Maurice Frederick Perry 1901 - 1978: MILITARY

 Maurice Frederick Perry 1901-1978 aka Paul Parry Sefton

Military Service:

 The story that was passed down the family was that Grandad Paul joined the Royal Flying Corps underage in WW1 and received a WW1 disability pension.

 As with many of the family stories that I have heard this turns out to be inaccurate, which is odd as this was the story he told his son. But like so many other stories there is a grain of truth within it.

 A cousin kindly shared a picture she had  of a very young Maurice in uniform, so this seemed to bear out the story. Grandad Paul also stated that his subsequent name change related to his service number. When I did finally track down a WW1 record with the number 710... which was a RFC service number, it did not actually relate to him.

Family photo shared by NR

However  I eventually have found his service record for his time in the RAF. It little strange as, like so many records relating to this family, some of the information is slightly inaccurate, marked with a (?)

 Name: Maurice Frederick Perry                  

 family photo shared by SS

B: 20 June 1901?

Birthplace: Town Colchester

Parish: Wivenhoe

County: Essex

RAF

Date of actual entry 2.11.20

age 19 135/365

No previous engagement in forces

Civilian Occupation: Insurance Agent

Employer: Pearl Assurance, High Holborn, London

Period of Employment: July 1919 - Oct 1920

Person to be informed of Casualty: Mr E Perry. Hunters Cottage, Hornes Green, Northolt. Kent (father) E Perry was actually Edith Perry, his mother.

Height-5'10” Chest-33” Hair-Dk Brown Eyes-Brown Complexion-Fresh. Small white scar back left hand.

  crown copyright

Diary of Attachments:                                                                                                

2/11/20-RAF depot Uxbridge

9/12/20-23/12/20-H Gen. Hosp

16/1/21-Moved from 16^th section Uxbridge to

S of TT Manston (School of Technical Training)

19/11/21-Moved from 1 Sec Manston to 2 Sec Manston

23/9/22-Moved from STT Manston to 25 Squadron

23/10/22-Disembarked Constantinople

Internet searches indicate that 25 Squadron were involved in air defence of the Naval ships and garrison in the Dardenelles/Black Sea area during the Chanak crisis.

                                         

                                                                MOD Air Historical Branch-RAF crown copyright

Pictured are pilots of 203 Squadron looking on as ground personnel service the engine of one of the squadron's Nieuport Nightjar fighters whilst detached to Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1922.

'Turkish troops entered the Allied controlled demarcation zone around Gallipoli and encamp at Chanak. Allied governments are determined to prevent Turkey occupying Chanak and reinforcements, including a number of Royal Air Force (RAF) units, are rushed to the area.

Elements from Nos. 4, 25, 56, 203 207, 208, and 267 Squadrons are formed into the Constantinople Wing, which supports the garrison until the crisis is settled in August 1923.'

31/12/22-Admitted to 82^nd Gen Hosp Constantinople

19/1/23-Discharged from 82^nd Gen Hosp Constantinople

16/4/23 Admitted to 82nd Gen Hosp Constantinople

10/5/23 Transferred 15 Hosp Malta

 Internet data indicate that Malta was the hub of departures and arrivals from Turkey.

 29/6/23 Transferred from hospital Malta to UK Halton Hospital

28/8/23 Discharged from Halton Hospital to home address. Discharge from service

A further page of the document gives his rank as AC2 and trade as motor-cyclist who reaches satisfactory standards and very good character record on 31.12.20 31.12.21 & 31.12.22.

 Grandad reported that he had fallen off the wing of an aircraft during maintenance. Unfortunately I have been unable to access any records from the hospital, which may have corroborated this. However the long term effects of this injury were such that he was discharged from the RAF on being discharged from the hospital.

The Chanak Crisis also known as the The Chanak Affair. (I am not an historian but this is a brief precis from various articles available online.)

A brief overview: Following the end of WW1 a number of Treaty's were signed. |One such was The Treaty of Sevres, signed in 1920 by WW1 allies and The Ottoman Empire, ceding parts of the Ottoman Empire to France, UK, Greece and Italy. This led to hostility and Turkish Nationalism, resulting in Mustafa Kemal Ataturk leading the Turkish Nationalists in a war against the signatories of  the Treaty.

Chanak applies to the area on the Anatolian side of the Dardanelles Straits, Incorporating Cannakale, Istanbul and Izmir. Turkish troops marched upon British and French troops patrolling the Dardanelles neutral zone. War seemed likely, David Lloyd George, PM of the UK alongside Winston Churchill alongside others were prepared to declare war upon Ataturk and the Turkish Nationals. However there was little appetite for another war from the UK public and the British Military. Allies including France and Canada, also refused to back military force. The initial outcome was that, Sir Charles Harington, the top general on the scene refused to relay an ultimatum to the Turks as he believed a negotiated settlement could be achieved. Meanwhile in parliament the conservative MP's within the coalition government refused to vote with David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill's call for war.

The crisis quickly ended once the Turkish had overwhelmed the Greeks and negotiated settlement gave the Turks of the territory they wanted. In the summer of1923 French and British troops withdrew from the area.

Political effects of the Charnak Affair were that his mishandling of the crisis contributed to the downfall of David Lloyd George. This was the first act of diplomatic independence from Britain. Arthur Balfour later asserting that the 'dominions' of the British Empire, as 'autonomous communities, equal in status and in no way subordinate to one another in any internal or external affairs, though united in a common allegiance to the crown.'

The human cost was that many Greeks were displaced and there are many images of refugees fleeing the area, very reminiscent of those most recently evident in Syria.

 I have recently been given a copy of a letter from Dr Kenneth Ward, post examination in 1925.

            

             Transcript:  Darenth Cottage  Brasted

             I have recently been attending Mr Maurice Perry. Mentally he is               

              abnormal making cold statements which cannot be true. He varies

              much from time to time, stutters in his speech and is very forgetful.

              He is a possible case of ? General Paralysis and would bear

              investigation and watching for any grave mental disease.

                             KLS Ward MB

                                   Feb XV 25.

To complete the story I am happy to say that my Grandad recovered and continued to live a colourful and eventful life, which I aim to add at a later date.