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Percy Dowten never lived in the terrace house in Victoria Road. Yet when his grieving mother moved into this part of Port Talbot shortly after his death in 1918, she still set aside a room for him. Even today it鈥檚 still known as Uncle Percy鈥檚 Room.

Heartbroken, Percy鈥檚 mother read and re-read his letters from the front, and still hoped he might still return from the battlefield at Ypres. Nearly a century later, his niece Ethel Scourfield recalls the effect his death had on the family. Together with her son Gareth they still treasure his memory, and show us around Uncle Percy鈥檚 Room.

Evidently, Percy Dowten had been employed at Port Talbot docks before enlisting with a Yorkshire Regiment. In September 1918 he was posted to the frontline at Ypres, where he was killed in the last few weeks of the war, shortly after his eighteenth birthday.

Although she never knew him personally, 91 year old Ethel was brought up with stories of her uncle, and would even wrap herself up in Uncle Percy鈥檚 silk muffler when she was ill. Ethel鈥檚 son Gareth has now developed a keen interest in uncovering his great uncle鈥檚 war records, and in understanding the sacrifice he made.

Location: Victoria Rd, Port Talbot, SA12 6QG
Images courtesy of Percy's family and Imperial War Museum

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