Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Stanley Howard Campbell DAVIS was born in Hamilton, Newcastle NSW on 11th April 1894, the third of six children born to George Edmund and Jane (née BLACKETT) DAVIS.

A 20 year old, single, railway porter living with his parents and siblings at 16 Wellington Street Newtown at the time, Stan enlisted for the Australian Imperial Force in Randwick, Sydney, on 22nd August 1914.  His younger brother, James Wilfred Percival Campbell DAVIS (known as 'Cam') enlisted with him, and they were both allocated to E Company of the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion.  Stan was enlisted as a Bugler, with the regimental number 619, and had previously served 2 years part time in the 4th Australian Infantry Regiment (Newcastle), and 34th Infantry (Erskineville), Citizen Military Forces.

After completing recruit training at the Randwick Racecourse Military Camp, NSW, Stan and Cam embarked together with the 1st Battalion in Sydney, on the troopship HMAT "Afric" (A19), on 18th October 1914.  They arrived at the Mena Camp, Egypt, where they underwent extensive training, with many forced marches in the gruelling desert conditions. 

The 1st Australian Infantry Battalion departed Alexandria aboard the S. S. "Minniwaska" on the 1st April 1915, and were in the second wave of the landing at Gallipoli on 25th April, going ashore about 2pm.  They immediately came under fire, and suffered casualties, and extracts of Cam's diary indicate they were pinned down for some 5 hours before being able to get clear of the beach at ANZAC Cove.   After digging in and consolidating their position, the 1st Battalion became confined to the trenches and daily routine, making little progress on the Peninsula.  In the ensuing months, Stan and Cam's elder brother, George William Roy Campbell DAVIS (known as 'Roy' ), who'd enlisted in the 7th Light Horse Regiment, had joined them at Gallipoli, along with five 1st cousins (one of whom was later killed at Gallipoli). 

On 25th July 1915, Stan was in the trench when a bomb thrown by a Turkish soldier landed at his feet.  Although crudely made devices, they were packed with shrapnel and were potentially lethal, and Stan instinctively attempted to smother it with a blanket, before it exploded.  The incident was described in Cam's diary, and in a letter to their parents, which was published in the Nepean Times newspaper of 11th September 1915.  Stan sustained serious injuries including compound fractures to his right hand, the little finger having been partially blown off by the explosion.  He was evacuated to the 1st Casualty Clearing Station, where the little finger was amputated, and subsequently conveyed to Malta on the Hospital Ship "Gloucester Castle". 

Following admission to the St Andrew's Hospital in Malta on 29th July 1915, Stan's wounds became septic, resulting in the amputation of the ring finger on his right hand on 5th August.  Sepsis caused him to be removed to the UK, where he was admitted to The King George Military Hospital in London, on 5th September 1915.  Now minus 2 fingers on his right hand and muscle wasting in his right arm, Stan was embarked aboard the troopship HMAT "Themistocles" on 13th May 1916 for return to Australia, where he was discharged as medically unfit in the 2nd Military District, Sydney, on 18th September 1916.

After the War ended, Stan joined the German Concentration Camp Guard at Holdsworthy on 22nd January 1919, where he was assigned to the Police Section as a Private with the number 3190.  On 1st April, he was promoted to Acting Corporal, but discharged on 13th May 1919, after only 112 day's service.  This was to re-enlist in the AIF the following day on "Special Service", as Private number 85695.  

On 26th May 1919, Stan embarked in Sydney aboard the S.S. "Willochra" for England, escorting German internees to be repatriated after the War.  Once disembarked in England on 21st July and the internees transferred, Stan was granted 2 weeks leave, before reporting back to No. 2 Group at Sutton Veny on 5th August.  Following a 6 day admission to the 1st Australian General Hospital for observation with suspected malaria, Stan was involved in the dismantling of the Sutton Veny AIF Training Depot. 

On 3rd September 1919, Stan embarked in England aboard the troopship HMAT "Euripides" for return to Australia, where he was later discharged from the AIF on demobilisation in 2nd Military District Sydney, on 13th January 1920.  Stan was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service. 

On 29th July 1922, Stanley Howard Campbell DAVIS married Doris "Dorothy" Isabel BLOOD in St Stephen's Church of England in Newtown, NSW.  They lived at 8 Holt Street Stanmore and had two sons, Colin and Kevin, in 1924 and 1930.  

Following the outbreak of WW2, Stan joined the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) on 29th April 1942 as a Sergeant, regimental number N234167.  He served as an Instructor at the HQ VDC School of Instruction, in Nowra NSW, and then in the Postmaster General's Battalion in Sydney, after commencing employment as a Mail Officer in the PMG on 9th July 1942.  Stan served in periods of 2 weeks temporary full-time duty in the VDC, until he discharged on 30th September 1945.  He was eligible for the 1939-45 War Medal and the Australia Service Medal for his VDC service (which were only claimed by his granddaughter in 2023).

Stan retired from the Postmaster General's Department on 10th April 1959, aged 64, and after separating from wife Dorothy, moved to the NSW Central Coast town of Hardy's Bay, in 1963.  He died in Gosford Hospital on 26th November 1974, aged 80, and his ashes were interred in the rose garden at Palmdale Memorial Gardens, Palmdale NSW, but the location is unmarked. 

Compiled by Stan's granddaughter Karan CAMPBELL-DAVIS, from historical records kept by the National Archives of Australia, Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW, and other extensive family history research.