Profile

DAVIS, Albert Stephen
(Service number 8/2894)

Aliases
First Rank Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 04/11/1888 Place of Birth Oamaru

Enlistment Information

Date 13 June 1915 Age 26 years
Address at Enlistment 36 Driver Street, St Kilda, Dunedin
Occupation Motor mechanic (Spillane Bros, Temuka)
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr R. T. DAVIS (father), Blacksmith, Temuka
Religion Anglican
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 7th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Otago Infantry Battalion
Date
Transport Aparima or Navua or Warrimoo
Embarked From Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Otago Infantry Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian; Egyptian Expeditionary Force; Western European (France)
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star; 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 13 April 1919 Reason On the termination of his period of engagement.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Cycle mechanic; manager

Death

Date 15 September 1967 Age 78 years
Place of Death 47 Selwyn Street, Dunedin (residence)
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Cremated, ashes interred Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin
Memorial Reference Block 220, Plot 125
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Albert Stephen Davis was born on 4 November 1888 at Oamaru, the youngest son and youngest of the six children of Robert Thomas and Margaret (née Sutherland) Davis. In 1894 Mr and Mrs R. T. Davis moved to Timaru where some of the older children (Frank, Violet, Willie and Nellie) attended Waimataitai School briefly. Albert was educated at Union Street and George Street schools in Dunedin. By 1905 Robert Thomas Davis was plying his trade as a blacksmith at Temuka.

Albert was a motor mechanic for Spillane Brothers at Temuka when he enlisted in 1915, although he gave a Dunedin address. Single and Anglican, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr R. T. Davis, Blacksmith, Temuka. Private A. S. Davis embarked with the Otago Infantry Battalion of the 7th Reinforcements. A. P. Davis was wounded on 14 July 1916. A photo of Private A. S. Davis (Temuka), wounded, was printed in the Otago Witness of 9 August 1916. His father had moved back to Dunedin by April 1918 when he received word that his son had been wound for a second time and admitted to hospital in France. He returned home by the “Hororata” which was due to arrive in New Zealand on 13 March 1919. He was discharged on 13 April 1919 and awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service in Egypt and France.

Albert Stephen Davis married Olive Rose Elizabeth Bates in 1920. Elizabeth died in 1953 and was buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. When Albert died on 15 September 1967 at his Dunedin residence, aged 78 years, his ashes were interred with Olive at Andersons Bay Cemetery. A services plaque marks his grave. His son, Rae Stephen Davis, who served in World War Two, was also cremated, his ashes interred in the same plot.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [16 July 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [16 July 2023]; School Admission records (Dunedin Branch NZSG) [16 July 2023]; Andersons Bay cremation record & headstone image (Dunedin City Council) [16 July 2023]; Otago Witness, 9 August 1916, Evening Star, 20 April 1918 (Papers Past) [13 & 16 July 2023]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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