Percival Swaby Nash: Moose Jaw’s only Jamaican WWI veteran

This feature article is being highlighted in conjunction with Black History Month. 

Soldiers, sailors and airmen killed in World War One are buried, for the most part, in foreign lands, far from home. Lieutenant Percival Swaby Nash, 210th Battalion CEF, and the Royal Flying Corps, was probably the only ‘Person of Colour’ from Moose Jaw to go on active service in World War One. He died and is buried in Moose Jaw, far from his ancestral Jamaican home.

There is no record of Percy ever being referred to as a ‘person of colour,’ which is not surprising. Information about race, ancestry, ethnicity or skin colour was not collected upon joining any ‘British’ type military, including Canada, Australia or Commonwealth countries. 

Moose Jaw, March 1916 was very “British.” The Military Attestation papers for WWI asked only the basic questions including: church affiliation, vaccinations, trade or calling, complexion, eye colour and hair colour and scars. This was information needed to identify the serviceman if killed and what type of cemetery plot. Next of kin information was also collected.

The point is, in the British military skin colour didn’t matter. The same attitude prevailed in British Moose Jaw at the beginning of the 20th century. What mattered was the deeply rooted British Class-system; your heritage, income, education, family, ‘station in life’ and your refined English accent. 

Percy had it all. He was educated in the finest schools in England; was an architect and most certainly spoke with a sophisticated, refined English accent. Soon after enlistment, he was deemed officer material and placed in officer training. Percy became a Lieutenant.

Percy’s final resting place is in the northeast corner of the old Moose Jaw Cemetery, off Ninth East. His headstone reads: “Lieutenant Percival Swaby Nash, Royal Air Force, June 27, 1919.” The bottom inscription reads: “Only Son of the Late James Nash, Solicitor, Jamaica, West Indies.” He died at the Moose Jaw General Hospital while undergoing surgery and had no family in Moose Jaw.

Family History

Percy, as he is listed in some of the records, was the son of Francilla (Swaby) and James Nash. He was born May 2, 1891 in Montego Bay, St. James Parish, Jamaica.

According to the Solicitor’s Handbook of Jamaica, his father, James Nash, practiced law.

Moose Jaw’s history asks, “How did a 22-year-old, well educated Jamaican kid end up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1913? And who was he?” 

The “Methodist Baptisms” records from Montego Bay, Jamaica, show three children; Percy was the oldest.  As was the British custom of the day, the oldest son was given his mother’s last name (Swaby) as his middle name. In the 19th century the Swaby name was associated with successful ‘people of colour’ who emerged after Jamaican emancipation in 1834. As was the custom of the ‘well-to-do’ of Jamaica, Percy was packed off to England at age 18 for a ‘proper’ British higher education. The Moose Jaw Henderson Directory lists young Percy as a draftsman and architect. He probably studied Architecture at Maidstone Grammar School between 1909 and 1912.

Immigrants to Moose Jaw from 1900 to 1914 were primarily of English descent. Jamaican immigrant Percy Nash, son of a solicitor and well educated at a ‘fine English School,’ was British upper-class, even though he was a person of colour. He was assigned to the ‘Right Class’ by the community.

Twenty-two-year-old Percy came to Canada about 1912 and settled in Moose Jaw. The Henderson Directories at the Moose Jaw Public Library archives show his addresses and occupation in Moose Jaw as:

1.   1913: Nash, Percival; Draftsman for E.B. Merrill and Co – rooming at 142 Ominica Street East
2.   1914-15: Nash, Percy Architect living at 1124 and one half Henleaze Avenue W
3.   1916: Living at 1136 – 3rd Avenue N.W., Moose Jaw and working as an Insurance Agent

Military Career

The 210th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Moose Jaw was approved in March 1916. Percy Swaby Nash enlisted in the 210th Battalion at Moose Jaw on March 20, 1916 and was assigned the Regimental Number of 255211. He was now Private P.S. Nash making $1 a day plus another ten cents when on maneuvers in the field.  This was Percy’s first Attestation Paper – there were two. His second Attestation Paper was completed on May 15, 1916. 

He was a little guy – only five feet five inches tall (1.65 m). There is a very good chance he was shorter. The minimum height for enlistment was five feet five inches. Percy is described as having black hair, dark eyes and dark complexion. Percy had scar on his left cheek, origin unknown.

Percy was chosen for officer training and left the Battalion on April 2, 1916 and rejoined the 210th Battalion in Winnipeg on May 14, 1916, hence the second Attestation Paper. He was now Lieutenant P. S. Nash, ‘B’ Company, 210th Battalion, C.E.F.

Because of ill health, the 210th sailed for England on April 12, 1917 without Percy. Soon after, on May 1, 1917, Percy was declared ‘surplus’ because of poor health and Struck Off Strength (S.O.S.) and Discharged from the Battalion.

From here, Percy Swaby Nash follows an indirect course back to Moose Jaw. After leaving the 210th Battalion CEF, he seems to have become part of the Canadian Defence Force, as a Private, in July 1917. 

He was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, which became the Royal Air Force and completed his training with the RFC in the fall of 1918; the name Percival Swaby Nash appears on the RFC Nominal Role.

The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. Percy was Struck Off Strength and Discharged from the military on December 13, 1918 and returned to Moose Jaw some time in January 1919, luckily missing the Influenza Epidemic that killed many in the city.

Happy to have missed the influenza pandemic, Percy settled back to work in the Insurance Department of Kern Agencies. He was a Charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Moose Jaw and attended their first meeting on April 29, 1919.  He made Moose Jaw his permanent home.   

For unknown reason, Percy needed an operation and was scheduled for Friday, June 27, 1919 at the General Hospital in Moose Jaw.  Percival Swaby Nash never made it. He died on the operating table.

The next day, June 28, 1919 “The Moose Jaw News” printed the following story about a young man who had found a new home, in a new country and made many friends. He was settled in Moose Jaw and was enjoying life.

Moose Jaw News, Saturday, June 28, 1919

“Popular Member of Younger Set Passes Divide

“Percy Nash Died Yesterday Following a Serious Operation

“Percy S. Nash, one of the most popular young men of the city, passed away yesterday afternoon following a complicated operation at the General Hospital here.  Funeral will be held tomorrow (June 29, 1919) afternoon at 3 o’clock from “The Ranch”, 922 Main Street North, Moose Jaw. Captain Williams of the Saskatchewan Military Hospital will officiate, while the members of the local Great War Veterans of whom P. Nash was a member, will parade in a body.

“Mr. Nash was at one time a Lieutenant in the 210th Battalion but owing to ill health was unable to proceed overseas. Not to be denied, however, he later enlisted in the Royal Air Force and had just completed his training when the armistice was signed. His sudden demise will be greatly felt in many circles as he was a prominent member of the gold, tennis and Prairie clubs in addition to being one of the charter members of the Kiwanis Club. A well-known musician, Mr. Nash was also a composer of some talent and in this regard, he will be missed in the musical circles of the city.

“Mr. Nash was in his 28th year at the time of his death. He is survived by his father, who resides at Montego Bay, Jamaica (It appears his father was dead at the time of Percy’s death) and by two sisters who reside in the States of New York and New Jersey, respectively.”

- Submitted by Richard Dowson