BILLING, Percy Harry
(Service number 27205)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 19/05/1888 | Place of Birth | Auckland |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Pareora | ||
| Occupation | Miner | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | George BILLING (father), Raetihi; Mrs T. W. LEACH (sister), 62 Albany Road, Ponsonby, Auckland | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 17th Reinforcements, J Company | ||
| Date | 25 September 1916 | ||
| Transport | Devon | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 12 October 1917 | Age | 29 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Ypres, Belgium | ||
| Cause | Killed in action | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Tyne Cot Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Percy Harry Billing was the son of George and Jane (née Topham) Billing. Percy was educated at Karangahake and Paeroa schools. He followed in his father's footsteps as a miner. When he attested he was employed at the Canterbury Freezing Works, Pareora, near Timaru. Percy's sister Maud married Thomas Wise Leach in 1914. At noon on 31 May 1916, South Canterbury’s quota of the 17th Reinforcements was entertained at dinner in Stafford Tea Rooms by the lady members of the South Canterbury War Relief Society. The soldiers assembled at the Drill Hall at 3.30 pm to be farewelled by the Mayor before leaving on the north-going express. In this quota was P. H. Billing, 27205. Percy is remembered on his parents' headstone in Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 September 2019]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs); Waimkumete Cemetery headstone transcription [12 September 2019]; Timaru Herald, 31 May 1916 (Papers Past) [17 October 2015]
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.