Pte 52101 Percival Francis Davies (Davis)

 

And in the Western Daily Press, Bristol, on 15th November 1917:  

“Officially reported killed in action, Oct. 8, Private Percy Davis, King’s Liverpool, aged 20, only beloved son of Frank and Helen Davis, late of Easton, Bristol, but now of 91, Halston Street, Moss Side, Manchester.”

 

A Percy Davis is commemorated on Moss Lane Baptist Church, Moss Side, Manchester.  

 

His parents were Francis William Davis and Ellen Martha (née Reed), both from Bristol, who married there in 1888.

 

To add to the confusion, his mother used the name Helen in some records (Ellen and Helen were commonly interchanged in those days).

 

Their son Percival Francis Davis was born on 5th March 1897, civil district Barton Regis, Glouctershire, and baptised in St. Clement, Bristol, on April 4th, parents’ residence Adelaide House, Rene Road, St. Mark’s, (Easton), Bristol, father’s occupation heeler (shoemaking).

 

Percy had an older adopted sister Daisy (born Fielding in 1888), and a younger sister Ethel Irene, born in 1899.

 

In 1901 the family, with three children, is living at 81 Chelsea Oark, Bristol.  His father, Francis W., 33, is a shoemaker, his mother, Helen M. is 34, Daisy is 12, Percival F. is 4, Ethel I. is 1.  Sadly, Ethel died not long after the census, aged 1. 

 

In 1911 the family is at 7 Colston Road, Easton, Bristol.  His father Francis, 44, is a shoemaker, his mother Helen Martha is 45, Percival Francis is 14, employed as a printer (compositor).  Also in the household is widowed sister-in-law, Emily Alexander, 53.

 

Some time after this census and by 1915, the family moved to the Manchester area.  The War Gratuity, based on rank and length of service, suggests that Percy served about 31 months, enlisting in about April 1915, when he would have turned 18.

He enlisted in Manchester and was formerly 1982, Manchester Regiment and was serving in the 19th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52101 when he was killed in action on the 8th October, 1917  during the Third Battle of Ypres.

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after August 16th 1917 are named on the Tyne Cot Memorial, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.

The Tyne Cot Memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett on 20 June 1927.

The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station.

His death was reported in the local press:

DAVIS P.F. 19th King's( Liverpool Regt.)

He volunteered at the outbreak of war in August 1914 and in the following May was drafted to the Western Front. In this theatre of war he took part in many engagements in various sectors in France and Belgium including the Battles of Ypres, Arras and Cambrai and was unfortunately killed in action at Ypres on October 8th 1917. He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star and the General Service and Victory medals.

"Great deeds cannot die".

91 Halston Street, Hulme, Manchester.     

His mother Ellen received his effects including a War Gratuity of £14-10s. His pension card dated 09th April 1918  shows his mother's name crossed out as deceased and his father's name recorded in her place. The pension awarded was 3/6.  

 

Percy earned his British War Medal and Victory Medal, the latter was returned (apparently in 1953, reason unknown).

 

In 1939 his parents, Francis and Ellen, with Daisy, are still living at 91 Halston Street. His parents are both retired.  They lived to see another World War;  his mother died in 1943 aged 77 and his father in 1949, aged 79.