Jervis Percy’s father was serving with the Durham Light Infantry in Alexandria in 1928 when his son was born, and Jervis followed in his footsteps by joining that unit in 1948. While stationed abroad, Jervis took up modern pentathlon and excelled particularly in the horse riding and running portions of the competition. He was selected to represent Great Britain in this event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he placed 37th individually and 10th with the team, alongside Leon Lumsdaine and John Hewitt. After serving during the Korean War, he left the army in 1955 and worked in various industrial positions until his 1988 retirement, after which he moved to Ireland.