Percy was born in Hull, Yorkshire, in early 1885. By 1911 he had left home and was working as a barman in West Ham, London. On 30th August 1914, Percy volunteered to join the services, enlisting in Ipswich with the Rifle Brigade. After travelling to Woolwich, he joined the 6th (Reserve) Rifle Brigade, their training battalion. On 13th July 1915, Percy was posted to the 1st Rifle Brigade in France. A fortnight later, on 27th July, six officers and two hundred and twenty-seven men from billets at Forceville, on the Somme, joined the battalion.

Four months later, Percy had been sent back to Britain for medical reasons. He was moved to the 333rd Home Service Company of the Middlesex Regiment before being transferred, in 1917, to the newly formed Labour Corps. Percy’s health worsened and he went to Richmond Military Hospital, Surrey, for treatment. On 24th June 1918, he was deemed no longer fit for military service and was discharged to the family home, Chesapeake Villa in Melton.

In 1920, Percy married Martha Whitbread at St Matthew's, Bayswater, London. He died in 1922, in Melton, at the age of thirty-eight. He is buried in Woodbridge Cemetery. For his war service, Percy received the 1914-15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the Silver War Badge.