Percy Thomas Carroll was born on 20 March 1893 at Rosebery in the Southern Mallee region of Victoria to Daniel and Mary (née Tomilty). He spent his early years at Rosebery before moving to Melbourne with his family around 1898.

Carroll was working as a drover when he enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 2 March 1915. Attached to the newly-raised 23rd Infantry Battalion, he embarked from Melbourne on the troopship HMAT Euripides on 8 May, and arrived at Alexandria a month later. After a period of advanced training, he landed at Gallipoli in early September and was posted to Lone Pine days later. The fighting here was so dangerous and physically demanding the 23rd Battalion manned the trenches in partnership with the 24th Battalion by alternating on a daily basis. He left Gallipoli as part of the evacuation of Allied forces on 19 December 1915.

After almost three months in Egypt Carroll embarked for France on 22 March 1916. The 23rd Battalion proceeded to the relatively quiet Armentieres sector in northern France before being redeployed to the bloody Somme battlefields. In the midst of heavy fighting in late July 1916, Carroll suffered a gunshot wound to his forearm, and whilst falling back in search of medical treatment, was struck by an exploding shell. He regained consciousness on the following day whilst in hospital at Etaples, and was evacuated to England in early August 1916.

Carroll was admitted to De Walden Court Auxiliary Hospital in the London suburb of Eastbourne on 6 August, and spent the remainder of 1916 undergoing intensive medical treatment at several different hospitals. During mid-December he was recommended for repatriation to Australia and released from hospital. He subsequently commenced a period of sightseeing and then spent two weeks travelling across much of the country before a stint at Montevideo Camp near Weymouth prior to his repatriation home. He embarked from Plymouth on the transport HMAT Benalla on 13 February 1917, and arrived at Melbourne on 10 April.

Carroll married Violet Mary Bailey at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Northcote on 29 December 1919. Records reveal he became a publican during the early 1920s, first as licensee of the West Brunswick Hotel and then at the Mendes Royal Hotel. He took charge of the Council Club Hotel in Fitzroy around 1930, where he also resided and remained until his sudden death from an accident on 7 December 1954.

Percy Thomas Carroll is buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery.