Percival Baron Bayliss, born on 24th April 1897, attended King Edward’s School Camp Hill for two years before joining King Edward’s School in September 1910. He lived with his widowed mother, Sabina. His father Thomas, a cycle manufacturer, had died several years previously. He had two brothers, one of whom, Ralph, was also an Old Edwardian, but didn’t serve during the war. The family lived at 25, Esme Road, Spark Hill.
At School, Percival reached the rank of Lance-Corporal in the Officer Training Corps. As a young boy, he took part in the School gymnastic competition in 1913, but despite his efforts placed last. He was awarded an Entrance Scholarship at Birmingham University but unfortunately the war interrupted his scholastic career.
Percival enlisted straight out of School in 1916 as a Second Lieutenant in the Tank Corps. He saw action at Triangle Farm and at Langemarck, where he was forced to ditch his tank for 67 hours under shellfire, and was mentioned in despatches as a result. He had a spell at the Inter-Allied Tank School in Paris, but was killed at Mannequin Hill, near Ramicourt, on 3rd October 1918, aged twenty-one, having reached the rank of Acting Captain. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.