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Sgt. Christopher Edgar Davies
British Army C Coy., 2nd Btn. Welsh Regiment
from:12 Westbury Street, Swansea, Wales
(d.31st Oct 1914)
Christopher Davies died in action in Flanders on or about 31st of October 1914. Born in 1883, he was known by his middle name, Edgar, and he was son to Thomas and Mary Davies, who lived at the time at 12 Westbury Street, Swansea, Wales.
Edgar Davies was assigned to C Company in the 2nd Battalion of the Welsh Regiment. He was in the army for many years, and was a member of the original Expeditionary force, taking part in the Great Retreat, and the forward movement which followed. He was apparently an extremely popular non-commissioned officer.
His younger brothers were also at war: Ivor Davies was a first-class stoker on HMS Panther, a destroyer, in the North Sea. Clifford Davies, a baker by trade, enlisted in the Royal Irish Regiment at the outbreak of the war. Both of these younger brothers took an active part in the religious work at Mount Zion Baptist Chapel, Swansea, acting as Sunday school teachers and leaders of the Band of Hope.
The following story in the 16th of November 1914 edition of the Cambria Daily Leader tells of one of Edgar's letters home from the Western Front: "Writing home to his parents, who live at 12 Westbury Street, Swansea, Cpl. Edgar Davies, 2nd Welsh Regiment, gives an interesting account of his recent experiences at the front. He says: "I am still alive and kicking, but how, I don't know. We have been defending a village which has been stripped to the ground. The church in the centre of the village was about the first to go, and the first shell on it stopped the clock, and after that the tower came down bit by bit until at last the whole of the church was on fire, and now nothing but the bare walls are left. I don't think there is a house in the whole place that hasn't been either shelled or burnt to the ground. It was pitiful to hear the animals crying during the firing. There must have been hundreds of cows, pigs and sheet burnt alive there. When we were coming away one of the goats of the village fell in the ranks with us and marched along until it was too tired to go any further at the pace we were going. I think it followed on behind. Our own goat is sticking the marches well, and has been in every action so far, and hasn't had a scratch. The cakes arrived and they were a proper treat. I thoroughly enjoyed them in the trenches. There were three of us there when I got it, and one had cigarettes and the other tobacco, so we had a proper share out -- first a nice canteen of tees and cakes, then a good smoke, with plenty of firing in between". After writing that letter, Edgar Davies went missing on or about 30th of October 1914, presumably during the Battle of Gheluvelt.
In the 30th of January 1915 edition of the Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, the following was announced, although it turns out that this was an erroneous report: "Captured Welshman In Germany – Sergeant Edgar Davies, 2nd Welsh Regt., son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Davies, 12 Westbury Street, Swansea, who was reported missing on October 30th, is now officially declared to be a prisoner of war in Germany. The 2nd Welsh resisted, and defeated, a vigorous attack by superior numbers of Germans, and in the melee Sgt. Davies and a number of his comrades were cut off and taken prisoner".
In the mistaken belief that Edgar, their loved one, was a prisoner of war, the family’s lives went on in Edgar’s home town of Swansea. The following wedding announcement appeared in the 20th of November 1915 edition of the Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, and in the 15th of November 1915 edition of the Cambria Leader, regarding the marriage of Edgar’s sister, Gladys Davies: "War Wedding At Swansea – On Monday, a war wedding which attached a large audience was celebrated at the Memorial Baptist Chapel, Swansea, when Gunner G. Thomas, R.F.A. of Morriston, was married to Miss Gladys Davies, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davies, of Westbury Street, Swansea. The Rev. W.E. White officiated. Three of the bride's brothers are on active service, one with the 2nd Welsh in France, he has been missing for many months; another in the Dardanelles with the Royal Irish Regiment, and the third in the Royal Navy. The many presents received indicated the wide popularity of the bride and bridegroom".
Ever hopeful, Edgar’s family in Swansea was to learn by 1916 that the War Office had concluded that Edgar was actually killed in action two years prior, having never been a prisoner of war after all. The following announcement appeared in the 23rd of March 1916 edition of the Cambria Daily Leader: "Reported missing on 31st of October 1914, after having been fighting heroically against overwhelming odds, Sgt. Edgar Davies, 2nd Welsh, has been officially given up as dead. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. Davies, 12 Westbury Street, Swansea, have received a War Office notification to this effect. He was at one time believed to be a prisoner of war. Sgt. Davies was a typical British non-commissioned officer of his type, brave, resourceful, and very popular with his men. He was an old pupil of St. Helen’s School. Two of his brothers are serving their country, one Stoker Ivor Davies being engaged in patrol work in the North Sea. The other, Pte. Clifford Davies, of the Royal Irish Regiment, is now in Egypt recovering from a severe illness brought on by exposure and hardships in the Suvla Bay landing, where he had many narrow escapes, a bullet hitting his cap off. Both these lads were prominent temperance workers. One of the last letters written home by Sgt. Davies, describing the remarkable march of the celebrated goat of the 2nd Welsh during the retreat from Mons, was published in the Cambria Daily Leader".
Edgar Davies is memorialized among so many other fallen soldiers at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, in Ypres, Belgium. Although referenced by his first name (Christopher) there, rather than by the common name by which he was known. He is also memorialized in the Roll of Honour at the boy's school which he had attended in his youth, St. Helen's in Swansea. Edgar was aged 29 when he died, and like those of so many others, his body was never found.
