Profile

DAVISON, William Roy
(Service number 6/3675)

Aliases Roy; also spelt DAVIDSON
First Rank Sergeant Last Rank Lance- Corporal

Birth

Date 18 April 1892 Place of Birth Gawler, South Australia

Enlistment Information

Date (1) 7 October 1916; (2) 23 October 1916 Age 24 years
Address at Enlistment Albury Post Office, Canterbury
Occupation Farm hand
Previous Military Experience 9th Reinforcements (Featherston) - rejected as medically unfit. 2nd South Canterbury Regiment (still serving)
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Alexander DAVISON (father), Albury, South Canterbury
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information Height 6 feet. Weight 167 lbs. Chest measurement 34-39 inches. Complexion between dark and fair. Eyes grey. Hair dark brown. Sight - both eyes 6/6. Hearing good. Colour vision correct. Limbs well formed. Full and perfect movement of all joints. Chest well formed. Heart and lungs normal. teeth fair. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily and mental health. No slight defects. No fits. Illness - operated on a year ago for varicocele & varicose veins (left calf). Pain in groin afterwards & in leg below scar unable to continue training & was discharged in consequence on May 1st 1916. (2) Recent scar 8 inches long, vertical in direction, inner side left calf. (Operation scar, varicose veins)

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 25th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company
Date 26 April 1917
Transport Turakina 
Embarked From Wellington Destination Plymouth, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 14 October 1919 Reason In consequence of being no longer physically fit for War Service on account of illness contracted on Active Service.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 24 August 1958 Age 66 years
Place of Death Timaru
Cause Brain clot
Notices Timaru Herald, 25 August 1958
Memorial or Cemetery Cremated Salisbury Park, Timaru
Memorial Reference Memorial Plaque
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

William Roy Davison, known as Roy, was the son of Alexander and Flora (née Wilson) Davison. In 1904 he came to Albury School from Adelaide, South Australia. Roy was initially rejected as unfit for the military forces after an operation for varicose veins.

A grandchild recalled William died of a sudden brain clot on24 August 1958 and was cremated at Linwood in Christchurch. His ashes were relocated to Salisbury Park to lie with those of his wife Ivy Isobel Davison after she died on 7 July 1977.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Cenotaph Database [29 May 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5537 0032607) [07 July 2016], NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5562 0129836) [02 July 2017]; Timaru Herald, 10 & 15 September 1915 (Papers Past) [2014]; School Admission Records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [2014]; Salisbury Park Crematorium plaque inscription (South Canterbury Branch NZSG Cemetery records microfiches) [16 October 2014]; Timaru Herald, 25 & 26 August 1958 (Timaru District Library) [16 October 2014]; SCRoll web submission by WR Davison, 1 MArch 2021

External Links

Related Documents

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TS

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