DAVY, Thomas Herbert
(Service number 24/1020)
| First Rank | Corporal | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 12/03/1890 | Place of Birth | West Hackney, London, England |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 9 October 1915 | Age | 25 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Belfield Hill, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Woolclasser | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs M. M. DAVY (mother), care of Mrs Alleder, 108 St John's Road, Hoxton North, London, England. Mrs Jean DAVY | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | D Company | ||
| Date | 9 October 1915 | ||
| Transport | Tahiti | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, New Zealand | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Egyptian; Egyptian E.F.; Western European (France) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
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 |
Death
| Date | 10 November 1944 | Age | 54 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Near Amberley, Canterbury | ||
| Cause | Result of an accident | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Christchurch | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Thomas Herbert Davy was born on 12 March 1890 at West Hackney, London, England, the youngest son of Henry and Maria Mary (née Blower) Davy. In 1891 and 1901 Thomas was at home with his family in London, where his father was a dining room manager and publican. By 1911 he was a labourer residing in High Street, Timaru, New Zealand.
Private T. H. Davy was in a batch of South Canterbury men who flocked to the colours in May 1915 and were accepted in Timaru for service at the Front. T. H. Davy was one of those who had passed the medical test and had signed on to leave Timaru for Trentham by special train on 29 May. Before leaving they were to be entertained at afternoon tea in the Drill Hall and then played to the railway Station by the Regimental Band. “Mr T. H. Davy, who leaves for Trentham on Saturday, was entertained by the choir and other friends of the Timaru Congregational Church at the Manse on Wednesday evening, forty-five being present. At the close of a very pleasant evening, the Rev. I. Sarginson in making a presentation said that while they were sorry to part for a time with one for whom they had such regard, they honoured him for responding to the call of King and Country in the cause of humanity, liberty, and righteousness, and that they would have the joy of welcoming him back when the war was over. Mr Davy was presented with a dainty little strongly-bound Bible, an ebony hair brush with monogram on silver shield, a suitable knife and a razor strop, and lie responded in a very appropriate little speech.” [Timaru Herald, 28 May 1915.]
On enlisting on 9 October 1915, he was recorded as single, non-conformist and working as a wool-classer for the Christchurch Meat Export Company at Smithfield. His address was Belfield Hill, Timaru. He nominated his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs M. M. Davy, care of Mrs Alleder, 108 St John’s Road, Hoxton North, London, England. Lance-Corporal Thomas Herbert Davy, Trentham Regiment, married Jean Spence on 11 September 1915 in Christchurch. Corporal Thomas Herbert Davy embarked with the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade per the “Tahiti”.
In October 1916 word was received in Timaru that 2nd Lieutenant T. H. Davy “was admitted to hospital in London, suffering from shrapnel wounds. Lieutenant Davy enlisted as a Private in the 2nd Battalion N.Z.R.B. He is a well known swimmer and was employed at Smithfield.” In September and October 1917, he was reported as seriously ill before returning to France. He embarked at Liverpool on 3 February 1918 to return to New Zealand by the “Manganui”. Discharged on 11 October 1918, he was at Cashmere Santorium, Christchurch. He was suffering from T.B. of the lung, which resulted in 50% disability.
Jean Davy died on 4 September 1929 at their Christchurch residence and was buried at Bromley Cemetery. Thomas married Sophie Wall Woodill on 31 December 1934 in Christchurch. A son was born to Thomas and Sophie in 1936 and a daughter in 1939. The children were very young when tragedy struck. Thomas Herbert Davy was killed in an accident at Amberley on 10 November 1944, aged 54 years. As he was driving across the line to his property, “Swinton Farm”, near Amberly, he was hit by the train. He was buried at Ruru Lawn Cemetery, Chrischurch, where Sophie was buried with him in 1960. Members of the Christchurch Returned Services’ Asociation stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of their former member.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [November 2014 & 10 May 2022]; 1891 & 1901 Englnd Census returns (ancestry.com.au) [10 May 2022]; Ruru Lawn Cemetery records [13 May 2022]; Timaru Herald, 15, 26 & 28 May 1915, 14 September 1915, 19 October 1916, 10 October 1917, Star, 5 & 10 September 1929, Press 6 September 1929, 4 January 1935, 28 December 1936, 1 April 1939, 11, 13 & 21 November 1944, Evening Star, 11 November 1944 (Papers Past) [27 February 2016; 10 & 13 May 2022]
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Researched and Written by
Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG; Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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