Later Life
Following his discharge, Statton settled in Fitzgerald, Tasmania, where he gained employment in the timber industry. True to her word that she would leave him if he went off to war, Statton's wife divorced him on 1 October 1920. Five years later, on 21 December 1925, he married Eliza Grace Hudson (née Parker) at the Registrar General's Office, Hobart. In 1934, severe bushfires broke out in the Derwent Valley, and Statton took a prominent role in rescue work aiding families isolated by the fire.
During the Second World War, Statton enlisted for service with the Volunteer Defence Corps of the Australian Military Forces. Commissioned as a lieutenant on 18 June 1942, he served throughout the war with the 5th Battalion, Volunteer Defence Corps, until his discharge on 9 January 1946. Statton's wife died in 1945, and on 16 December 1947, he married Monica Enid Effie Kingston; the pair later had a son. The couple lived at Ouse, where Statton worked as a commercial agent and was a member of the local council.
In 1956, Statton joined the Australian contingent of Victoria Cross recipients who attended the parade in London's Hyde Park to commemorate the centenary of the institution of the award. At the Repatriation General Hospital, Hobart, on 5 December 1959, Statton died of stomach cancer. Accorded a full military funeral, Statton was cremated and his ashes interred at the Cornelian Bay Cemetery. His Victoria Cross is currently on display at the Australian War Memorial.
Read more about this topic: Percy Statton
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