Percy Jeffs
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- Military History
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Percy was born in Nottingham in 1897 and was the son of the late Luther Edwin a lithographic printer and Ellen Jeffs. His siblings were Ernest, Ethel and Cyril. In the 1911 census Ellen is 44 years of age and a widow, living on her own means at 123 Logan Street, Bulwell, with her four children; Percy is 14 years of age and at school.
Private Percy Jeffs, enlisted in Nottingham and served with 2/7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire) Regiment (Robin Hood Rifles). He was killed in action in Dublin on 26th April 1916 and was buried in Nottingham General Cemetery.
Nottingham Post notice (abridged), 9 May 1916: 'Private Percy Jeffs, Sherwood Foresters, 64 Clarges Street, Bulwell. Killed in action Dublin April 27th aged 19.' An article published in the Hucknall Dispatch dated 25th May 1916 : - A friend, Pte. Lawrence Cole, recalled the circumstances of his death: “We had just reached the outskirts of Dublin when the trouble began. We were marching in fours, when shots were fired from all sides. Instantly we received orders from the officers to split up on both sides of the road, and then the firing began. The rebels had secured possession of a house at the corner of four crossroads and this is where we lost two of our brave officers: Lieutenant Percy Perry of Nottingham [buried Nottingham General Cemetery], and another while several others were wounded, and about a dozen men killed and wounded. It was here that my poor chum from Bulwell, Pte. P. Jeffs, was killed. I saw him fall but he was dead when I got to his side.” Above article is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918.
