia, on the Mildura Working Man's Club War Memorial in Australia - where he was a member, and also on the Minehead War Memorial.
Additionally, on his parent's grave in Minehead Cemetery is a Football-shaped commemorative memorial to him. It reads:
"At Rest
In Anzac Cove Cemetery
Our loved son "Perc" who
laid down his life for King
and Country at Gallipoli
in the Great Charge with
the 8th Australian Light Horse
August 7th 1915 . Age 26
"Earth's last fight is fought"
As a soldier he will stand
before the Great White Throne."
SOURCE: https://wsaw.weebly.com/minehead.html
1. Ida May Beckett (1883–1961)
2. Stanley Tom Perkins Beckett (1891–1943)
and three half-siblings:
1. Beatrice Harriet S. Pearce (1879-1954)
2. Edmund Pearce (1881-1959)
3. Gertrude Annie P. Pearce (1882-1955)
Percy's mother had previously been married to John Pearce (1854-1881), who was a builder in Minehead. Following his death, she had a relationship with Percy's father, and they married in 1887.
Prior to WW1 Percy joined the territorial force of the West Somerset Yeomanry. He was also a keen player at the Minehead Football Club, but in 1913 he emigrated to Australia where he became at Auctioneer in the town of Mildura, Mildura Shire, Victoria.
On the 7th of November 1914 he enlisted into the Australian Army at Mildura becoming Trooper 806 of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment. All Australian Light Horse cavalry units were armed with rifles, not swords or lances, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse.
In May 1915 his regiment were sent to Gallipoli to re-enforce the Australian Infantry regiments already fighting there. Percy was killed in action on the 7th of August 1915 at the Battle of the Nek. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It connected the Australian and New Zealand trenches on the ridge known as "Russell's Top" to the knoll called "Baby 700" on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched. The official report of the battle said: "Early on the 7th of August 1915, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse Brigade mounted a bayonet attack on the Ottoman trenches on Baby 700. The first line of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, led by their CO; Lieutenant Colonel White, were shredded by machine-gun and rifle fire with a number of men being killed even before they got over the parapet. When the second line leapt up they also met with a hail of fire and in addition to this had to contend with shrapnel fired from two field guns bursting low over the ground. A total of 600 men took part in the assault, attacking in four waves; 372 were killed or wounded. Ottoman casualties were negligible."
Percy was 26 years old when he died. He was buried at Plot A. 11. of the Ari Burnu Cemetery, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Turkey. The personal inscription on his gravestone reads: "Ever remembered by his loving mother at Minehead". His name is also commemorated on Panel 6 of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia, on the Mildura Working Man's Club War Memorial in Australia - where he was a member, and also on the Minehead War Memorial.
Additionally, on his parent's grave in Minehead Cemetery is a Football-shaped commemorative memorial to him. It reads:
"At Rest
In Anzac Cove Cemetery
Our loved son "Perc" who
laid down his life for King
and Country at Gallipoli
in the Great Charge with
the 8th Australian Light Horse
August 7th 1915 . Age 26
"Earth's last fight is fought"
As a soldier he will stand
before the Great White Throne."
SOURCE: https://wsaw.weebly.com/minehead.html
Percy Hamblin "Perc" Beckett was born in Minehead, Somerset, England, in 1889 and was baptised on the 23rd of January 1889. He was the son of Henry 'Harry' Hamblin Beckett (1858–1910) and Sarah Beckett (previously Pearce) nee Perkins (1854-1923) of Cavendish House, Minehead. His father was an Accountant. Percy had two full siblings:
1. Ida May Beckett (1883–1961)
2. Stanley Tom Perkins Beckett (1891–1943)
and three half-siblings:
1. Beatrice Harriet S. Pearce (1879-1954)
2. Edmund Pearce (1881-1959)
3. Gertrude Annie P. Pearce (1882-1955)
Percy's mother had previously been married to John Pearce (1854-1881), who was a builder in Minehead. Following his death, she had a relationship with Percy's father, and they married in 1887.
Prior to WW1 Percy joined the territorial force of the West Somerset Yeomanry. He was also a keen player at the Minehead Football Club, but in 1913 he emigrated to Australia where he became at Auctioneer in the town of Mildura, Mildura Shire, Victoria.
On the 7th of November 1914 he enlisted into the Australian Army at Mildura becoming Trooper 806 of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment. All Australian Light Horse cavalry units were armed with rifles, not swords or lances, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse.
In May 1915 his regiment were sent to Gallipoli to re-enforce the Australian Infantry regiments already fighting there. Percy was killed in action on the 7th of August 1915 at the Battle of the Nek. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It connected the Australian and New Zealand trenches on the ridge known as "Russell's Top" to the knoll called "Baby 700" on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched. The official report of the battle said: "Early on the 7th of August 1915, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse Brigade mounted a bayonet attack on the Ottoman trenches on Baby 700. The first line of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, led by their CO; Lieutenant Colonel White, were shredded by machine-gun and rifle fire with a number of men being killed even before they got over the parapet. When the second line leapt up they also met with a hail of fire and in addition to this had to contend with shrapnel fired from two field guns bursting low over the ground. A total of 600 men took part in the assault, attacking in four waves; 372 were killed or wounded. Ottoman casualties were negligible."
Percy was 26 years old when he died. He was buried at Plot A. 11. of the Ari Burnu Cemetery, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Turkey. The personal inscription on his gravestone reads: "Ever remembered by his loving mother at Minehead". His name is also commemorated on Panel 6 of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia, on the Mildura Working Man's Club War Memorial in Australia - where he was a member, and also on the Minehead War Memorial.
Additionally, on his parent's grave in Minehead Cemetery is a Football-shaped commemorative memorial to him. It reads:
"At Rest
In Anzac Cove Cemetery
Our loved son "Perc" who
laid down his life for King
and Country at Gallipoli
in the Great Charge with
the 8th Australian Light Horse
August 7th 1915 . Age 26
"Earth's last fight is fought"
As a soldier he will stand
before the Great White Throne."
SOURCE: https://wsaw.weebly.com/minehead.html
1. Ida May Beckett (1883–1961)
2. Stanley Tom Perkins Beckett (1891–1943)
and three half-siblings:
1. Beatrice Harriet S. Pearce (1879-1954)
2. Edmund Pearce (1881-1959)
3. Gertrude Annie P. Pearce (1882-1955)
Percy's mother had previously been married to John Pearce (1854-1881), who was a builder in Minehead. Following his death, she had a relationship with Percy's father, and they married in 1887.
Prior to WW1 Percy joined the territorial force of the West Somerset Yeomanry. He was also a keen player at the Minehead Football Club, but in 1913 he emigrated to Australia where he became at Auctioneer in the town of Mildura, Mildura Shire, Victoria.
On the 7th of November 1914 he enlisted into the Australian Army at Mildura becoming Trooper 806 of the 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment. All Australian Light Horse cavalry units were armed with rifles, not swords or lances, and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse.
In May 1915 his regiment were sent to Gallipoli to re-enforce the Australian Infantry regiments already fighting there. Percy was killed in action on the 7th of August 1915 at the Battle of the Nek. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It connected the Australian and New Zealand trenches on the ridge known as "Russell's Top" to the knoll called "Baby 700" on which the Ottoman defenders were entrenched. The official report of the battle said: "Early on the 7th of August 1915, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse Brigade mounted a bayonet attack on the Ottoman trenches on Baby 700. The first line of the 8th Light Horse Regiment, led by their CO; Lieutenant Colonel White, were shredded by machine-gun and rifle fire with a number of men being killed even before they got over the parapet. When the second line leapt up they also met with a hail of fire and in addition to this had to contend with shrapnel fired from two field guns bursting low over the ground. A total of 600 men took part in the assault, attacking in four waves; 372 were killed or wounded. Ottoman casualties were negligible."
Percy was 26 years old when he died. He was buried at Plot A. 11. of the Ari Burnu Cemetery, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Turkey. The personal inscription on his gravestone reads: "Ever remembered by his loving mother at Minehead". His name is also commemorated on Panel 6 of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia, on the Mildura Working Man's Club War Memorial in Australia - where he was a member, and also on the Minehead War Memorial.
Additionally, on his parent's grave in Minehead Cemetery is a Football-shaped commemorative memorial to him. It reads:
"At Rest
In Anzac Cove Cemetery
Our loved son "Perc" who
laid down his life for King
and Country at Gallipoli
in the Great Charge with
the 8th Australian Light Horse
August 7th 1915 . Age 26
"Earth's last fight is fought"
As a soldier he will stand
before the Great White Throne."
SOURCE: https://wsaw.weebly.com/minehead.html
Inscription
806 Trooper P. Beckett. 8th Aust. Light Horse. 7th August 1915. Age 26. "EVER REMEMBERED BY HIS LOVING MOTHER AT MINEHEAD"
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