Percival Thomas Edwin Rees was born into a military family in India around 1885: in the 1901 census he was recorded as speaking English, Welsh and two Indian languages. He lived in Gwaelod y Garth, near Taffs Well, and joined the Welsh Regiment on 28 December 1914. Being below the required height for the regular army (5' 4") he joined a Bantam unit, the 17th Battalion. He was promoted to sergeant and he served in France from June 1916, being awarded the Military Medal for his bravery at Bourlon Wood in November 1917 (part of the Battle of Cambrai). In 1955 he told a reporter about the incident "Our battalion was heavily outnumbered and running out of ammunition, so they gave me the medal for going back to bring us some more". These photographs show Percy as a sergeant in the Welsh Regiment; in his hospital uniform while recovering from his wounds; and one photograph (called 'A Soldier's Dream') where an image of his mother is superimposed on a picture of Percy reading a letter from home.