Universities at War

Percy Harold Fisher was born in Liverpool to Tom Percy, a master mariner, and Kate Mary Fisher, on 26 March 1893. He attended Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood 1907-1911, and then won a scholarship to St Chad's Hostel near Doncaster. The Hostel's magazine reports he served there as Treasurer of the Common Room, his appointment greeted with some friendly banter, as noted in the minutes of a meeting held on 23 April 1911, "the proposal to place a fresher-to-be in the exalted position of treasurer... met with dead silence and blank amazement... Eventually it was decided to elect whatever there might be behind a large and prominent pair of spectacles which belched forth the name of Fisher". He was soon also appointed by the same committee as the Secretary of Sports, so its clear he quickly won the confidence of his contemporaries. He matriculated as an Arts student at St Chad’s Hall in October 1912, and was active in the Durham Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, again serving as treasurer in Easter 1914.

He passed his BA finals (Theological Special) at Easter 1914, taking his degree on 23 June 1914. He became an Assistant Master at a prep school in St Leonard’s before enlisting as a private in the 1/6^th Royal Sussex Regiment (Cyclists). He was commissioned into its 10^th battalion, being gazetted on 29 April 1915 as a member of the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps. 10^th Royal Sussex did not go overseas and Percy transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He served with 94^th Company which was formed in Grantham and joined 31^st Division in France on 21^st May 1916. Percy had gone to France on 15 May presumably with the company. They served as the machine gun company for 94^th Brigade which attacked the village of Serre on 1 July 1916. He was presumably wounded during this operation as he died of wounds near Couin on 4 July 1916 after evacuation to one of the hospitals in that area. The family home was then at St Margaret-on-Thames. He is buried in the Couin British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, in France, and commemorated on the reredos in St Chad’s College chapel, and a war memorial at Merchant Taylors’ School.