Percy ANDERSON #6704

Indigenous Australian, Percy Anderson, 9th Infantry Battalion

Percy Herbert Anderson was born at Damper Gully in 1900 to Percy Herbert Harcourt Anderson and Annie McGore.

At just 15 years old, Percy stated he was over 21 years and working as a miner, when he enlisted in March 1916 at Chermside. He trained at Lytton Camp (Brisbane) for five months before being allotted to the 22nd Reinforcements for the 9th Infantry Battalion. Percy embarked for England in October on board HMAT Marathon and within a month of his arrival in England, was admitted to Fargo Military Hospital, first with influenza, then mumps.

Percy joined his Battalion in Belgium in October 1917 and was later wounded in action, gassed during a bombardment in Hollebeck in March 1918. Percy was evacuated to England and spent three months in Shorncliffe Military Hospital recuperating. He again returned to his unit in Belgium in June 1918, where he remained until returning home in September 1919 at the end of the war.

Percy Anderson lived in Roma for many years, and married Maisie Fernando in 1934; he later enlisted in the Second World War in 1941.

Read more ...

• Service record WW1: ANDERSON, Percy
• Service record WW2: ANDERSON, Percy
• Embarkation roll: 22nd Reinf. 9th Infantry Battalion
• Image: The Queensland Pictorial
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection

Watch ...

• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen Digital Story and Oral History [mp4, 12 mins]

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.