Percy Joseph Barnett died of pneumonia on 12 October 1917 which had been brought on by Spanish Flu at the Ongwanada Military Hospital in Kingston Canada. He had been serving as a Mechanic stationed at the RFC’s 42nd Wing in Deseronto. Joseph had been recovering from a broken arm sustained in a flying accident on 12 November 1917 when a Curtiss JN ‘Jenny’ piloted by 2nd Lieutenant Harold Robertson Carson suffered engine failure and crashed. Carson was also injured, suffering minor cuts and bruises.

In April 1911 Joseph had travelled to New York leaving his wife Mille behind in London. He worked in Brooklyn as a motor truck foreman in Brooklyn and was 28 years old when he joined the RFC in Toronto Canada on 5 July 1917. His US draft registration card which he had signed a month earlier recorded that he had brown eyes, black hair and was of medium height and build. He gave his next of kin as his mother, Sarah Barnett, of 665 Seven Sisters Road, London, England. Joseph was posted to the training unit at Camp Mohawk, near Belleville, Ontario and shortly before his death had been promoted to 2nd Air Class Mechanic.



Researched for 'We were there Too' by Dr Ronnie Fraser