Percy tragically took his own life in 1926 on a train arriving into Manchester. A letter addressed to his father gave the explanation of him not being able to sleep: "I can't stand not sleeping anymore. Something inside me has gone smash, and I cannot stand it any longer."

In an inquest into his death, the Coroner returned a verdict of "suicide whist temporarily insane", having heard evidence that there were no issues either with his home or work life.

Percy saw lots of action during the First World War, and it is possible that he suffered from 'shell shock', or what we now know as PTSD, in the years following the war. It may have been this that contributed to his early death, but we can't know this for sure.