I should have already tried to trace his later life, knowing he was a career sailor this looks a good fit for him from FreeBMD, Cardiff a likely home port I guess ?

Surname First name(s) Mother/Spouse/Age District Vol Page
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Marriages Sep 1920 (>99%)
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Cotton Frank P R Davies Cardiff 11a 1253
Davies Annie R J Cotton Cardiff 11a 1253

Sadly it seems he dies quite young, the age fits our Percy's birthyear:

Deaths Dec 1941 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cotton Frank P R 49 E. Glamorgan 11a 1154

I suspect he was still serving during WW2 ?.

So it seems the Frank Cotton I mentioned in the previous post c1962 probably wasn't "Percy", but as I mentioned perhaps no surprise as Frank seems a very popular Cotton name.
???

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Regarding Percy's WW1 service within the Merchant Navy, thanks for giving his ship, Reliance. I expected such a name to belong to quite a powerfull fighting ship, but it seems not. According to this reference three RN ships bore the name, Percy's was the third
"HMS Reliance was a repair ship, previously the civilian ship Knight Companion. She was purchased in 1912 and was sold in 1919."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Reliance

So she was bought during a major "arms-race" of new British & German warships being launched as War seemed ever more likely, hence an increased need for support ships too.

Searching "Knight Companion" is tricky as the name was used on more than one merchant ship, but I think this may be Percy's ship from these references & photos:
This excellent photo shows what seems an ideal size & layout for refit as a repair/workshop RN ship
http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=4986

"KNIGHT COMPANION was built in 1913 by Chas. Connell & Co. at Greenock with a tonnage of 7241grt, a length of 470ft , a beam of 58ft and a service speed of 11 knots. Sister of the Knight Templar she was built for the Knight Steamship Co. of Liverpool. On 11th June 1917, six days before the acquisition by Holt's was concluded, she was damaged by a torpedo fired by UB-20 and towed into Falmouth for repairs. Until then she had spent the entire war in government service as an Indian Expeditionary Force Transport, Royal Navy Collier No.1389 and as Expeditionary Force Transport No. F 0186. During that period of service, on 10th January 1917, she exchanged gunfire with U-79 off Cape Finisterre. After the war she continued in service with the Ocean Steam Ship Co. until 1933 when she was broken up in Italy. Although the 'Knight' ships were acquired as replacements for war losses and in order to exploit the trading opportunities which followed the war at no time did Holt's ever consider renaming the ships with traditional Holt names. Some say that the management did not think the ships were worthy of a Blue Funnel name."
http://www.red-duster.co.uk/BLUEFUN13.htm

So altho the given build dates may differ very slightly from Wiki the war history & theatre seems a very plausible match to Percy's ship.

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Your records show that after WW1 Percy served aboard SS Willaston. Willaston is a village on the Wirrall near Liverpool, so there may well have been more than one SteamShip of this name, but this seems the most likely fit especially as it's first owners were the Wirrall Transport Company.

This "immigration" site suggests it may have been a passenger ship, serving on the London to New York route from 1914 to 1931.
http://www.ellisisland.org/shipping/Formatline.asp?lineid=75

However this excellent photo suggests a cargo ship albeit still with some passenger space.
http://www.wrecksite.eu/img/wrecks/meandros_34.jpg

More details about the ship is on http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?158614
This 4000ton Tyne-built ship indeed sailed from 1914-31 out of Liverpool, and then was re-registered as the Greek "Meandros" but sunk after a collison in fog in 1934, presumably Percy had long-left the ship by then.

I wonder if Percy was a victim of WW2, dying quite young in 1942 ? Searching the CWGC site for WW2 shows a few "Frank Cotton"s, some were sailors, but not our Percy judging from the dates...

Incidently would anyone know if this is the same Cotton family who joined with Williams to form Williams & Cotton Grocery shops, there were quite a lot of these shops in the Forest Villages in the 1950's.

Findmypast
Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll 1914 - 1920
First Name Frank P R
Last Name Cotton
Rank Engineer
Service Mercantile Marine Reserve
Name of Ship Reliance
Medals & Clasps Earned 1914-15 Star, Victory & British War Medals

Another mention of the problem can be read in this graphic diary account of the first day of the landings from a Worcestershire Regiment perspective
"Dead bodies and wounded all over the place. Oh, the poor wounded, what they suffered, the cry being, "water, water," all day long, and we had none to give them. The Medical men and sailors worked hard to get us some for we were obliged to drink the sea water then and for days afterwards, it being distilled first, but we still had the nasty taste, and we knew that hundreds of poor souls were still floating about in it, but the Turks had poisoned the water in the wells."
http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/gallipoli_Ben_Ward.php

Elsewhere I've read that despite everyone's best efforts each soldier's drinking water ration was just half a pint a DAY, and in those dusty hot climes !. Apparently some soldiers would use leftover cold tea to shave in to save drinking water. Of course this general lack of water also caused hygiene issue, seawater bathing in ANZAC Cove etc was encouraged to help overcome this.

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It would be interesting to know, if possible, was Percy Cotton a sailor or soldier ? Was he a specialist engineer or medic, or had he been "volunteered" into the role from the infantry ?.

Regarding engineers and Cottons of Gloucester, I wonder if Percy is a relation of the famous Frank Willoughby Cotton who founded the famous Cotton Motorcycle firm in Gloucester just before WWI ?. I know nothing of FW Cotton's family history or even if he was a Glostershire man.
Then again perhaps Percy used his second name because there were already so many Franks in the Cotton lines all over the UK, not just Glostershire ?. I don't recall meeting any Cottons but I do know of Fran Cotton the ex-England rugby player but he's from Wigan, so...
http://cottonownersclub.com/page4.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_(motorcycle)

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Back to "Percy" Cotton's family history.

From GlosBMD;

Birth Details:

Child Surname Child Forename Father Surname Mother Surname Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
COTTON Frank Percy Richard COTTON COTTON WHITE 1892 Forest of Dean Westbury on Severn, Newnham 63 281

Probable parents:

Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
COTTON Moses Francis WHITE Augusta Maria Forest of Dean Westbury-on-Severn (FoD) Register Office 1889 9 22

Parents' Birth Details:
Child Surname Child Forename Father Surname Mother Surname Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
COTTON Moses COTTON COTTON CHARLEY 1853 Forest of Dean Chepstow, Lydney 6 478

Child Surname Child Forename Father Surname Mother Surname Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
WHITE Augusta Maria WHITE WHITE KNOCKER 1863 Forest of Dean Westbury on Severn, Newnham 23 376

I did check FoD PRs for him & his parents and found this near miss for his parents, and in the right area, relations perhaps ?

Record ID 32219
Entry Number
Year 1889
Month Aug
Day 8
Grooms Surname COTTON
Grooms Forenames Miles J
Grooms Age [not stated]
Groom Condition Bachelor
Grooms Occupation Grocer etc
Grooms Residence Blakeney
Grooms Fathers Surname [not stated]
Grooms Fathers Forenames [not stated]
Grooms Fathers Occupation [not stated]
Brides Surname WHITE
Brides Forenames Augusta
Brides Age [not stated]
Brides Condition Spinster
Brides Occupation [not stated]
Brides Residence Blakeney
Brides Fathers Surname White
Brides Fathers Forenames Stephen A
Brides Fathers Occupation [not stated]
Licence or Banns [not stated]
Date of Banns [not stated]
Signature or Mark [not stated]
Witness 1 [not stated]
Witness 2 [not stated]
Other Witnesses [not stated]
Officiating Minister W H Allen
Event Marriage
Memoranda
Notes
Register Reference D5690/1
Page Number [not stated]
Parish Chapel Newnham and Blakeney Tabernacle

Another possible relative/ancestor of Percy is Elizabeth Cotton, grocer of Blakeney in this 1868 Slater's Directory of Newnham & Area.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cbennett/newnham1868.htm
===============

A Mr Frank Cotton of the Blakeney area gets this brief mention in this prior thread, see "Forest Adventures", the same man or a relation perhaps ?.

"in Gloucester in 1962 I once spoke to a Mr Frank Cotton, a very wealthy customer who turned out to be a partner in the Williams and Cotton enterprise. A very pleasant man and we chatted about Yorkley which he knew well."
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=entry&id=39882

Gloucester Journal 13 November 1915

Mr. Percy COTTON, of Blakeney, son of Mr. and Mrs. M.F. COTTON, now residing at Linden Road, Gloucester, in the course of a letter to a Blakeney friend, gives an interesting description of his work in the Dardanelles.

He is on board ship, and assists in controlling the supply of electricity which drives the power which converts the sea water , by filtration, into drinking water for the troops.

He makes the interesting statement that during the war they have distilled as much as 40 million gallons of water