DOI: 10.5287/bodleian8rhl.1
title: Photograph and medals of Private William Vaughan Davies

description: Private William Vaughan Davies 
 
This story was repeated time and time again by Mrs. Olwen Roberts, b. 6.3.1904 nee Davies, to her children as it concerned her older brother William whom she remembered fondly. She said that on one period of leave from the front she remembered he arrived home in possession of his rifle, and would spend hours sitting before the kitchen fire cleaning and oiling the weapon, and saying that in the trenches it was his only 'friend'

William Vaughan Davies, was an American citizen, born at Black Diamond, Nr Seattle, Washington State, U.S.A. on 30/ 3 / 1890. His parents, Morris Vaughan Davies and Elizabeth Davies had emigrated there from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Meirionethshire, North Wales in 1887. William was their second son, one of nine children.

His parents became dissolutioned with life in the United States and in 1892 they returned to Wales to work and live in  Blaenau Ffestiniog. William was then aged 3/4 years.

William left school  at 14 years of age to begin work as a slate miner, he was a good singer, a boxer and he played football. When World War 1 broke out in 1914 he volunteered for the Army  at age of 24 years and joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He need not have done so, he could not have been called up for military service as he was not a British citizen, but he joined all his friends, and his brother, John  who had also volunteered.

William served as a Private, with his regiment on active service in France for almost 3 years, he was involved in various actions, twice in attacks on the German lines during which his battalion suffered such severe casualties that there were insufficient men left to re-form the unit and he was, after the second occasion, transferred for duty with the Royal Engineers. When serving with them he was buried alive by an explosion during a German attack when he and a friend remained silent whilst they could hear the German troops walking on some corrugated iron beneath which they lay. In this episode he lost all his front teeth and was reported missing, believed killed in action. However he was rescued during a British counter attack two or three days later. 

He was granted home leave on two occasions from France.

He returned to active service in France with the 13th. Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and whilst with them was killed in action near Delville Wood, Somme  on 26th August, l918 aged  28 years, when his unit was involved in an attack on the German lines with the 38th (Welsh) Division which captured the high ground near Guillemont during late August 1918. He was a single man and is buried at the British War Cemetery, (plot reference V11.B.20), Caterpillar Valley, near Longueval, France. When his parents were originally notified  he was again listed as missing in action they were not too concerned about him, thinking he would again turn up, but, unfortunately it was not to be. 

The cemetery originally contained  graves of those killed from 38th (Welsh) Division and 6th Dragoon Guards, but after the Armistice it became plot 1 of a larger cemetery as  soldiers buried elsewhere were moved there and a further 31 plots were created, and the whole surrounded by a wall built of stone rubble. It covers an area of 14,832 square metres and near to the east side there stands a memorial to those New Zealand soldiers who were killed in the area in 1916 and whose graves are unknown. There are more than 5,500  1914 - 18 casualties commemorated at this site. 

List of R.W.F. soldiers killed on 26/8/1918 and buried at Caterpillar Valley War Cemetry, Longueval, Somme, France


number        serial number       rank                             name 

1                  66629                Private        BAILEY. W.H.
2                  58385                Private        BALDWIN. Allen.
3                  58220                Private        BROWN. J.
4                  23257                Corporal     DANE H.
5                  11200                Private        DAVIES,W.J.
6                  55267                Private        DAVIES, William Vaughan,  
7                  66200                Private        DINELLI, G.A.
8                  23287                Corporal     EDWARDS. R.O.
9                  21305                C.S.M.        EGERTON, Edward Henry.
10                58249                Sergeant     ELIAS,G.
11                                          2nd. Lieut. EVANS,D.E.
12                292314              Private        EVANS,J.H.
13                93401                Private        GOULDING,J.
14                69817                Private        GRIFFITHS, Ellis.
15                241749              Private        HADLEY, Thomas William.
16                24215                L/Cpl.          HALL,T.
17                                       2nd. Lieut.    HARRIS, William Handel.
18                241150              L/Cpl.          JONES, William.
19                292188              Private        JONES, W.
20                75370                Private        MADLEY,Andrew James.
21                58131                Private        MARSDEN, W.A.S.
22                204837              Private        MATHER,James.
23                57972                Private        MATHER.T.S.
24                202630              Private        MAYNARD.R.
25                58304                Private        MITCHELL.R. 
26                18043                Private        MORRIS, Arthur.
27                202365              L/Cpl.          MOSES, S.
28                58416                Private        MURPHY.T.P.
29                57986                Private        PAILTHORPE, Frank.
30                77633                Private        PELL,G.
31                26422                Sergeant     PHILLIPS,R.
32                61376                Private         PRICE,J.
33                53872                Private         PRITCHARD, Robert O.
34                53013                Private         RILEY, Robert.
35                4218                  Private         ROBERTS,C.
36                57993                Private         ROBERTS, P.J.
37                58152                Private         RICHARDSON, Peter John.
38                58164                Private         SHARPLES, L.
39                60259                Private         SMITH, Sydney.
40                291667              Private         SOUTHERNS, Richard H.
41                54662                Private         THOMAS. D.
42                75276                Private         THOMAS, Wilfred William.
43                70202                L/Cpl            WATSON, W.B.
44                9361                  L/Cpl            WESTACOTT, Alfred,
45                44398                Sergeant       WHITE, R.J.
46                73214                Private          WILLIAMS, G.
47                                         Lieut.           WILLIAMS, James Griffith.
48                15743                 Private        WILLIAMS, Thomas Phillip.