Wright, Percy

Percy Watson Wright was born in Auckland on 23 August 1903, the eldest son of Henry Cecil Wright (1873-1912) and Flora Maud Wright (nee Simpson) (1877-1948).

Percy attended New Plymouth Boys’ High School before working as a clerk for the State Fire and Accident Insurance Office in New Plymouth. He married Dorothy Eileen Honeyfield (1905-1988) on 19 March 1931, at Dorothy’s family home on Gilbert Street, and the couple had a daughter named Yvonne.

Percy was a keen sportsman, serving as chairman and treasurer of the New Plymouth Wrestling Association and as a member of the New Plymouth Athletics Club. He was a keen swimmer too, involved with both the Fitzroy Surf Club and Taranaki Life Saving, as well as an enthusiastic golfer, cricketer and rugby player. Dorothy played badminton for a local team and the couple could also cut a rug, being members of the Benedicts’ Dance Club.

Percy was employed as an insurance inspector when the Second World War broke out and volunteered almost immediately, enlisting on 13 September 1939. This was due in large part to having been in the Territorials (1^st Battalion Taranaki Regiment) since 1921, taking part in training camps and sitting various military examinations to rise through the ranks to Major in 1933. He had even been selected to be part of the guard of honour for Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, when he visited New Plymouth in January 1935.

Percy was farewelled at the West End Bowling Club on 26 December 1939 before heading off to Burnham Camp near Christchurch for training. He served as a Major (second in command) with the 27th Machine Gun Battalion, initially in Greece, writing a letter home in June 1941 that was published in the Taranaki Daily News as it contained information about several Taranaki men who had been killed or captured.

Percy was reported missing in Africa in November 1941 but Dorothy was not informed that he had actually been taken prisoner until several months later. She was quickly elected vice president of the New Plymouth branch of the New Zealand Prisoner of War Relatives’ Association, formed on 25 February 1942, and must have been grateful for news of her husband which trickled in from fellow prisoners as the years passed.

Percy was held in POW camps in Italy, where the guards were said to be “gentlemen” but food conditions poor until the arrival of Red Cross parcels, before being transferred to Germany at the end of 1943. He was eventually rescued along with 30 other NZEF officers and 1500 foreign workers by American forces on 28 March 1945. Percy then spent a month recuperating in Britain, celebrating VE Day on 8 May, before finally returning to New Plymouth on 24 July 1945 after an absence of more than five years. He was later awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 and the New Zealand Service War Medal and became president of the New Plymouth RSA.

Percy and Dorothy remained in Taranaki until the 1950s and Percy continued working in insurance until his retirement in 1965. He took a well-deserved trip to Europe the following year with a group of other war veterans, touring the battlefields where he had served and visiting the camps where he had been held prisoner for so long.

Percy Watson died in Tauranga on 12 July 1985 at the age of 81 and has a plaque in the Returned Services area of Pyes Pā Memorial Park cemetery.