DAVIS, George
| Service Number: | 1854 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 April 1916, Originally assigned to the 2nd Reinforcements for the 4th Pioneer Battalion. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Maclean, New South Wales, Australia, 30 June 1878 |
| Home Town: | Palmers Channel, Clarence Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Slaughterman |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 24 June 1917, aged 38 years |
| Cemetery: |
Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Apr 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1854, 4th Pioneer Battalion, Originally assigned to the 2nd Reinforcements for the 4th Pioneer Battalion. | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 1854, 4th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: RMS Mooltan embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 12 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 1854, 4th Pioneer Battalion, RMS Mooltan, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Greg Towner
My research:
George Davis was born to John and Johanna Davis (Schannock or Schoeneck). He had twelve siblings, three born in the Port Stephens/Taree area in 1861 to 1864, three more at Grafton in 1866 to 1870, and then the family moved to Palmers Channel. George probably attended either Palmers Island or Palmers Channel Public school. At the completion of schooling he became a slaughterman in the Palmers Island area.
George married Ann Fraser on 17 January 1905 and they had one child, Margaret (Maggie), born on 11 March 1906. Ann died on 15 December 1911. George's younger sister Catherine married Neil Fraser, Ann Davis' (George's wife) brother, and when George enlisted he left his daughter Maggie in the care of Catherine and Neil. He left an allotment of some of his pay to Mrs Neil Fraser. In his Will written before embarkation George left everything to his daughter Maggie. Maggie died in Bondi, Sydney, in 1971.
George and his battalion, the 4th Pioneers, were involved in support on the Somme during the Battle of Pozieres and in early 1917 during the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. They moved to Belgium for 3rd Ypres and involved in the Battle of Messines in June 1917. On 23rd June 1917 in the Messines area George was wounded in his right hand side by a HE shell. He was recovered to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died on 24 January 1917. The inscription on his headstone in the Trois-Arbres Cemetery, just inside France south of Messines, supplied by his father reads "Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on his gentle breast".
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