Warrant Officer Class 2 Walter Henry Thomas Perrett Royal Engineers
The Man Little detail is known about Walter Henry Thomas Perrett, except that he was born during the second quarter of 1914 in Devonport, Kent, and married Audrey Joan Hyde during the last quarter of 1938 in Weymouth. Walter enlisted into the Royal Engineers, Territorial Army in about 1935 with service number 2029818 and saw service during World War II in the Italian Campaign being awarded the 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45. He was also awarded the Efficiency Medal ‘Territorial’ in 1946 - Army Order 119/46 and an additional clasp in 1947 AO 26/47, representing 18 years with the Territorials, with his war service counting as double. Walter lived with Audrey at 39 Century Road in the Herne Bay area and worked for the Ministry of Public Buildings & Works as a Carpenter, retiring in 1965 aged 50. Sadly he died a short time later on 5th September aged just 51, at All Saints Hospital, Chatham and leaving £3176.00. He was awarded the Imperial Service Medal which appeared posthumously in the London Gazette of 28th September 1965.
The Story The medals awarded to Walter Henry Thomas Perrett were acquired from E-Bay on 13th September 2014. They were of interest because of the clasp to the Efficiency Medal and specifically the fact that the two boxes of issue had survived, not only confirming the awards but also giving the Army Order numbers. The boxes are not rare but it is unusual for them to be preserved with the original medal. A trawl of Ancestry.com provided details of Walter’s first name and allowed a very biography to be put together. An e-mail was sent to the seller a couple of days after winning them to enquire if he had any further items belonging to Walter, only to be told that he did have his Imperial Service Medal for sale and was going to list it separately! A deal was struck and quite rightly the ISM acquired and put back with Walter’s group of medals. Had the e mail not been sent the ISM could easily have been overlooked and separated never to be re-united. The medal was also inscribed with Walter’s full name allowing some extra detail to be picked up from Ancestry and the London Gazette.
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as issued.
- Italy Star: Unnamed as issued.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as issued.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as issued
- Imperial Service Medal: WALTER HENRY THOMAS PERRETT.
- Efficiency Medal: 2029818 .W.O. CL.2. W.H.T.PERRETT. R.E.
This page last updated 19 Sep 14