{"id":1515,"date":"2014-11-23T19:58:40","date_gmt":"2014-11-23T19:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plattwarmemorial.org\/?page_id=1515"},"modified":"2024-06-01T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T16:39:02","slug":"percy-russell-grace-1879-1922","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/world-war-one\/percy-russell-grace-1879-1922\/","title":{"rendered":"Percy Russell Grace (1879 &#8211; 1922)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-three\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h3 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.5;\">Maj. Percy Russell Grace (1879 &#8211; 1922)<\/h3><\/div><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-dropshadow imageframe-1 hover-type-zoomin\" style=\"-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/percy_russell_grace.jpg\" class=\"fusion-lightbox\" data-rel=\"iLightbox[cd367f8ffbddc9e8712]\" data-title=\"Percy Russell Grace (1879 &#8211; 1922)\" title=\"Percy Russell Grace (1879 &#8211; 1922)\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/percy_russell_grace-206x300.jpg\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-1523\" srcset=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/percy_russell_grace-1x2.jpg 1w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/percy_russell_grace-206x300.jpg 206w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/percy_russell_grace.jpg 517w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/a><\/span><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Percy Russell Grace was born <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">on<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">6 June<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 1879 in Ballybrophy, County Laois, Ireland. He was the fourth son of an Irish banker named John William Grace and his wife, Mary Josephine (n\u00e9e Carew.) Percy&#8217;s father&#8217;s work took him worldwide (one of his sons was born in Chile), and in the 1880s, he<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">took up residence with his family in New York. After high school, Percy attended Princeton, where he studied until <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1898<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> when his family left the USA for England. In 1904, during a spell back in America, Percy\u00a0wrote a summary of his post-Princeton life to his old college friends:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">May 18<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, 1898, I left Princeton and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">America,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and followed my family over to England, where my father, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">because of being unable to stand the climate of New York<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, had decided to make his home.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">My reasons for hurrying so precipitously after him were many and varied, but be that as it may, I arrived there and started in on a grand change of my plans and intentions for carrying out the balance of my existence.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To-day<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> (sic)<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> I <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">am sitting on a veranda in Vivian, W. Va., near Edgar Clausen, and writing this <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">letter,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> erstwhile the aforementioned &#8220;Ed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is trying to work out whether New York, with 20 W. and 10 L., has or has not a better average record than Cincinnati with 18 W. and 9 L. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I have been away so long and feel such a stranger that I <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">am unable to help him out<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in such matters.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The first thing I did after arriving in England and having finished the short run on the Continent, which always forms a part thereof, was to go up to Sunderland in the north and start in the &#8220;Yard<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to do the practical work at first<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">gradually <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">work<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> up until I occupied a menial position in the drawing office.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After about two years I went home to stay with my father, who was not feeling very well and prepared to go to Glasgow University to take a course <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">there<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in naval architecture.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> I entered Glasgow in October 1900 and was there for two years, and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">just<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> managed to get through by the skin of my teeth. In the summers between terms, I worked in two different yards, one near Glasgow and one near Newcastle, and in the autumn of 1902 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">went<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to the Royal Technical High School of Berlin, where I studied for a year.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In November 1903, I got home with a piece of paper profusely signed and countersigned, but this is the weakness <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">which <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Germans have. I was not very well and remained at home until the middle of April 1904<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and then<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> articled myself aboard a new cargo steamer sailing from Newcastle to New York<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> saw the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">sky-scrapers<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">May 1<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, 1904, and was soon rubbing shoulder to shoulder with them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The first 1901-er I met was Everett Crawford &#8220;married, as usual<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I mean<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> like the rest of them who are not &#8220;Out West<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">go.<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Letters from the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Class<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> or otherwise handicapped, and since then I have been learning that there have been Princetonians in <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">about<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> every town or place <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">that I<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> have been in during the last six years and that I have been steadily missing them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I was at the famous Henley Regatta, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">which <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> loaded<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> with them, and never met one. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To prove the rule I met Batt in Berlin<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">married by now<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, I expect<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. He has been lifting cups down at the University <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">at<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Jena.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">My plans for the future are a little uncertain, except as regards the coming Reunion, but <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">no doubt I will start in<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">somewhere in the vicinity of New York<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and any<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> communication addressed to 1 and 2 Hanover Square, New York City, will find me, and coming from Princeton it will be welcome, even should it be an unsettled laundry bill.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I am not married.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With warmest greetings, Yours ever, Percy Grace.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Percy&#8217;s father eventually took up residence at Leybourne Grange, near West Malling, but died in Mayfair, London on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">19 September<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 1904. After three years of further study in California, Percy returned to England in 1908 and became one of the first in the country to own a motor car. Along with his brother, the well-known airman Cecil Stanley Grace, he went to Sheppey in late autumn of the same year and established a staff of skilled workmen and well-equipped workshops that made flying machines. Percy and Cecil were members of the exclusive Aero Club of Great Britain (Cecil was the fourth person awarded a membership certificate), and in 1910 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cecil<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> entered a competition for the Baron de Forest Prize of \u00a34,000 (about \u00a3425,000 in 2015) for the longest flight from England into continental Europe. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He took off from Swingate Downs on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">22 December<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and made it across the channel; however, adverse weather conditions forced him to land prematurely <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">but<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> he still attempted to return to England. At about 3:00 pm, Cecil was spotted six miles out to sea near Goodwin Sands before disappearing from view. Several weeks later, on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">6 January<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1911, his goggles and cap washed ashore in Belgium, and a badly decomposed body fitting his description was discovered floating in Ostend Harbour on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">14 March<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Percy was deeply affected by his brother&#8217;s death, and he ceased all his aeronautical work as a result of the tragedy. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Later that year, he decided to take a round-the-world trip with his wife Dorothy Septima Humphreys, whom he had married in Chelsea in 1910<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, after which<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, they returned to her pre-marital home at Malling House in West Malling.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Two years later, they moved to Wrotham Heath House.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Percy had inherited substantial amounts of money from his father and brother, enabling him to live the lifestyle of a gentleman of &#8216;independent means&#8217; in the years leading up to the start of the war. He made several more international trips with his wife \u2013 the last being in April 1914 when they sailed for New York on the RMS <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Olympic<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> (sister ship to the <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Titanic<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Realising his experience with aircraft would <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">be of benefit to<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the military, Percy enlisted soon after war broke out and joined the Royal Flying Corps. His service papers mention his flying experience until that point, noting that he had &#8216;gained technical experience flying machines since 1909, and owned aircraft from then until 1912&#8217;. In November 1914, Percy was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant but remained on the ground until August 1916, when he took a piloting refresher course. After this, Percy served in Egypt with the 20th Reserve Wing and was hospitalised for about a month in March 1917 with a virulent form of tuberculosis. That summer, he was mentioned in despatches while serving as a flight commander at the temporary rank of major.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">25 June<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 1917, Percy returned to England. Due to ongoing ill health, he relinquished his commission in November 1918 and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was granted<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the honorary rank of major.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Percy&#8217;s health never fully recovered, and he died on <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">27 February<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 1922 at Wrotham Heath House. His long-lasting legacy is the Platt and District\u00a0Scout movement, which he started just before the war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Scott Wishart<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1515","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1515"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10345,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1515\/revisions\/10345"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}