James Lawrence Perry was a 23 years old plumber, born in the Adelaide suburb of Unley, when he joined the AIF on 13th September 1915. He had been noted as a promising young forward with the South Adelaide club in 1912 and 1913.
He trained to be a gunner in Victoria, but only managed to get halfway to the Western Front in 1916 – he was disembarked from his troop ship at Cape Town with a VD infection and returned to Australia. He seemed to respond to treatment at first and was returned to light duties.
However his condition deteriorated and he was confined to various hospitals- including Torrens Island and Maribyrnong – where he died on 9th June 1917.