Percival Eric Gratwick VC (1902 - 1942)

Percival "Percy" Eric Gratwick VC was born on 19th October 1902 at Katanning, Western Australia, Australia. He was the fourth surviving and youngest son of Ernest Gratwick, a postmaster, and Eva Pether. ^[1] All three of his older brothers served in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, each returning home. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, Percy took up various jobs which included a period as a messenger at Parliament House, Perth.

the Aussie bushman

About 1922 Percy went north to the Pilbara and learned droving and blacksmithing on Indee Station, 50 kilometres south of Port Hedland. Soon afterward he moved to Yandeyarra Station, about 50 kilometres further south, as a stationhand. He gradually built up a droving plant, got a team of mostly Aboriginal stockmen together, and took contracts. Drought and the Great Depression slowed his enterprise in 1931, so he turned to prospecting while employed part time on White Springs Station, next to Yandeyarra. In the mid-1930s he settled at nearby Wodgina, a tantalite mine, blacksmithing, prospecting and occasionally working cattle for White Springs.

the Aussie digger

Victoria Cross

Initially refused enlistment in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) due to a broken nose many years earlier, Percy underwent an expensive operation and re-applied on 20th December 1940, successfully. ^[2] He was allocated to the 2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion ^[3] and embarked for the Middle East mid-1941. Percy immediately became one of the famous 'Rats of Tobruk' before the 2/48th was withdrawn to garrison duty in Syria in October. By June 1942, the battalion was in Egypt, defending El Alamein from German attack. On the night of 25/26th October 1942, during the attack at Miteiriya Ridge, the platoon to which Percy belonged suffered considerable casualties. Realising the seriousness of the situation, Percy instinctively charged a German machine-gun position alone, killing the crew with hand grenades. He then killed a mortar crew and , under heavy machine-gun fire, then charged a second post, using his rifle and bayonet to silence the gun.

In so doing, he was killed by machine-gun fire, but his brave and determined action, for which he would be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), ^[4] enabled his company to capture the final objective. The award was gazetted in London on 28th January 1943 on page 523 at position 2.

Percival Eric Gratwick's name is located at panel 63 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. He is buried in El Alamein War Cemetery, El Alamein, Marsa Matruh, Egypt. ^[5] Following the war, his family was issued his campaign and service medals: 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, War Medal 1939-1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939-1945.

honours

• About 1948 a hill on White Springs was named Mount Gratwick.
• In 1956 the Gratwick Soldiers' Club was opened at Campbell Barracks, Perth.
• In the 1960s Port Hedland, Western Australia, named the Gratwick Aquatic Centre, the town theatre, the community hall, and Gratwick Street in his honour.
• A Ward in the Hollywood Hospital, Nedlands has been named in Percy's honour.
• Percy's VC is displayed at the Army Museum of Western Australia in Fremantle, Western Australia.

Sources

1. ↑ Western Australia Birth Index #3145/1902
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: WX10426 Private Percival Eric Gratwick; accessed 2 Jun 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 2 Jun 2019
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards: WX10426 Private Percival Eric Gratwick; accessed 2 Jun 2019
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: WX10426 Private Percival Eric Gratwick; accessed 2 Jun 2019

See also

• Blanch, Craig and Pegram, Aaron. For Valour: Australians awarded the Victoria Cross. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2018. ISBN 978 17422 35424.
• Gammage, Bill. 'Gratwick, Percival Eric (1902–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996; accessed online 2 June 2019.
• Wikipedia profile: Percy Gratwick; accessed 2 Jun 2019.