The AIF Project

John DAVEY

Regimental number3796
Place of birthWalwood, Devonshire, England
ReligionMethodist
OccupationFarm labourer
AddressSeaton Street, Toowoomba, Queensland
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 6"
Weight141 lbs
Next of kinFather, Thomas Davey, Holly Bottom, Dalwood, Devonshire, England
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date1 September 1915
Place of enlistmentToowoomba, Queensland
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name26th Battalion, 9th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/43/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 31 January 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll52nd Battalion
Fate4 September 1916
Miscellaneous details (Nominal Roll)Name does not appear on Nominal Roll
Age at death from cemetery records25
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
155
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Thomas and Hannah DAVEY, Hawley Bottom, Dalwood, Axminster, Devonshire, England
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Marched out of 7th Training Bn, Heliopolis, 2 April 1916, and marched into 52nd Bn, Serapeum, the same day.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 5 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 12 June 1916.

Posted as missing in action, 4 September 1916.

Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 4 September 1916, pronounces fate as 'Killed in Action, 4 September 1916'.

B.103 notes 'Buried B1896 Sheet 4'.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DAVEY John

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