People profiles
Lieutenant Percy Valentine Storkey VC
P02939.028
Date of birth: 9 September 1893
Place of birth: Napier, New Zealand
Date of death: 3 October 1969
Place of death: Teddington, Middlesex, England
New Zealand–born Percy Storkey put university studies aside to enlist with the 19th Battalion, in Sydney in 1915. By 1918 he was a battle-scarred (twice wounded) and respected platoon commander.
In an important but ill-fated attack at Hangard Wood, beyond Villers-Bretonneux, a few days after the first German attempt to take the town had been defeated, Storkey bravely led bayonet assaults against enemy machine-gun positions. The initial success obtained in the battle was largely due to his efforts. He joined a law practice after the war and later became a judge.
