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Frank Goodman Davies
242195, Private, 2/6th The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) (Territorial Force)
Died of wounds, 4 September 1918, aged 24
Buried at Québec Cemetery, Cherisy, France
CWGC registered (Son of Mrs. Jane Walker, of “Dorcote,” 18, Garston Old Rd, Cressington, Liverpool. Native of Llandudno)
HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE
Frank Goodman Davies was born on 14 November 1894 at Conwy. He was the son of Robert Davies, landlord of the Plough Inn at Conwy, and his wife Jane. The Census for 1901 records Robert Davies as the landlord of the Erskine Arms Hotel at Conwy where he lived with his wife and six children: William, Catherine, Frank, Robert (aka Lancelot), Basil and an unregistered infant (Percy). In August 1903, Robert took over the Parade Hotel at Llandudno, Frank being admitted to Lloyd Street School. In November 1904, Robert Davies gave up his licence for the Parade Hotel. The register for Dyffryn Road Council School records that Frank attended there from April 1907, his address being 12 Alexandra Road. He was readmitted to Lloyd Street School in January 1908. The Census of Wales of 1911 reveals that Robert Davies had died and Jane Davies, now the manageress of a golf club, and her family lived at 6 Curzon Road, Craig-y-Don; Frank (16) was a tailor’s apprentice. In October 1915, Jane Davies married Samuel John Cocks, the general manager of the Dundalk and Newry Steam Packet Company at Liverpool and lived at “Dorcote”, Garston Old Road, Cressington, Liverpool.
It would appear that Frank Davies moved to Liverpool with his mother because Soldiers Died in the Great War records that when he enlisted at Liverpool, his home was at Cressington. When he enlisted is presently unknown but what is known is that he served with the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion of The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) Territorial Force. His number was 242195 but that would have replaced an earlier number in 1917. The 2/6th KLR was formed in Liverpool on 10 September 1914 as a second line battalion but it was later ordered overseas and in February 1917, it landed in France.
Frank Goodman Davies reportedly stepped on a land mine and died of wounds on 4 September 1918 aged 24. He was buried at Québec Cemetery, Cherisy, a village south east of Arras that was in German hands until it was retaken by the Canadian Corps on 27 August 1918. Its proximity to the front line indicates that Frank Davies could not have been evacuated to a hospital at the coast. The only significant entry in the war diary for the 2/6th KLR for the few days before 4 September 1918 was an attack on Reincourt, a village about 3 miles south-east of Cherisy on 1 September in which 21 of the battalion were killed and another 98 wounded. Another two soldiers were wounded the following day.
This was not the only calamity to affect Frank’s mother for in the following month, on 14 October 1918, her husband, Samuel John Cocks was killed when a steam packet in which he was travelling to Ireland was torpedoed off the Isle of Man. A year later, Jane Cocks married David D Walker at Liverpool.
Known memorials:
- Llandudno Roll of Honour
- Llandudno War Memorial
- Memorial Chapel, Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno
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