Lester K. Percival

Lester Kenneth Percival was born on December 31, 1910, in Spring Valley, Minnesota, and graduated from Rochester High School in 1928. In his younger years, he was known as a talented runner and reportedly held a state record in the 100 yard dash. Before WW2, he worked as a painter and gold leaf artist, a trade he later returned to after the war.

Training and Stateside Service

Percival enlisted in the United States Army on October 16, 1940. Before his service with the 109th Quartermaster Bakery Company, he originally served with the 96th Quartermaster Bakery Company. In 1943, many of the men from the 96th were transferred, including Percival, who was reassigned to the 109th Quartermaster Bakery Company. During his wartime service he attained the rank of 1st Sergeant while serving in the Pacific Theater.

Service in the Southwest Pacific

During the war, Percival served in New Guinea and throughout the Southwest Pacific, where the 109th Quartermaster Bakery Company was responsible for supplying fresh bread and baked goods to American forces operating in forward areas. Although bakery companies were support units, they frequently operated close to combat zones and were exposed to enemy attacks alongside frontline troops.

An Associated Press article preserved among Percival’s wartime belongings, later printed in the November 25, 1944 issue of the Birmingham News, described the experiences of the 109th Quartermaster Bakery Company in Dutch New Guinea. The article noted that the bakers “started ashore on D-Day plus one to shoot biscuits to the doughboys and decided to shoot lead to the Japanese first, instead”. According to the report, the company came under Japanese attack shortly after landing and fought from foxholes while their baking equipment was damaged by enemy fire.

Despite the attack, the bakers repaired their ovens and resumed bread production within 24 hours, while some members reportedly manned machine gun positions beside the bakery site.

Another surviving newspaper clipping from Percival’s collection mentions Sergeant Kenneth Percival writing home from New Guinea after unexpectedly meeting several men from his hometown serving elsewhere in the Pacific. The article reflects the common wartime experience of servicemen encountering familiar faces thousands of miles from home and further confirms Percival’s presence in New Guinea during Allied operations there.

Overseas Movement and Wartime Documents

It is unfortunate to say that there is very little remaining information on Lester’s movements and wartime experiences, but the surviving wartime documents in his grouping, along with the few publicly available records, help trace portions of his overseas service. An “Ancient Order of the Deep” certificate places Percival aboard the SS Meteor bound for the South Pacific War Zone on October 4, 1943. A later “Domain of the Golden Dragon” certificate dated November 17, 1945, commemorates his crossing of the International Date Line, a traditional milestone for servicemen operating in the Pacific.

A surviving muster roll of the 109th Quartermaster Bakery Company also lists Percival aboard USS LST-1018 sailing from Hollandia, New Guinea, to Manila, Luzon, on August 11, 1945, during the final weeks of the war. It is without a doubt that 1st Sergeant Percival took part in many significant operations and movements throughout the Southwest Pacific during WW2.

Postwar Life

Following the war, Percival returned to civilian life and resumed work as a painter and gold leaf artist. He later settled in Des Moines, Iowa, where he remained active in the Masonic Lodge and enjoyed golfing and traveling. Lester K. Percival died on February 7, 1998, at the age of 87 and was buried with military honors at Grandview Cemetery in Austin, Minnesota