Palace Theatre, Manchester: Widow of the Man who Volunteered

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Following their marriage in December 1913, Percy and Kitty Morter moved into their house in Clayton. In the autumn of 1914, Percy enlisted during a recruiting campaign at the Palace Theatre in Manchester by the female drag artiste Vesta Tilley. In 1964 the BBC recorded a documentary to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One and Kitty was one of the contributors. Kitty describes how Vesta recruited many men that night including Percy and she talks about her feelings and how she tried to persuade Percy not to go to war. Percy joined the 9th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and left for France in September 1915. He died on the Somme almost a year later. His body was never found. Kitty who was pregnant at the time collapsed with shock when told of Percy’s death. She gave birth to a son, Percy, in October 1916. Kitty’s family had never heard her speak about the war and in 2014 on BBC Radio Manchester they heard her talk about it for the very first time. Location: Palace Theatre, Manchester M1 6FT Image: Family photo of Kitty Eckersley (Morter) in the 1960s, courtesy of her great-grandchildren