Private Percy Nugent DALTON (513546)
1/14th (County of London) Battalion (London Scottish)

Date of birth: 13th September 1885
Date of death: 30th November 1917

Killed in action aged 32
Commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial Panels 11/12
He was born at Birkenhead on the 13th of September 1885 the eldest son of Goring Evans Dalton, merchant, and Mary Ellen (nee Kelly) of Georgetown, Demerara in British Guyana.

He was educated at the Junior Kings School from May 1896 and at the King’s School Canterbury to July 1902 where he was a member of the Cricket XI in 1902.

From King’s he went to work as a clerk for the London branch of the Standard Bank of South Africa in 1902 and lived with his mother at 9 Clydesdale Mansions, Colville Square in London W11.

In August 1914 he tried to enlist but was turned down on medical grounds, possibly due to varicose veins which he suffered from in both legs. On the 9th of December 1915 he tried again at the Cockspur Street Recruiting Office in London and was successful in joining the 14th (County of London) Battalion (London Scottish). At a medical examination, which was held at Hammersmith, it was recorded that he was five feet eleven inches tall and that he weighed one hundred and forty one pounds. He reported for training at White City on the 26th of April 1916 and was promoted to Acting Lance Corporal on the 26th of August, reverting to the rank of Private when he landed in France on the 24th of October 1916.

On the 30th of November 1917 he was in trenches near Cambrai when the Germans launched a surprise attack. It began with a barrage between 7am and 8am and at 9am four German divisions attacked the British front line. The line held by the 1/8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment collapsed leaving the flank of the London Scottish exposed but a counterattack by a small party of Scots recaptured the line. The Germans were attacking in dense waves, eleven in all and suffered huge casualties from the eight machine guns in support which fired over 70,000 rounds into ten successive waves of enemy infantry which ultimately led to the cessation of the German attacks.

Percy Dalton was one of the many casualties of the unsuccessful German attack

An officer wrote:-

“His duties were both arduous and responsible, but he discharged them always with a devotion to duty and a disregard for danger that made him one of the finest runners the battalion has had. He earned the respect and esteem of officers and men alike and we all feel that we have lost a loyal comrade and a good soldier. He had a fine record of brave and capable work as a runner, and he gave his life at the last at his post of duty.”

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Birkenhead.
 

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