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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Percy Charles Davis
Australian Imperial Force 1st Btn.
from:Scone, New South Wales
(d.6th-11th August 1915)
Percy Davis died between the 6th and 11th of August 1915, aged 25. He is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial in the Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey. Percy was the son of Charles Samuel and Isabella Davis. Native of Stewart's Brook, Scone, New South Wales.
Pte. R. Davis
British Army 21st Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
A Card of Honour from the 34th Div was awarded to 829, Pte R. Davis 21st Northumberland Fusiliers, Worded: "Your Brigadier has reported that on 9th-14th of April 1917 near Arras you showed conspicuous gallantry while carrying out your duties as runner, and were a splendid example to others, and I hereby award you a Card of Honour. Card No 156"
Cpl Stanley Davis
British Army 19th Btn Northumberland Fusiliers
(d.27th Mar 1918)
Davis, Stanley, Corporal 45078 Died 27th March 1918, Remembered on Panel 16 to 18.Pozieres Memorial 19th Northumberland Fusiliers Roll of Honour
Pte. T. Davis
British Army 1st Btn. Royal Munster Fusiliers
(d.2nd Jul 1915)
Private T Davis served with the 1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers during WW1. He was executed for quitting his post on the 2nd July 1915. His name is on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli, Turkey.
Pte. T. Davis
British Army 1st Btn. Royal Munster Fusiliers
(d.2nd Jul 1915)
T. Davis served with the Royal Munster Fusiliers 1st Battalion. He was executed for quitting his post on 2nd July1915. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli, Turkey.
Pte. Thomas A. Davis
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment
from:Aston, Birmingham
Thomas Davis was born in Birmingham in 1884 in Small Heath Birmingham He lived on Garrison Lane where the popular drama Peaky Blinders is based. He enlisted in the Army in 1914. He was discharged a year later for being wounded,he wore a wound stripe. He was award the Star medal for, according to my Nan (his daughter) saving a French officers life. He lived all his life in Birmingham and died in 1960.
Lt. Vivian Alfred Davis
British Army 9th Btn. Royal Irish Fusiliers
from:Sandymount, Dublin
(d.4th Sep 1918)
Vivian Davis was killed in action on the 4th of September 1918. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert E. Davis of 17 Oaklands Park, Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin.
Drvr. W. H. Davis
British Army 173 Brigade, C ĂÂ Bty. Royal Field Artillery
(d.8th August 1918)
Driver W. H. Davis is commemorated on the City of London and Tower Hamlets Screen Wall, R. 1484.
Capt. William J. Davis
British Army 8th Btn. Kings Royal Rifles Corps
from:Dublin
(d.31st July 1915)
Captain William J. Davis was Adjutant of the 8th Battalion KRRC He was the elder son of General Sir John Davis, K.C.B. and Gertrude his wife. He was born 13th june 1882 and killed in action at Hooge, near Ypres on the 31st of July 1915 and is buried in the Hooge Cemetery. ââŹĹBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see GodââŹÂ.
Pte. William Ernst John Davis
British Army 6th Btn. Leinster Regiment
from:Peckham. London
William Davis was my Grandfather, he died in 1970, he was married to Emma Ann Davis (nee Parker).
Gnr. William Charles Davis
British Army Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Portbury
(d.8th May 1918)
William Davis served with a Siege Battery.
Pte. William Alfred Davis
British Army 2nd Btn. Middlesex Regiment
from:Rotherhithe, London
(d.20th Mar 1915)
William Davis died of wounds in a hospital in Boulougne on 20th of March 1915 after the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. He is buried in a cemetery in Boulogne and we visit him annually.
Pte. William Thomas Davis
British Army 7th Btn. Wiltshire Regiment
from:83 High St, Burbage, Wiltshire
(d.7th Nov 1918)
Pte. Aylmer Allsworth Davison
British Army 1/28th (Artists Rifles) Btn. London Regiment
from:Stockbury, Kent
(d.25th June 1918)
Aylmer A. Davison was my maternal grandfather. He was the son of Robert & Frances, born Rainham, Kent 1890. Brother to Eliza (b 1882) & George (b 1885). Husband of Ethel Alice (nee Conley). Father of Kathleen, Edith (later West).
Aylmer enlisted at Newington, 1917, aged 26. He was originally posted to 11th (Lewisham) Batn, Royal West Kent Reg, Private G/25239. He served in France then Italy. On 16th March 1917 Batn was disbanded and Aylmer was reposted Private S/48484 1/28th Batn London Reg (Artists Rifles).
He was killed, or died of wounds on 25th June 1918, aged 27, at Albert, France. He is buried in Mailly-Maillet Cemetery, Picardy.
Pte. Ernest Davison
British Army 1st Btn. Cheshire Regiment
from:St Marys View, Heath Road, Penketh, Warrington
(d.23rd October 1918)
Cpl. Francis Keith Davison MM.
Australian Imperial Force C section 4th Australian Field Ambulance
from:Perth
After returning to Australia Frank Davison became a journalist with the Daily Guardian and in 1928 married Beryl Lucy Mills, the first Miss Australia. He also served briefly as Major in 56/60 Regiment from 1942-43.
Bdr. Frank Davison
British Army 332 Seige Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Faversham, Kent
(d.28th Sep 1917)
My great uncle was Bdr 317454 Frank Davison from Faversham, Kent. He served with the Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery before joining 332 Seige Battery RGA with whom he died of wounds on 26/09/1917. He is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery near Poperinghe.Also buried very close is Corporal 125696 Fred Hudd of the same Battery. He died of wounds on 28/09/1917. In Brandhoek Military Cemetery is Gunner 168213 Duncan LANG of the same battery. He died of wounds on 30/09/1917. Did these men die through wounds sustained at the same time? My great uncle served with the unit of the Battery that was based in Preston Street, Faversham. Any information of the Home Counties (Kent) Heavy Battery or 332 Siege battery would be gratefully received.
Pte. Harry S. Davison
British Army 26th (Banker's) Battalion Royal Fusiliers
from:Southsea, Gillingham, Bucks
Harry Davison enlisted in late December 1915 in 26th (Banker's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers. His decision to volunteer with bank colleagues as patriotic duty included a visit to wartime London. From December 1915 to early December 1916 he trained at the School of Cookery, at Camberwell and sent letters home describing training as cook. He then joined the Royal Fusiliers at the training camp, Aldershot, undertaking duties as company cook. Harry married shortly before embarkation. He continued to write home from the Western front, his letters cover the period of the Somme offensive, but without place names. Around Christmas 1916, Harry was under treatment for treatment for chest ailments and returned to England by hospital ship. Between January and March 1917 he was in two hospitals in Essex, the Military Hospital, Colchester followed by convalescence at Ardleigh Hospital. In April 1917 Harry was in Ireland at the Royal Fusiliers Depot, Tipperary, under medical supervision as convalescent and working as clerk to Depot Dental Surgeon. He was accepted for commission and posted to cadet school, and joined the Officer Cadet Battalion at Hertford College, Oxford as an Officer cadet.
After discharge from active service, it appears that 2nd Lieut Davison was transferred to the territorial battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. This regiment would have had a base near the Davison married home in Woodbridge, where he resumed his banking career and where his two sons were born.
The Rumbling Of The Guns. When a Portsmouth Bank Clerk Went to War - An article in the Portsmouth News.
There is nothing heroic about my action. I am going away and if necessary I offer my life for my country, simply because it is the smallest thing I can do to exhibit my manhood and my patriotism.
In these words my father in November 1915 explained to his wife-to-be his motives for volunteering to enlist in the armed forces. As a clerk with Lloyds Bank in Portsea Harry Davison joined, with many of his colleagues, the Bankersâ Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers â one of the many Palsâ Battalions in which so many groups went to war with the camaraderie of their shared profession. The discovery of a collection of letters written by my father to my mother over the following two years has given me a fresh insight into the life of an ordinary soldier on the Western Front.
Bank staff were, it seems, eager recruits. In his November 1915 letter my father refers to fellow-volunteers named Love and Pierce, from the bankâs Kingâs Road branch: so you see it wonât be too horribly dull and I shanât be quite on my own. Then again: another member of our staff joined up last week, leaving only two out of five now. Private Love was later to be the victim of a near-fatal incident alongside my father in the trenches.
A succession of letters between December 2015 and February 1916 describe three months of training with the Royal Fusiliers in Aldershot; then came news that required a rapid and important decision. We have received orders to shift off abroad. We have no idea where we are going: France, Mesopotamia, Ireland . . . I have come to the conclusion that we must be married before I go to the Front . . . I am confident I shall return, let us hope uninjured.
After a hurried marriage to his sweetheart Olive, who also worked at Lloyds Bank, and a weekend honeymoon, Private Harry Davison in May 1916 proceeded to France with the Bankersâ Battalion, which saw action at the Battles of Flers-Courcellete and the Transloy Ridges on the Somme. From the Front, my fatherâs frequent letters tell a story in which descriptions of hardships in the trenches contrast with glimpses of everyday French country life not far behind the lines.
We are accustomed to images from the First World War that show the battleground as a quagmire of mud under ceaseless rain. It wasnât like that all the time, however:
The weather keeps most gloriously fine. The sun shines all day long and itâs very, very hot, writes Private Harry Davison in June, 1916. We have another spell of delightful weather and I am walking around with just a shirt and trousers on, and even that seems too much . . . Today is warm and the sun is lovely and hot and this life is more like a picnic if it were not for the rumbling of the guns. The daytime has been too hot for either side to show much energy.
Gradually the heat of the day subsides. The best and quietest time has been about 6 to 9 at night, we generally get our pipes out and chat to our heartsâ content. During a period of rest from the trenches in the autumn there is even the opportunity to visit a nearby town, passing through open countryside on the way. The harvest is in full swing . . . I donât think I ever saw more wheat in my life. It runs for miles without a hedge.
As winter comes on, the picture changes for the worse. The mud and rain the last few days have been terrible. . . Yesterday during a thunderstorm the rain was absolutely torrential, and the mud made the roads nearly impassable . . . Will you please send me a pair of Andersonâs trench waders as advertised in London Opinion; the water is very bad indeed, and I think they will combat the evil of trench feet. This request was quickly answered. The mud is simply appalling, knee deep in many places. Those waders have proved most useful and are really waterproof.
In October came the accident that befell my Fatherâs colleague from Portsmouth. Poor old Love is back with us again after a few days in hospital. He had the misfortune to be buried alive under 5ft of earth and needless to say when dug out was not in the best of health or temper. It has altered him a lot, but I expect he will be himself again after a while. At the present moment he is sitting with me in my billet in a French âchateauâ where we are resting for a few days while on the march to a fresh position. However, a few weeks later all is apparently not well. Love keeps most cheerful but at the same time he is not the same as before his terrible experience. It seems to have affected his nerves.
â. . . . if it were not for the rumbling of the gunsâ. The ever-present background to these letters is the desperate struggle in progress, in this year of the terrible Battle of the Somme. A severe bombardment has been in progress for the past 12 hours on our left, so expect to hear of some gains in a day or two . . . Our period at the Front line would I suppose by the authorities be called comparatively quiet; however I am not anxious to be there when it is really noisy. About nine the machine guns get busy and the Very lights start going up. Our artillery are all around us and Mr Fritz with his artillery keeps trying to find ours.
In the intervals between spells in action there is a welcome normality about everyday life. After securing a new pair of trousers I went over to âââ, a large town about 5km away. After having a good tea and inspecting the various places of interest we returned in the evening. . . I had the misfortune to lose my wrist watch, but am waiting to go into town to replace it.
The troops took what relief was afforded them when they could. It takes very little to excite one out here, and even the prospect of an evening in some shelled village with bacon and eggs and very mild beer causes as much pleasure as a real bash at home.
Parcels from home were eagerly awaited and seem to have arrived regularly. Your parcel containing biscuits, socks etc just to hand. Thanks awfully. The biscuits are a treat . . . It was fortunate you sent out my spare pair of glasses, as a short while ago I lost my other pair in the dark . . . In the next parcel will you send please one towel and some cocoa, coffee or tea cubes. Some cake would be acceptable too . . . You might send a few pairs of socks and one or two handkerchiefs.
With the parcels came news from the home front, and from other theatres of war, to which my father responded: The various restrictions prevailing in England must be hard . . . England seems to have solved the Zeppelin problem, now perhaps the Zepps will not be such frequent visitors . . . What good work the Russians are doing. If we hold our own until they move up great events will take place, I think.
Of the naval Battle of Jutland [May 31, 1916], the first news we had came from the Germans over the trenches and was of course exaggerated. Since then we have had our own official news and after all we were victors, but what awful sacrifice of valuable lives. Clearly, though, the newspapers of 1916 erred on the side of optimism. Everything in the papers seems to point to an early peace, and personally I think another two months will see us back in dear old England.
Some upbeat messages were perhaps designed to cheer my mother in her lonely vigil at home, but knowing as we now do the conditions our troops suffered it is not hard to read between the lines. We are equipped for the winter now and you should see me in full war paint: gum boots up to the waist and heavy leather jacket over tunic with cap comforter under tin hat . . . I managed to get a fair nightâs sleep last night in a disused trench . . . We expect to go into the trenches very shortly but have no fear, itâs much safer in the trenches than outside them . . . We have some very decent dugouts; mine in fact is one of the best I have ever had, as you can stand up in it.
The prospect of leave is a recurring theme. As Christmas 1916 approaches, the only topic of conversation in the camp is England and our prospects of leave. And then, hopefully, there is a possibility of my being in England for Christmas. But it was not to be. On Christmas Eve my father writes: It seems impossible to think tomorrow is Christmas Day. The weather â well, ânuff said. A terrific wind prevails, and the rain has been really appalling. Now I must shut up. All the others in the dugout are asleep. Itâs getting cold and my last candle is nearing its end, and I must save some for tomorrow morning.
My fatherâs next letters are from a military hospital in Essex in February 1917. He had been invalided home â not wounded, it appears, but suffering from some acute respiratory complaint. Could it have been the effect of gas? We shall never know. Anyway, it rescued him from the trenches; he lived to the age of 60 and fathered two sons. He never spoke to us of his war experiences. A century later I am at last beginning to understand why.
WO1. Henry Davison MC, MM.
British Army 6th Battalion Gordon Highlanders
My grandfather Henry Davison was born on 8th May 1882 in Canterbury before the family moved to Faversham where he worked as a Printer Engineer for the local newspaper. On the 8th May 1905 he joined the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in London with the army number of 6047. He was attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment and the Royal West Kents as a gymnastic instructor. This was just prior to the outbreak of WW1 and he held the rank of L/Sgt. Whilst in Maidstone with RWK he married Alice.
They prepared for war and on 1st June 1915 sailed for France. He served with 2nd Battalion until 17th January 1917 when he transferred to the 6th Gordon Highlanders with the number 2865546. On 27th of October 1916 he was gazetted having been awarded the Military Medal and was gazetted on 1st of January 1917 having been awarded the Military Cross. He returned with his regiment to the UK on 23rd of March 1919 having served on the Western Front for 3 years and 296 days. In August 1918 he came home on leave to get divorced (I have a copy of his divorce papers from the High Court in London).
Upon returning to Glasgow with 2nd Battalion he met and married my grandmother and soon after my father was born. By this time he was RSM of the depot in Aberdeen. He retired on the 7th May 1926 having completed 21 years service. The family returned to Faversham where he worked at a local printers. During WW2 he was the Senior ARP warden for Faversham. He passed away on 12th September 1953.
Two of his younger brothers both served, Alfred with South Lancashire Regiment and Frank with 332 Seige Battery RGA who died of wounds on 26th September 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery in Belgium. With my 2 sons and my youngest brother we went to his grave 100 years on from his death and shared a drink with him (well poured it over his grave).
J. H. Davison
British Army 11th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles
(d.1st Jul 1916)
Pte. James Davison
British Army 2nd Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
(d.8th May 1915)
John Cuthbert Davison
Palmers Shipyard
from:Fence Houses
(d.15th Jun 1915)
John Cuthbert Davison was a Fitter & Turner at Palmers works, he was aged 31 when he died in an air raid on Tuesday 15th June 1915, as a Zeppelin bombed the shipyard. He was born in Newbottle Durham in 1884, son of John Cuthbert and Elizabeth Davison (nee Batey) on the 1911 census, John Cuthbert Davison age 27 Coal Miner Stoneman is listed as living with his parents John Cuthbert and Elizabeth Davison and family at Bunker Hill, Fence Houses.
Pte. John James Davison
British Army 15th Btn Durham Light Infantry
from:Jarrow
(d.8th Jul 1916)
John Davison died age 33 from wounds whilst serving with the DLI. He was born, lived and enlisted Jarrow, the husband of Maud M. Davison (nee Cullum) of 4 Duke Street Jarrow.
John is buried in St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen and is commemorated on the Triptych in St. Paul's Church, Jarrow.
Pte. John Davison
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
Cpl. Michael Davison
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Bebside
Michael Davison was wounded in March 1916
Pte. Ralph Fenwick Davison
British Army 2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Gateshead
My grandfather Ralph Davison was a regular soldier and joined up on 20/02/1911. He was serving in India when WW1 started. I believe he was wounded and taken prisoner at the second Battle of Ypres and remained a prisoner for the rest of the war. He was hospitalised following his capture near Koln. He later served in the Home Guard during WW2.
Pte. Reginald Davison
British Army 19th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
(d.27th Jul 1916)
Reginald Davison was killed in action on 27th July 1916. Aged 32 years. He is buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery, Somme. Son of Robert and Mary Davison.
From the 19th Btn Northumberland Fusiliers Roll of Honour.
Pte. Richard Davison
British Army 20th Btn (Tyneside Scottish) Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Hebburn
(d.1st Jul 1916)
Richard Davison who died aged 34 on the 1st of July 1916 was born in Jarrow and lived in Hebburn. He was the husband of Mary Rayne Davison (nee Mitcheson) of 77 Philip Street Hebburn. He enlisted at Newcastle.
Richard is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
L/Cpl. Robert Davison
British Army 12th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
from:Marley Hill
(d.11th Jun 1917)
Robert Davison was my great uncle on my grandmother's side, he was a miner from County Durham, born in March 1892. He served with the 12th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry and died on 11th June 1917.
Pte. Robert Davison
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
also served att School of Farriers & att. 93rd MGC
Page 12 of 51
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