Percy Victor Kent: A Soldier Lost at Sea

Percy Victor Kent: A Detailed Biography

Craftsman Percy Victor Kent [1] of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) was one of the many British soldiers lost at sea during the Second World War when the troopship SS Benalbanach was sunk en route to North Africa on 7 January 1943. A married motor driver from South East London, he served with 12 Base Workshops REME and is today commemorated on the Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial in Surrey for those with no known grave [1][2][3].

Early Life and Family

Percy Victor Kent was born on 23 June 1909 in Camberwell, Surrey (now South East London), his birth registered in the September Quarter of 1909 (Camberwell, Volume 1D, Page 779) [1]. He was the son of Herbert Sidney Kent and Elizabeth (Eliza) Kent, née Mount, a family rooted in the rapidly expanding London suburbs [1]. By the 1911 Census, the Kent family lived at 130 Landcroft Road, Dulwich, where one-year-old Percy appeared as the youngest child in the household [1].

By 1921 the family had moved to 23 Nunhead Crescent, Camberwell, where 12-year-old Percy was recorded as a school-age son, reflecting the steady, lower-middle-class stability of many London families between the wars [1]. Electoral registers show Percy still at 23 Nunhead Crescent in 1934, suggesting a close-knit household and limited social mobility typical of interwar London [1].

On the eve of the Second World War, the 1939 Register lists Percy V. Kent, born 23 June 1909, living at 36 Linden Grove, Camberwell, employed as a motor driver for a fishmonger [1]. This occupation demanded early starts and familiarity with London’s markets and roads, skills that would later translate naturally into the mechanical and transport roles of REME. In about June 1938, Percy married Vera M. Timms in Camberwell Registration District (Volume 1D, Page 1700) [1]. The couple settled in South East London, and later records describe Vera as living in Peckham, London [1]. No children are recorded from this marriage, and Percy’s death left Vera a young war widow.

Military Service

Percy enlisted in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), the corps created in 1942 to centralise the Army’s technical maintenance and repair services. He served as a Craftsman, the REME equivalent of a private but denoting a skilled tradesman, under Service Number 10567554 [1]. His civilian experience as a motor driver almost certainly influenced his allocation to REME, whose role was to keep the Army’s vehicles, weapons and equipment operational in the field [1][4].

Within REME, Percy was posted to 12 Base Workshops, a large static repair and overhaul facility supporting field forces overseas [1]. Base Workshops were major industrial complexes, often established in rear areas such as Egypt, Algeria or later Italy, where heavy repairs beyond the capacity of field units were undertaken [5]. Technicians like Percy dealt with everything from trucks and tanks to artillery and specialist machinery, essential to sustaining large-scale operations in the Western Desert and Mediterranean theatres [4][5].

War Office casualty lists record Percy as “Missing” following an incident at sea on 7 January 1943, his fate first reported to the Casualty Section for the 48 hours ending 09:00 on 1 February 1943 (Casualty List No. 1047) [1]. Later, on Casualty List No. 1227 dated 1 September 1943, his status was updated to “Presumed Killed in Action”, still with duty location given as “At Sea” [1]. This pattern is typical for soldiers lost in major maritime disasters, where confirmation of death could be delayed for many months.

Circumstances of Death

Further evidence from naval wreck records identifies Percy as one of the casualties of the SS Benalbanach. The wreck database entry for this ship lists: “KENT, PERCY VICTOR (33), Craftsman (no. 10567554), Benalbanach SS, †07/01/1943, 12 Base Workshops. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers” [2].

SS Benalbanach was a British passenger/cargo ship built in 1940 and employed as a troop transport during the war. On 7 January 1943, while carrying troops and equipment to support the Allied campaign in North Africa following Operation Torch, she was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Algeria by a German U-boat (U-406) in the Mediterranean [2][6]. The attack caused catastrophic loss of life; many soldiers and crew drowned or were lost in the explosion and sinking.

Percy’s official record simply notes that he died “At Sea” on 7 January 1943, aged 33, with his fate initially recorded as Missing and later Presumed Killed in Action [1]. Given the match of date, duty location, regiment, and the wreck-site listing, it is clear that he was aboard SS Benalbanach when she was sunk [2]. Like many of those on board, his body was never recovered, which explains his commemoration on a memorial rather than a known grave.

Burial and Commemoration

Because his remains were never found, Craftsman Percy Victor Kent is commemorated on the Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial in Surrey, United Kingdom, rather than in a cemetery plot [1]. The memorial stands within Brookwood Military Cemetery, near Woking, and commemorates nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who died during the Second World War and have no known grave [3][7]. Many of these, like Percy, were lost at sea when troopships were sunk, or died in aircraft and other accidents where no remains could be identified [3].

His CWGC entry records him as:
“Craftsman PERCY VICTOR KENT, 10567554, 12 Base Workshops, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 7 January 1943, age 33; son of Herbert Sidney and Eliza Kent; husband of Vera Kent, of Peckham, London.” [1]. His name is carved on Panel 20, Column 1 of the Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial [1].

Percy is also commemorated on Find a Grave – Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial, where his details are preserved for family historians and visitors [1][7]. The Brookwood memorial itself has become a focal point for those researching relatives lost in obscure ship losses, crashes, and other untold wartime tragedies [3].

Legacy

In civilian life, Percy was a South East London tradesman—a motor driver and fishmonger’s employee—who married Vera Timms shortly before the war and built a modest life in Peckham and Camberwell [1]. In uniform, he became a skilled Craftsman of REME, part of the corps that kept the mechanised British Army functioning in demanding theatres from North Africa to Italy [1][4]. His transition from fishmonger’s van to military workshops reflects the wider mobilisation of British industry and labour into technical service roles during the conflict.

For his wartime service, Percy qualified for the 1939–45 Star and the War Medal 1939–1945 [1]. As 5th cousin once removed to modern descendants, his story links family genealogy with global events, illustrating how a distant cousin’s name on a memorial connects personal ancestry with the history of the Mediterranean war [1].

The sinking of SS Benalbanach, which claimed the lives of Percy and many comrades, underscores the peril faced not only by front-line combat troops but also by the technicians, drivers, and support personnel essential to Allied victory [2][3]. Through records preserved by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, wreck databases, and the Brookwood memorial, Percy’s name and sacrifice remain publicly honoured. His widow Vera, and his parents Herbert and Eliza, would have carried the private grief of his loss; today, his memory endures in both local London history and the wider story of REME’s contribution to the war.

Sources:

• [1] Individual Report for Percy Victor Kent (PDF)
• [2] SS Benalbanach – Wrecksite entry (lists Percy Victor Kent, 12 Base Workshops REME)
• [5] REME 12 Base Workshop – Maple Leaf Up forum discussion
• [3] The Brookwood Memorial 1939–1945 – Researching WW2
• [6] List of shipwrecks in January 1943 – overview of Mediterranean losses
• CWGC: Percy Victor Kent
• Find a Grave: Percy Victor Kent

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Percy-Victor-Kent.pdf
[2] BENALBANACH PASSENGER/CARGO SHIP 1940-1943 – Wreck Site https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?32106
[3] The Brookwood Memorial 1939-1945 https://www.researchingww2.co.uk/the-brookwood-memorial-1939-1945/
[4] REME History – Major Buckby MC – REME Museum https://www.rememuseum.org.uk/blog/reme-history-major-buckby
[5] REME 12 Base workshop – MLU FORUM http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10499
[6] List of shipwrecks in January 1943 – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_January_1943
[7] Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial – Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2261488/brookwood-1939-1945-memorial
[8] No 1 Advanced Base Workshop REME War Diary – 1943 – WW2Talk https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads%2Fno-1-advanced-base-workshop-reme-war-diary-1943.28513%2F
[9] WW2 People’s War – With REME – BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/76/a4462076.shtml
[10] No 1 Combined Training Centre, Inveraray – HMS Quebec https://www.combinedops.com/Training%20No1%20CTC.htm
[11] RNPS Memorial by vessel name http://www.rnpsa.co.uk/cms/memorial/mem_vessel.htm
[12] The Pioneer Corps, British Army of the Rhine 1943-46 https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/the-pioneer-corps-british-army-of-the-rhine-1943-46/
[13] Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1943 http://www.usmm.org/sunk43.html
[14] SS Banalbanach sunk 7 Jan 1943 | Page 2 – WW2Talk https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads%2Fss-banalbanach-sunk-7-jan-1943.18701%2Fpage-2
[15] Headquarters, 1st Airborne Division – The Pegasus Archive https://www.pegasusarchive.org/sicily/war_divhq.htm
[16] Martin James Jennings – The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2667231
[17] [PDF] Canada’s Craftsmen at 50! – rceme/gemrc https://rcemecorpsgemrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Canadas_Craftsmen_at_50_Feb2010.pdf
[18] Brookwood Military Cemetery (CWG) Near Woking, Surrey ,UK … https://www.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964/posts/2725952504341621/
[19] 1st (Airborne) Division Workshops REME https://paradata.org.uk/content/4634518-1st-airborne-division-workshops-reme
[20] mapsterman https://ww2sunkenships.ca/author/mapsterman/page/2/
[21] the british army during the campaign in italy, september 1943 https://www.facebook.com/groups/WWIIHistory/posts/2006313093159748/