Joseph Davies

Submitted by Mt Kembla Minin... on Sun, 13/12/2015 - 16:40

First Name:

Joseph

Last Name:

Davies

Mother's Name:

Ellen Davies nee Austin

Father's Name:

John Davies

Date Enlisted:

Monday, March 27, 1916

Rank at Enlistment:

Private

Rank at Discharge:

Private

Unit:

45th Battalion

Service:

Infantry

Awards:

British War Medal

Victory Medal

Date of Death:

Saturday, October 13, 1917

Place of Death:

Broodseinde, Passchendaele, Belgium

Cause of Death:

Killed in action

Details:

Joseph Davies (Service No 2408) was born in Blacker Hill, Burnsley, Yorkshire, England around 1878. A coal miner like his father, he left England for Australia in early 1914.

Joseph enlisted when he was 38 years old. He was single, lived at Corrimal, N.S.W. and worked as a miner.

He embarked from Sydney on HMAT A68 Anchises with 5th Reinforcements, 45th Battalion on 24th August 1916. The troops arrived in England on 11th October 1916 and Joseph joined 45th Battalion in France on 1st January 1917.

On 9th April 1917 he was became ill and was admitted to hospital, returning to his unit on 19th May.

On 8th June 1917, while fighting at Messines, Joseph was wounded and admitted to hospital for treatment of a leg wound and shell shock. He recovered and returned to his unit in Belgium on 10th September 1917.

On 13th October Joseph was killed in action at Broodseinde.

There is no known grave; Joseph is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, Belgium, and the Blacker Hill War Memorial in England.

Sources:

NAA: B2455, DAVIES J