Davies, Trevor Arthur Manning

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Trevor Arthur Manning Davies

Lieutenant, Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force) attached 1/5th Sherwood Foresters
Killed in action, 1 July 1916, aged 23
Buried at Gommecourt British Cemetery No 2, Hebuterne, France

CWGC registered (Son of Arthur Manning Davies and Ada Rose Davies, of “Hafod”, Llandudno, Caernarvonshire)

Trevor Arthur Manning Davies’ name appears on neither the Llandudno Roll of Honour nor the War Memorial. However, his name does appear on the tablets in the Memorial Chapel of Holy Trinity Church. This is unusual because the lists are largely identical with the same criteria for inclusion. See below for explanation.

Trevor Davies was born in Walsall, Warwickshire on 6 April 1893. He was the son of Arthur Manning Davies and his wife Ada Rose (née Jennings). The Census for 1901 records the family living at Handsworth in Staffordshire, Arthur Davies being described as a colliery agents’ manager. Arthur Davies established a wholesale coal business in 1908. Trevor attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham and then Clifton College, Bristol (1909-1912) where he was recorded aged 17 in the 1911 Census. In the same census, the family, including a second son Horace (16) still lived at Handsworth, Arthur Davies now described as a wholesale coal factor. Trevor was later senior classical scholar at Corpus Christie College Cambridge where he was a member of the Officers’ Training Corps.

On 29 August 1914, Trevor Davies was gazetted as a second lieutenant in the 4th North Midland (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, Territorial Force. This brigade was part of the North Midland Division (later 46th) and was the first Territorial Force division to arrive in France, serving initially in the Ypres salient. Trevor Davies disembarked on 24 February 1915. He was killed in action aged 23 on 1 July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme having been attached to the 1/5th Sherwood Foresters as a liaison officer between the artillery and infantry for a diversionary attack on Gommecourt. He was initially buried in Gommecourt No 1 Cemetery when the battlefield was cleared and reinterred in the extended No 2 Cemetery after the war. Probate on Trevor’s estate was granted to his father; in the Probate Calendar, Trevor’s last address was given as “Aragon House”, Sutton Coldfield which was his parents’ home.

Electoral rolls for Edgbaston give a little information as to the Davies’ association with Llandudno: in 1920, their abode was given as “Llys-Helyg”, Abbey Road, Llandudno; and in 1922 and 1925 as “Hafod”, Church Walks, Llandudno – the same address as recorded by the War Graves’ Commission. The family confirms that the Davies’ were too late to have their son entered in the town’s Roll of Honour or on the Cenotaph but were able to have his name put onto the tablets in the Memorial Chapel of Holy Trinity Church which was constructed in 1924. Two large wooden candlesticks, still in use, were presented in Trevor’s memory to Holy Trinity Church.

Known memorials:

  • Parents’ headstone, St. Tudno’s Churchyard, Great Orme’s Head
  • Memorial Chapel, Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno
  • St. Peter’s Church, Maney
  • Royal Artillery War Commemoration Book
  • Memorial Chapel, King Edward’s School, Birmingham

8 comments to Davies, Trevor Arthur Manning

  • Wendy Partridge

    I visited Kew some years ago and in their archive read some letters from Trevor’s father after the loss of his son. Heartbreaking but interesting. There was a package wrapped in a muslin cloth. Sadly I took so long finding it the place was closing. The package may reveal other information. I so regret not being able to go back.

  • Andrew Lloyd

    He is also remembered on the memorial in the chapel of King Edwards School Birmingham

  • Wendy Partridge

    Thank you admin Trevor is commemorated on the family grave at St Tundo. I have more info if you would like it a photo of him and the grave.

  • admin

    Thank you Wendy for the correction. It is ironic and humbling that today is the 100th anniversary of Trevor’s death.

  • Wendy Partridge

    Correction Ada Rose the mother of Trevor was my great aunt and her maiden name was Jennings. Not Jenkins. Which is also my maiden name. They are buried at St Tundo on the Great Orme.

  • admin

    Thank you for your comment.

  • Austen Davies

    Thank you for filling in some gaps in my knowledge of my family, and for putting together such a succinct summary.
    Yours,
    Austen Trevor Davies grandson of Horace, Trevor’s younger brother, who died during WWII but of natural causes.

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